Using Native Vegetation in Ecosystem Restoration Projects

Ecosystem and streambank restoration projects use a wide variety and large quantities of native vegetation to economically restore wetlands and streambanks, while providing adequate armoring to withstand the velocities and shear stresses from river flows.  Vegetative materials include: wetlands or uplands seed mixes; bare rooted seedlings or saplings; balled and burlap trees; dormant live cuttings (brush, stakes, poles) and potted plants.  This photo shows a dormant live willow stake that has sprouted in Spring after being driven into a bare bank during the dormant.  This stake is about ½” diameter, and projects about 12” from the bank.  The stake is buried 3’ to 4’ into the bank.  Native cuttings can also be used to provide brush layers, fascines, dormant live stakes and poles and vegetation soil reinforced systems. 

The use of vegetation can reduce the extent of riprap armoring, while still providing the necessary resistance to shear stresses and velocities on the upper banks of a stream.   The upper range of permissible shear stresses of soil bioengineering measures has been found to range from 1 to 5 lbs/square foot, with a corresponding range of permissible velocities from 3 to 10 feet/second.  Velocities and shear stresses need to be determined through hydrologic and hydraulic modeling of the river reach to determine worst case velocities and shear stresses.  See link to publication below: http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/elpubs/pdf/sr29.pdf

On many of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park projects, we utilized native plant materials found within the park, rather than having the contractor provide cuttings from off site.  These included: sandbar willow; black willow; red ozier dogwood and some others.  The Park’s landscape architect would identify areas within the park from which the contractor could harvest plant materials.  This is both economical and environmentally sustainable, since the harvested plant material will eventually grow back, and the cost to cut and deliver the plant material from within the park is significantly lower than purchased material.  One should be aware not to specify plant material that is under distress from an invasive species, as is the case with Green Ash.  At one time cuttings from Green Ash were specified for use in the upper zone of restored riverbanks until it became known that ash trees were being harmed by the Emerald Ash Borer.  Plant material cannot be relied upon to provide armoring below mean water level.  In those areas, a riprap revetment should be used, and should extend up the bank to a level corresponding with the channel forming discharge or ordinary high water.

Plant material, when properly engineered, is an environmentally sustainable means to effectively stabilize riverbanks.

The Importance of Engineering in Ecosystem Restoration

Here’s a streambank restoration project on a Cuyahoga River tributary that, from the photo, looks to have been missing some important engineering.  The designer placed a woven drainage filter fabric on a steep, excavated bank, and installed rounded cobbles against the fabric to restore the eroded streambank. The streambank restoration failed during a subsequent flooding event, destroying the repair and exposing bare banks that will contribute detrimental sediment to the aquatic ecosystem.  This failure, like many, can be attributed to at least three factors: the rock; the filter drainage fabric; and the toe protection.  

Rock used to protect a streambank must be engineered because the stability of the rock must conform to the laws of physics.  Those laws, when applied to streambanks, account for: the median size of the stone (D ₅₀), specific gravity of the stone, specific gravity of water, a metric to represent the uniformity of the gradation of the stone, the relationship between the thickness of the layer and the largest (D₁₀₀ ) particle size, channel bend radius, channel bottom width, water depth, bank slope, stream velocity, and a stone stability factor.  The stability factor varies depending on whether the stone is angular, typical of quarried rock, or rounded, typical of glacial material found in a gravel pit.  Studies have shown that rounded stone is 20% less stable than angular stone of the same size and specific gravity.  The angularity naturally interlocks, tying the entire rock layer together.      

Drainage fabric is available in two types: woven and non-woven.  The woven fabric is thin, smooth, and slippery.  The non-woven is thick, soft, and spongy.  In this application, the woven fabric could have contributed to the failure due to its slippery properties.  Better yet, the fabric could have been eliminated entirely and replaced with either an engineered bedding layer of smaller size stone, or by using a thicker layer of armoring stone that is self-filtering. 

The photo does not indicate whether some type of stone toe protection was provided.  All streambank restoration projects should have either a launchable stone toe or a stone toe that’s excavated into the channel bed at the toe of the slope to prevent failure of the bank when scour occurs in the channel, and it will scour.   Although scour at the toe of a slope is most likely to occur at the outside of a bend, in this photo the stream is flowing into the picture, and the failed streambank protection is located in a straight section of the channel just upstream of a bend.  Even straight sections of channel will experience toe scour and should have a stone toe.

