Nettleton Cleanup Planned For May 2—

Help Newtown Forest Association Preserve Open Spaces

By Kendra Bobowick

Wind nearly stole Bob Eckenrode’s cap and grabbed for printouts and a map in his hand. Standing at the head of Old Castle Drive at Nettleton Preserve, a trademark view of Newtown spilled downhill from where the Newtown Forest Association (NFA) president stood Monday — face-first to a chilling rain and harsh wind. Across mature pines and the still bare-limbed deciduous jumble of woodlands, his gaze landed hundreds of feet below, finding the Newtown Meeting House and Trinity Episcopal Church steeples, the flagpole, and Main Street rooftops of diminishing visibility.

Daffodils shivered where they lined a descending path dividing a brief meadow, an apple orchard rested to one side and a trail head waited at the other. Mr Eckenrode’s thoughts skipped ahead to May 2.

In the spirit of Earth Day, which the town is celebrating April 25, in memory of one caretaker and with an interest to maintain this property, the NFA will welcome volunteers to the Nettleton Preserve West Street Restoration beginning between 9:30 and 10 am.

The day’s cleanup will begin with a dedication. In a recent email, Mr Eckenrode explained, “This is a special place where [the late] Howard Bowles voluntarily took personal care for many years. He often cut the lawn bordering the meadow, cleared brush exposing an apple orchard, maintained trails. He lived on Old Castle Drive.”

Heading toward the trail, Mr Eckenrode walked and talked, pointing to a bare patch of ground where a tree will soon take root.

 “We’re dedicating a red maple to Howard,” said Mr Eckenrode. Walking toward the trail, he glanced at the panorama again. “This is scenic and well-known, but … ”

Stepping around petrified vines of bittersweet and across ground braided with tree roots, Mr Eckenrode explained, “The trails are incredible.” They are also cluttered with debris.

On either side of a footpath decorated by the spiked impressions of deer hooves were fallen limbs and twigs, the green beginnings of invasive species taking hold of their patch of woodland this spring, trash, and debris snagged on rocks in a streambed, nudged by flowing water.

Stopping to pick up a stray plastic bottle, Mr Eckenrode said, “It’s 25 acres — it was all fields once, a farm.”

Looking at the trees, he explained, “This is what happens when nature takes over.”

The May 2 work day, hopes Mr Eckenrode, will clear the overhanging privet and limbs from the trails, repair wet trail areas, remove invasive species, mulch existing plantings, and remove sticks, logs, and debris along West Street and the streambed.

Nearby houses are visible from within the woods, where side-by-side logs offer a stepping stone across the stream. “We try to engage the neighbors to take care of the natural resources they live next to.” A few steps further, crossing the stream, he looked through the trees to a lawn, swing sets, and homes along West Street: “It makes our jobs easier, and we all benefit.”

Turning, Mr Eckenrode headed uphill, brambles snagging a pant leg, overgrowth throwing vines in his path. “This is a valuable piece of open space,” he said. “As far as habitat, recreation.” And, the enclave is close to Main Street, roughly one minute beyond the flagpole. “Parcels like this are not something you take for granted.”

Circling back to the trail’s beginning, Mr Eckenrode took long strides across the winter-burned grasses, bent over from cold and snow. Arriving at one apple tree standing alone in a clearing, he said, “We’re trying to release the orchard.” Pointing again to a meshwork of vines, limbs, and impenetrable brush, he said, “This used to look like that.” Like the one tree that had been “released,” he hopes to free the rest of the orchard, but, “It’s going to take a lot more work.”

Nettleton is one example of stewardship and wildlife management practices. “Aesthetic and scenic views are part of what makes the magic here in Newtown,” he said, leaving the orchard behind and again climbing back to Old Castle Drive. The NFA has more than 1,000 acres of open space in its care. “That’s a big responsibility, but it’s an honor to do what I do for the NFA,” he said.

Each property is like a piece of a puzzle, he said. “Whole, it’s a picture of Newtown; we value the resources and properties we have.”

Stopping again for to look out across Newtown, down Church Hill Road to trees visible along Oxford’s shore opposite Sandy Hook and Lake Zoar, Mr Eckenrode hopes to find the help he saw in Mr Bowles. “We owe so much to him. He cared for the property as if it was his own.”

Anyone interested in participating in the Newtown Forest Association’s (NFA) desire to honor Earth Day on Saturday, May 2 — a continuation of the 2008 Earth Day project — should meet on Old Castle Drive, immediately off Castle Hill Road, between 9:30 and 10 am. Small groups will be formed and projects assigned.

The NFA will supply bottled water for the volunteers, as well as basic first aid. Yard tools are limited, please bring your own pruning clippers, lop shears, bow saws, rakes, and wheelbarrows. No power tools.

Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Groups of more than four people and Scout leaders interested in bringing their groups are asked to contact NFA in advance at 270-3650 or NFAGoodNeighbor@NewtownForestAssociation.org.