Volunteer Of The Month: Brian Gugerty Protects Trees From Invasive Vines
Article by Alyson Kay for the Severna Park News
Brian Gugerty has a long history of preserving trees, starting when he was 19 years old and working in the Young Adult Conservation Corps program started under President Jimmy Carter.
“I was embedded in a forest service crew in Boulder, Colorado, and we went up into the mountains every day and cut down mountain pine beetle-infested trees and piled them up into slash piles,” Gugerty said.
In the wintertime, they would burn the slash piles to manage beetle outbreaks.
After his time in the Young Adult Conservation Corps, he started a career in nursing on the advice of his mother because of an emergency medical technician class in Colorado that he enjoyed. He now works for the federal government in medical informatics.
Read the entire article about Brian Gugerty in the Severna Park News.
Eye On Annapolis \ Save Our Trees Podcast
Volunteers Saved 43 Trees at Peninsula Park
Eight volunteers saved 43 trees in about an hour and a half at Peninsula Park in Annapolis.
Not bad for a very hot morning in June!
Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve and Mt. Cuba Center
Save Our Trees took a road trip to Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve along the Delaware River and Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware. The Preserve is a 134-acre expanse of native forests and meadows surrounded by a deer exclosure. With deer largely excluded from the property, the understory thrives under the mature trees creating a magical experience walking through this green cathedral.
Mt. Cuba is a set of expansive gardens and forests surrounding a mansion originally owned by a Dupont heir and his wife, Pamela Copeland. Although a bit more formal than Bowman’s Hill, Mt. Cuba houses only native plants and has a mission to both educate others about the role of native plants and to conduct scientifically rigorous research on them. As SOT walked the paths, there were frequent oohs and ahhhs uttered in response to the gorgeous plants.
Both places serve as visionary models for SOT’s next foray into creating small forest oases that demonstrate what a native forest should look like in the Mid-Atlantic area.
Find out more about Bowman’s Hill and Mt. Cuba.
Seven Volunteers Saved 31 Trees at St. Martin’s
We saved 31 trees from the embrace of ivy with seven volunteers at St. Martin’s on Spa Road in Annapolis today!
We were able to wrangle and save a tree whose entire canopy is covered in ivy!
SOT and Broadneck High School Saved 338 Trees
Wow! More than 3O students from Broadneck High School, together with Save Our Trees and Anne Arundel Weed Resistance, saved 338 trees at Broadneck Park in honor of Earth Day. We removed lots and lots of English ivy as well as bittersweet. Thank you Broadneck High School!
Earth Day 2024 was a big day for SOT & Quiet Waters!
Park Rangers and volunteers came out for three separate invasive pull events.
The Cub Scouts really worked on the oriental bittersweet!
Vine Removal at Christ Our Anchor Church
The Christ our Anchor church community had a great day clearing huge invasive vines! Twenty volunteers saved 101 trees from invasive vines. A terrific event on a beautiful April morning.
Partners-in-Learning with SOT
After several class visits and an assembly at Annapolis High, Save Our Trees worked with middle and high-school students from the school during several field trips to Quiet Waters Park. While on site, the students cleared invasive vines and shrubs from an area that is gradually being transformed into a native forest oasis. Students learned about the problems posed by invasive vines and the benefits of native plants. Signage now marks the small forest oasis, which is across from the dog beach parking lot.
SOT Presented at the Annapolis Home Expo
SOT presented a talk on the issue of invasive vines in our canopy trees.at the Annapolis Home Expo on Sunday, February 25, 2024. The presenters also emphasized the importance of planting native perennials, shrubs and trees when possible. Attendees asked lots of good , and it was a great opportunity to reach beyond the usual audience to homeowners in general.
26 Volunteers Cleared Ivy from 174 Trees!
Volunteers gathered to remove ivy and revitalize the forest at Truxtun Park on February 24, 2024.
Vines Cleared at Deep Creek Marina / Community
Twenty volunteers from Anne Arundel Weed Resistance (AAWR), Cape Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Broadneck Peninsula Invasive Ivy Removal Volunteers (BPIRV) removed English Ivy and Oriental Bittersweet from 95 trees on December 9, 2023!
AAWR provided ivy removal expertise and CCC provided critical area expertise.
Volunteers Cleared Vines from 316 More Trees
November 11-12, 2023 was a big weekend for saving trees!
Twenty eight volunteers cleared vines from 261 trees in Quiet Waters Park, while another fifteen volunteers cleared vines from 55 trees at Christ Our Anchor church adjacent to Broadneck Park.
Go Team!!
It Doesn’t Get Better Than This!
Several of the Save Our Trees team members couldn’t help themselves! Look at this poor tree before they got started. And then several weeks later, the results of their hard work! Well done!! It’s a good reminder to get the English ivy early and often so the tree never gets this ivy infested!
Broadneck High School Students Save Trees!
Broadneck High School students who participate in the Environmental Literacy Program are doing great work! Led by Broadneck High School student Nolan Gille, 20 students saved 167 trees at Twin Oaks Park! Congratulations and thank you to Nolan and your hard working team!! Next stop – Broadneck Park on June 17th, 2023, 9:45 -12:00.
Read more news in our News Archive.