On riverbank restoration projects, therefore, it is essential to do the engineering studies to properly design the restoration to provide long term stability to the streambank so that the aquatic, cultural and other resources can be preserved. 

Understand How the River Works...Before You Begin Work

Those of us who work with rivers and natural ecosystems need to approach our work carefully, with a measure of ignorance, remembering that rivers are complex. We must come with a clear set of objectives, and seek to understand how the river is working before we can begin our work. I’ve read many books and journal articles but Luna Leopold’s A View of the River ( http://www.amazon.com/View-River-Luna-B-Leopold/dp/0674018451 ) has been most helpful. Leopold theorizes that the river system has two tendencies: to minimize total work done in the system, and to equalize the power per unit bed area. He ties these tendencies back to entropy as used in the second law of thermodynamics, indicating that as energy becomes more evenly dispersed in the river system that the possibility for energy to be used for mechanical work is decreased, thus increasing entropy.

The river system, with both its natural and man-made obstructions, and its sediment load are significant aspects that play into the dynamic equilibrium of the river as expressed in Lane’s relationship.

Qs ds ∝ Qw So

Lane theorized that the product of sediment discharge (Qs) and sediment size (ds) is proportional to the product of river discharge (Qw) and channel slope (So). The side by side photos of a riverbank restoration project are a story in how rivers respond to changes to these variables.

The photo on the left shows an area of significant bank erosion between the downstream end of an earlier bank restoration project and the upstream side of a bridge from which the photo is taken. The missing piece of information is that the former single span truss bridge was replaced with a two span deck girder bridge at about the same time as the first riverbank restoration project was constructed. I have never been a fan of two span bridges over water because the center pier ends up as an obstruction located in the highest velocity portion of the river causing a rise in backwater from losses caused by the pier, and bank instabilities caused by changes in sediment carrying capacity. In this case, during larger floods, the pier presented a greater obstruction, raising the water surface upstream of the bridge, reducing channel velocity, and depositing sediment that created a center bar. The center bar became armored with cobbles, causing flow to become divided and directing the flow to the unprotected bank, downstream of the first riverbank restoration project, which contained finer particle soils. Scour at the toe of the bank resulted in a translational failure of the upper bank. The restoration, shown in the photo on the right, included removing the center bar and extending the bank protection (riprap to the 2-year flood level and dormant live stakes on the upper slope) to the bridge’s abutment.

As this example shows, understanding how the river system works on both a macroscopic and within the river reach being considered is essential before beginning our work.

Finding Sensible Solutions When Values Compete

This photo illustrates the challenge of restoring a riverbank in a place where historic and recreational resources abound and are equally important. At this location along the Cuyahoga River (flowing away from the observer) has a large meander that is naturally migrating downstream and towards the Ohio and Erie Canal towpath shown on the right side of the photo. This reach of river was legislated into the National Park System as a National Recreation Area before later becoming a National Park. Its stated purposes included “…..preserving and protecting for public use and enjoyment the historic, scenic, natural, and recreational values of the Cuyahoga River and adjacent lands in the Cuyahoga Valley, and for the purpose of providing for the maintenance of needed recreational open space necessary to the urban environment”.

Historic resources in the park that also serve as recreational facilities include the Ohio and Erie Canal (including the towpath), the Valley Railway, and a number of houses and bridges. Many of these are on the National Register of Historic Places, and a portion of the Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor, runs through the area. Natural resources include the river and a number of ecosystems with associated flora and fauna located in the river and in the river valley, as well as the rural countryside. As to recreational value, Cuyahoga Valley National Park is the 10th most visited park in the National Park system.

The problem to be solved at this and other locations in the park is to protect and preserve a park resource from the advance of the river or tributary using natural materials (rock riprap and vegetation). At this location, because the towpath was still no closer than about 30 feet from the top of riverbank and because the precise location of the future impingement could only be guessed, the solution was to construct several hundred feet of buried rock riprap windrow with a volume of little greater than one cubic yard per running foot. Windrows are designed to “launch” when a meander progresses enough to expose the buried rock, and once launched, to provide a thick enough sloping layer of riprap with large enough riprap to adequately protect the feature. A drainage fabric separated the top of riprap from the backfilled native soils, and dormant willow poles were planted along one side of the excavation to establish some native, deeper rooting vegetation.

