Girl Scouts in the Grasslands

Girl Scouts in the Grasslands

On a weather-perfect day – a welcome change from the colder and wet days the winter months have brought – Beaufort County Girl Scout Troop 871 under the leadership of Jennifer Alligood spent Saturday March 27 at the ATFS Center learning about habitat restoration and wildlife management and putting their new found knowledge into practice around the Bray Hollow Nature Conservancy.  To maintain grassy habitats on the Conservancy lands without burning it is necessary to rid these areas of the tree seedlings, saplings and early growth shrubs before they overwhelm the open grassy areas.

The girls first formed a line and performed a FOD (Foreign Object Detection) walk across a section of field spotting and marking the locations of such items as pine and gum seedlings and saplings and shrubs such as groundsel, wax myrtle and bayberry.  They then paired up with shovels and spades to remove the invaders by the roots.

A hearty picnic lunch at the ATFS Science Center and a couple of nature walks around the Conservancy allowed the girls to experience nature in an historical setting at the confluence of Little Contentnea and Contentnea Creeks where, according to local legend, the colonial explorer John Lawson encountered the Tuscaroras.  The girls will return in April to continue their work.

This project is also in conjunction with a Conservation Project for Ms Alligood’s Biology II Class at Beaufort Community College.  A PowerPoint presentation will be on display at Beaufort Community College on Earth Day and will remain on display throughout the remainder of the month of April.  Check out all the pictures on the Media page.