On September 11th, the 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks, the Greater Princeton Branch of AYLUS (GPA) conservation team joined the Fall Tree Planting event at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve in Princeton to honor the 2,977 lives lost 20 years ago and many more thereafter.
GPA members met at the Mountain Lake House Parking lot, 57 Mountain Ave, Princeton, NJ and then walked over to the project site as a group.
GPA members joined the Natural Resources and Stewardship Director, Anna Corichi, to plant 5,000+ herbaceous plugs in the Forest Restoration site. Native wildflowers, grasses, and ferns will provide quality habitat for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife, as well as to withstand tough site pressures, such as those posed by white-tailed deer and invasive species. The planting will also help to protect local water quality by filtering and slowing runoff before it enters Mountain Brook.
Participants (9/11, 3 hrs): Sophia Gao, Jie Gao, Xinyi Christine Zhang, Tiffany Tian, Zhihan Zhang, Fiona Fan, Ricky Fan, Pearl Song, Sophia Song, Lan Cheng, Pengyue Gao, Meisu Wang, Catherine Feng, Nicole Liu, Ruofei Mao, Cosner Yang, Sophia Feng, Michael Feng, William Xian, Sarah Xian, Yafei Yan, Cynthia Jinghui Huang, Nithin Garimella, and more.
Additional GPA volunteers: George Chen (9/11, 5 hrs), Bowen Hou (9/11, 5 hrs), and more.