One could allow the naturally meandering river to run wild (Cuyahoga means “crooked” river), thereby maximizing ecological values at the expense of threatening the historic and recreational values. On the other extreme, one could design a highly engineered system of concrete or sheetpile protective system to ensure that the river would advance no closer to the towpath trail. In this setting, neither extreme, both of which represent a zero sum game approach, offers a sensible solution. Rather all the values for which this park was created are balanced to provide a minimally invasive ecological solution that provides reasonable assurance that the resource will be preserved and that the public will be able to enjoy it.

Lessons Learned in Restoring Natural Ecosystems - Introduction



There’s been a significant effort by professionals in the fields of water resources/environmental engineering and aquatic biology to restore small and large degraded ecosystems whether they are located in coastal wetlands, freshwater wetlands, estuaries, rivers or streams. These systems are sometimes associated with an environmental permit for new project, but can also be associated with an existing feature that may be threatened by a natural system. For 10 years, I had the pleasure of working as our company’s lead person for projects at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Many of those projects involved the protection of man-made cultural, historic and recreational features from erosion and flooding from nearby streams and rivers. The photo above shows Yellow Creek (flowing towards the foreground) just upstream of its confluence with the Cuyahoga River where the creek crosses under the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. There’s a large bend (meander) in the stream at this location. The proximity of the creek to the railroad has threatened the stability of the railroad embankment on the right side of the photo. As part of this restoration, quarried rock riprap was placed along the railroad embankment to about the level of a 2-yr flood, and then extended away from the railroad as a low rock berm that separates the bank of the stream from the floodplain behind it where wetland trees, shrubs and grasses were planted. Natural vegetation was also placed on the railroad embankment above the top of the rock riprap. As a result, the natural effects of the stream meandering are arrested for the sake of preserving the cultural, historic and recreational resource. I led the planning, design, and construction oversight of a dozen projects similar to this one in the 23 mile Cuyahoga River corridor that comprises this National Park.

These projects provided me with valuable lessons in ecosystem restoration. The lessons helped these projects to be successful in meeting their intended objectives, and are universal in nature. I’ll elaborate more in subsequent blogs on these following lessons:

• Balancing cultural/historic/recreational values with ecological values.
• Understanding how rivers work.
• The importance of engineering in ecosystem restoration.
• The benefits of using of natural and native materials.
• The limitations of human efforts in the good work of restoration.

Serving in the Communion Service

One of the monthly events I most look forward to is the Parkminster Communion service, which happens on the first Sunday of every month. Sometimes I participate like all the congregants, and other times I get to serve by anointing with oil those who choose to be. This past Sunday I received an email sometime on Saturday to serve and I responded immediately with a “yes”.

I take on the role of an anointer feeling both the joy of being together with other believers, and feeling compassion for them. As they walk towards me after receiving the bread and cup, I try to remember their name. When they stop in front of me I speak their name before I begin to pray for them, while making the sign of the cross on their forehead with the oil from a tiny jar. While I typically don’t know their concerns, I know the God who loves them and I know He desires them to be healed. It might be a young married woman who desires a child, a teenager who’s struggling with their sexual identity, an adult dealing with physical pain or a discouraging doctor’s report. I often pray for the men I anoint that God would empower them to be the men that he has called them to be, filling them courage to be bold for Him.

Now and then I get to anoint those in my family, and especially Corinne. This Sunday, nine days after major surgery, I discerned that I should pray that God would continue to hear her far beyond what she could expect or imagine. I prayed that He would give her a bigger healing than she could ever expect.

In so many of the Bible stories, Jesus takes an event and makes it into much more. He takes the funeral of Lazarus and makes it into a resurrection. He creates a feast with extra food to spare for a weary, hungry crowd from 5 loaves and 2 fishes. He takes a wedding that’s short on wine and treats its participants to a finest of wines. In the same way, I want to believe, for each one that comes forward, that God desires a healing, an experience, a life that’s full of abundance, beyond their wildest dreams. That’s why don’t turn down the opportunity to serve His people through the communion service.

Walking Together By Faith, Through Life's Challenges

This is a “selfie” taken by my love, and wife Corinne, a little less than 24 hours after undergoing a robotic hysterectomy by laparoscopy. The photo shows her upbeat and positive approach to the recovery road that she’s now beginning. There are many emotions that I’ve felt and so many assurances of God’s love to Corinne and to me that I’ve received through this experience. It all began when I received Corinne’s call on my cell phone while standing in Interchange 10 at the New NY Bridge project, about to start an inspection of the project’s Rockland stormwater facilities. She told me that the report from her hysteroscopy showed some atypical cells in the lining of the uterus, and that a full hysterectomy was strongly recommended. I immediately became fearful. Within 2 weeks of the call, we had a consultation with the surgeon, Dr. Angel (recommended by OBGYN Dr. Victory) who did a great job of answering all our questions, and we agreed to the surgery.

We asked for prayers from the Parkminster congregation, the Parkminster Men’s Chorus, some co-workers at Bergmann Associates, friends, and family. Our requests extended further to include my supervisor at the New NY Bridge, who had the same surgery a few years ago. She totally understood that I would need to take a week off, and she offered to pray for Corinne. I also connected with a dear college friend, Ralph, who’s involved in a ministry of prayer. He told me on the day of the surgery he would be traveling alone by car somewhere, and would set aside a time to pray. My new Bible Study group from Redeemer Presbyterian Church, that I meet with on Wednesdays, prayed with me and asked for an update before the next meeting (which I would not be attending in person).

Corinne asked me to pray for her just minutes before she was to be rolled into surgery. As I leaned over her, trying not to pull any of her tubes off, I had this vision of God’s people praying for her, and I prayed confidently “Lord, unleash the prayers of your people onto Corinne and onto the medical team and bless every aspect of this operation”. I prayed that prayer believing that a reservoir full of prayers was about to burst over her, and carry her through the operation. I became sure and unafraid.

When Dr. Angel came to see me in the waiting area about 2 hours later, she reported to me that they had completed the surgery successfully, and had taken 3 scans, none of which indicated cancer. They did not need to prolong the surgery by taking lymph nodes from around the uterus. Of course, there would be full pathology tests, but the cancer risk was very low.

Not that we were still able to have more children, but this event also gives me pause to thank God again for the healthy equipment he provided Corinne with that enabled her to bear, and give birth to 3 children who are blessings to us and to God.

Now begins the recovery. For me, this week is a time to be home primarily to love on and serve Corinne, make sure she heals well, and maybe get a few other things done that are difficult to do when I am away. I miss being home and so far the cooking of meals, washing dishes, and sitting on a stool in my kitchen on my laptop computer has been pleasant.

God’s People Are Everywhere

In Christ there is no east or west, In Him no South or North; But one great fellowship of love Throughout the whole wide earth............ John Oxenham

For most of my adult life I have fellowshipped with God’s people at Parkminster Presbyterian Church, where I have learned both to receive and to give to the community of believers there. There have been two specific times when, for a period, I have been away from the comforts of my home fellowship. In each case I chose to seek fellowship with other believers, not knowing anyone in particular but knowing a little about the church.

In each case I was blessed by my choice to seek out other believers. The first was during the summer of 1976 when, between my undergraduate and graduate years of college, I was a summer intern at the United States Water Resources Council in Washington, DC. I remember the feelings of loneliness that swept over me as my brother dropped me off at the garden apartment I had rented in Arlington, VA. My pastor, Bill Showalter, had recommended I check out Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, MD. So I did that, and eventually got involved with Ambassadors, a fellowship group for post-college age men and women. From there I got to know a couple of guys who owned a house in NW Washington with an extra room, and I moved in with them. For most of that summer, I participated in Sunday worship, Ambassadors, and lived with two great Christian guys who took me under their wings. Near the end of the summer I got to lead a large group Ambassadors breakfast study of Proverbs which I had been reading on my own. Participants worked through the Proverbs passages and shared with each other at their breakfast tables. I was floored when near the end of the program the pastor stood up and said, “Who pulled together this study?” I responded that I had. He was quite complimentary of my work, which meant quite a bit to me as a newcomer and also because the pastor was Richard C. Halverson, who was very well known in Presbyterian circles and who later became the US Senate Chaplain.

The second has been this present time when I have been working in Tarrytown, NY on the New NY Bridge. For the first 6 months of the job, I plowed through the work week without much of a break, since there was plenty of work to do and plenty to learn. Even though I was home on the weekends and would participate in worship as usual, I was sometimes feeling dry and empty, and felt I needed something more. After I had been there about 6 months, Corinne was in New York for the weekend, and we attended a worship service at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in the Upper West part of Manhattan. Redeemer Presbyterian is Tim Keller’s church, one of many which is making a positive impact for Christ in New York City. I had read one of Tim’s books and have recently started another. After the service, we connected up with some people in the fellowship hall and I asked if there were any Bible Study groups meeting near Tarrytown. I found out there is a group meeting right in the Village of Tarrytown not more than 3 miles from my hotel. Since joining the group, we have been doing study of the book of John based on the sermon series and sharing and praying for each other. This experience has helped my faith walk and I have been blessed by this very multi-ethnic, highly educated group of believers. They are a thoughtful and caring people, who have welcomed me with open arms.

Through both these experiences I have learned that God’s people are everywhere, and I can believe with certainty that anywhere I go, if I seek fellowship with His people, I will find it.

Remembering the Collapse of the Thruway Bridge Over Schoharie Creek

When traveling to Albany and points south, on the New York State Thruway (I-90), I cross Schoharie Creek. This is a special bridge because it was here on Sunday April 5, 1987 at 10:50 AM that the former bridge collapsed killing 10 people. The 25th anniversary of this event was remembered in the link shown below. The collapse was caused by scouring of the bridge pier foundations during a flood event. This is a special bridge for me too, as the collapse of the bridge began a chain reaction from Thruway, State and Federal transportation officials to assure the safety of bridges constructed over streams and rivers. As a water resources engineer with only 10 years out of school with a couple of degrees, and some experience with hydraulic modeling and bridge scour, I didn’t understand how much this event would influence my career until many years later. Within a couple years after the event, the Thruway sought to conduct investigations of all their bridges over streams and rivers. They divided the Thruway into three sections, my company, Bergmann Associates, was selected to study all the bridges west of MP 310, (near Waterloo, NY) and I became the project manager of that study. I investigated the scour vulnerability of the I-90 bridges over many of our western NY streams including: Fall Brook, Canandaigua Outlet, Genesee River, Black Creek, Tonawanda Creek, Niagara River, Cattaraugus Creek and others. All engineers, but particularly those who work in or with the public sector, have a great responsibility to assure the safety of the public and in the case of highways and bridges, the traveling public. When we evaluate or design a highway, bridge, dam or other feature we take upon ourselves the responsibility for the lives of people who will use that facility now and in the future. This is why, in the chaos of work, we must never lose sight of those people who will be affected for better or worse by our decisions and actions. Even in the late 1980’s there was a lack of fully understanding the mechanism of bridge scour, and there was a lack of attention to the many scour critical bridges that posed a threat to the public. In light of what I now understand about bridge scour, this is astonishing and frightening. In my work on the Thruway bridges our team found significant design and maintenance deficiencies that we would not dream of allowing today. This is why we must never take the “know it all” attitude, but rather always approach our work with a measure of ignorance. There’s no way that I could have known when I was a college student, the significance of my training and how important that training would become for me later in life. Although I did not leave college with all the tools I would eventually need to study and design bridges to assure their safety from scour, I left with a solid enough foundation so that I could learn to address these problems. I completed my education believing in the basics of water resources engineering, and that I would someday use what I believed in to bless people but not seeing exactly how those skills would be used. This is why believing is seeing. Believing enables us to see what we could not otherwise see. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/25-years-ago-the-bridge-was-gone-3460076.php

Celebrating the First Year of Graham Kelly’s Life

                                                                                                                                                                               

My wife and I had the pleasure of spending this past weekend at the home of our daughter, Jennica, and son-in-law, Tyler, the special occasion being our first grandson’s first birthday.  We were in town a year ago as a result of receiving word that Jennica’s water had broke, that she was being admitted to the hospital, and that she was not coming back home without a baby.   We decided to get some rest and make the long highway journey the next day, leaving at 8:30 AM.   We arrived at the hospital at 4:30 PM, and got to see Jennica and Tyler before the contractions had progressed too far.  Besides waiting for Graham to arrive, we saw the final round of a golf tournament won by Phil Mickelson and most of the Super Bowl (Ravens vs. 49ers), both quite entertaining.  But we didn’t get to see the end of the Super Bowl (and didn’t care) because Graham was born about 8:30 PM and we got to see him about 9:00 PM.  It was a blessing to see and hold him within an hour of his birth, and to celebrate with his mother and dad.  There were two particularly special moments I remember most.  The first followed a text that Tyler’s mom received not too far from the delivery that led us to hold hands and pray for Graham’s safe arrival.  The second upon seeing the look of joy, weariness and awe that was all over Tyler’s face when he came out to tell us that Graham had safely arrived!

Graham was dedicated to God at his church in September last year, an event that we participated in with family and the congregation.  That dedication was followed by a celebration luncheon prepared by his mother and father for quite a few family members and friends.  I prayed at his luncheon that we, family and friends, would all seek to be a blessing to Graham as he grows.  This little one is a part of two families that will have a positive influence on him – his family and God’s family. 

This long weekend with has given us the chance to see Graham in his home environment.  This photo captures his happiness, and gives clues as to some of the many things make him happy.  He enjoys feeding himself with the many types of finger foods – strawberries, cheese, turkey, Cherrios, watermelon and other tiny delights his mother and dad feed him now.  Most of the time, Graham actually eats his food rather than throwing it overboard to his dog, Murphy.  He also enjoys holding, throwing, pushing, placing and doing various things with balls of the size shown here.   

Our celebration of Graham’s birthday included all the typical fun and food s, presents and cake which were enjoyed by all (a big shout out to mother and dad for putting on a great meal and birthday cake).  Although I enjoyed all the foods and family the best part for me was holding the wiggly child and saying a prayer of thanks to God for Graham Kelly’s first year.      

What If America Began to See Abortion as We Came to See Slavery?

This time of the year, there’s increased attention given in the media to the landmark Roe v. Wade (1973) decision, where the SCOTUS found a constitutional right to abortion could be existed in the 14^th Amendment’s due process clause.  Similarly, SCOTUS also found in Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) a right to own slaves could be contrived from the 5^th Amendment’s due process clause.  Justin Dyer (see attached link below) and others have written on the relationship between slavery and abortion.  The more I ponder this connection between slavery and abortion in Dyer’s and others’ writings, the more I am in touch with why I personally abhor abortion and the more I understand why it still persists in the greatest country on earth.

Look at the similarities between slavery and abortion:

·         They have been perpetuated through badly reasoned decisions of SCOTUS that rationalized evil practices partially on the basis of a right to privacy, when neither is a private matter; 

·         Because SCOTUS removed them from the normal political process, they perpetuated their existence;

·         They have been divisive issues in our nation’s history;

·         They treat persons as property, violating a basic tenant that “…all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”;

·         Both deny basic human dignity; and

·         They elevate one group’s economic well-being above another’s basic rights.

Few American’s today would condone slavery, yet 150 years ago it was the law of the land.  I pray for the day when America would not take abortion lightly but embrace the lives of the unborn as precious.  That precious rendering would find itself in reduced numbers of abortions, increased adoptions, and more responsible sexual behavior.  The cost of the Civil War was staggering in terms of the 620,000 lives lost and as many lives shattered, but abortion since 1973 has taken 55 million lives and emotionally shattered many more.

So how do I help do something restorative to help reduce the need for abortion?  One small thing I’ve done to help is that I have been a supporter of Compass Care in Rochester, an organization that aims to reduce the need for abortion by providing assistance to mothers.  This way, women who are faced with a crisis pregnancy have a caring and knowledgeable place to turn for help.

Since I’ve begun to consider that abortion is a lot like slavery, I’ve had a renewed sense of clarity and purpose that’s firmed up my own beliefs on abortion, and that’s motivated me to take a stand with groups like Compass Care that seek to minister God’s love to those women and their babies who are in great need.     

 http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2013/12/11683/

The American Bald Eagle’s Comeback in New York State

Last week at the New NY Bridge project, where I have spent most of my working life since May 2013, one of my environmental monitors observed that several bald eagles were feasting on fish that had recently died during a cold snap and had become encased in the ice floes that were floating past the bridge. His observations reminded me of a Rochester Democrat & Chronicle article (attached below) authored by Leo Roth in January 2013 that tells the story of the bald eagle’s comeback in New York State. In 1964, Tom Rauber, a bird-watching hobbyist, located an active bald eagle’s nest located at the south end of Hemlock Lake. It turned out that this bald eagle nest was home to the last known mating pair of bald eagles in New York State. Twelve years later, the nest Rauber located became a foster home for eaglets transported from Alaska as part of a NYSDEC restoration program. In 1989 the bald eagle became self-sustaining, and today there are over 300 in New York. In 2007, the federal government removed the bald eagle from the endangered species list. There are many interesting storylines to the article including: the adverse effects of DDT and other pesticides in our environment and the efforts to ban their use; the science of ornithology and development and success of the restoration program; and the sheer majesty of our national bird and emblem. Two other storylines are most touching to me. The first is how one man who, without government funding, was filled with a love and curiosity for this great bird, took on a mission bigger than a bill-paying job (in fact in addition to his regular job) so that those who came after him, could enjoy and also take wonder in the activities of bald eagles. The second is the concept that a species, or an ecosystem, can be nurtured and to some degree restored by humans who have an understanding of the sciences that operate to sustain our complex world. Woven together, these two storylines shout out that our works of restoration, however small in scale, when guided by wonder, love and understanding, run parallel to the work of the Almighty who created everything in the beginning. I doubt at the time he began his restoration project that Tom Rauber fully understood how significant or meaningful his participation in bringing back the bald eagle would become. I suspect he now has a wonderful sense of satisfaction that what he did made a difference. After reading his story I am encouraged to be guided by wonder, love and understanding to engage in little acts of restoring in the places where I am planted. In the process of doing so, I sense I’ll be taking part in activities that God the Father intends to for me and all his children to be doing.

The Lesson of the Raspberry Patch

Last summer my raspberries yielded a plentiful crop of fat, tasty berries. We have a 20 foot long bed that runs along our rear property line and a solid timber fence separating us from our neighbor’s horse farm. Yesterday, we were the beneficiaries of a 50 degree weather day in Rochester in January, with almost no snow on the ground. This was the rare gift of a day I needed if I was going to do the number one thing to assure that I will have another bountiful crop this coming summer – an opportunity to cut out about a third of the bramble that delivered us last year’s crop. The work of cutting out one third of the canes is not physically hard, but I mentally battle the notion that I may be cutting too much back, and as a result the crop yield may be reduced. Yet every winter that conduct the pruning diligently, the raspberry crop comes back strong. When I don’t cut away the woody canes, they sprout shoots that are very brittle. When I don’t trim the tops of the healthy young canes, they either overgrow the fenced enclosure and fall onto the lawn or choke out the other raspberry plants. When I don’t prune to the ground the canes that are growing through the fence, they make lawn mowing alongside them torture. The lesson of the raspberry patch is that a pruned raspberry patch is a healthier, more productive raspberry patch. This process was a reminder to me of what pruning needs to happen at the beginning of this New Year in my own life. It started financially with me when I began to look carefully at some of my monthly expenses and noticed that I was not getting much for what I was paying for. I realized that I was either buying a service that cost more than it was worth, or I was not using a service enough for it to really be worth it for me. So without too much pain, I cut $500 out of my annual budget and am now looking at some other expenses and asking the same questions. With the loss of those expenses comes the gain of time too. More time to spend with loved ones, or doing something to help others, or to write instead of reviewing and paying bills, or calling the vendor to dispute a charge. Trimming raspberry plants and budgets is still some distance from my heart. What if I choose to also trim away worry, to place more of my problems in God’s mighty hands, and to instead spend time enjoying Him for who He is? I suspect that I would be trading away worries for joy, burdens for blessings and anxiety for peace. This is a tougher task than trimming raspberry plants and my less than necessary expenses. I know I will have some setbacks, but I’ll soon look out my window at the raspberry plants, and later the raspberries that will bless our summer dinners and breakfasts, and I’ll remember the lesson of the raspberry patch.