Hemlock Bluffs

Cary, NC – The Woolly Adelgidis an aggressive hemlock destroyer. They have been discovered at Cary’s Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve, the Town of Cary has reported to the CaryCitizen. The Town is working with local, state, national experts to finalize and implement treatment plan.

From the TOC Alert:

The bug has the potential to decimate Hemlock tree populations when left untreated.  Initial research revealed the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, an invasive, non-native aphid-like insect, has impacted about 11 of the Preserve’s 235 Eastern Hemlock trees to date.  The Adelgid, when left unchecked, kills Hemlocks by feeding at the base of their needles, preventing nutrients from flowing to the needles; the needles drop, and the tree dies.  It can take just a few years for Woolly Adelgids to kill even large Hemlocks.  The Woolly Adelgids were found during a routine tree mapping project that was being conducted as Town staff worked proactively to update a proposed Hemlock Woolly Adelgid management plan originally created in 2005 and last updated in 2008.

“The Town of Cary is bringing the necessary resources and best minds to bear on the Woolly Adelgid presence here,” said Doug McRainey, Parks Planning Manager. “We are committed to developing and implementing a treatment protocol and long-term management plan that effectively preserves our Hemlocks while minimizing impacts to other natural inhabitants.”

Hemlock Bluffs

Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve is a unique 158-acre site in southern Cary where Eastern Hemlocks grow along north-facing bluffs, far from their normal range in the foothills and mountains of North Carolina.

The Preserve is a partnership between the Town of Cary— which maintains the Preserve, operates the educational programs and owns onsite structures—and the State of North Carolina, which owns most of the land and helps guide its stewardship.

Approximately 100,000 visitors come each year to enjoy Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve and the Stevens Nature Center.

Fighting the Bug

The Town of Cary is collaborating with divisions of the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the United States Forest Services, North Carolina State University, Bartlett Tree Experts, and others to finalize a multi-phased approach to eliminate existing Adelgids and manage recurrences.

Officials are planning to begin killing the Adelgids during the next few months.  Common methods for controlling the Woolly Adelgid population include injecting treatments into the soil surrounding the tree or into the tree itself and/or spraying trees with special soaps or horticultural oils; there is even research being done on introducing predatory insects to attack the Adelgids, but this treatment has not yet been proven as an effective alternative.

“Despite a handful of anticipated future schedule modifications when we are actively treating the Hemlocks, the Preserve is open and we encourage everyone to come out and enjoy themselves,” McRainey said, adding that the Woolly Adelgid poses no health threat to people, pets or other plants.

Interested parties may subscribe to a list of closures during treatments by clicking the green envelope found at www.townofcary.org.

To reduce the likelihood of recurrences, this September the Town will launch a Hemlock Health Inventory, which will be designed to map all of the Hemlocks in and around Cary and provide property owners and landscape professionals with resources to identify trees impacted by the Woolly Adelgid and encourage appropriate treatment protocols for private property owners.

Citizens wishing to share ideas, questions, comments or concerns about the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid at Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve may email hemlocks@townofcary.orgor call (919) 387-5980.  For regular updates and project information, visit Woolly Adelgid at www.townofcary.org or follow the Town on Twitter.

News on CaryCitizen is sponsored by Crossroads Ford.

Cary, NC – The local Knights of Columbus (Council 6650) will do their anuual Adopt a Highway trash pickup this Saturday, June 26th. They will meet in the early hours at the Burger King on Walnut Street and will provide bags, vests from the NC DOT and work gloves. 

The Knights

The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic, family, fraternal, service organization. Their guiding principles are Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism. The Knights of Columbus members in North Carolina number more than 12,000.

Adopt a Highway

The Adopt-A-Highway Program (AAH) was established in 1988 by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) in response to growing public concern regarding litter along the state’s highways. The AAH Program is administered by the NCDOT Office of Beautification Programs, and is a joint effort between community volunteers and the NCDOT. Its purpose is to decrease the amount of litter on North Carolina’s roadsides and improve the beauty and quality of the environment.

Story by Matt Young, photo by Frédéric Dupont

Cary, N.C. – The Town of Cary recently mailed our latest water report to residents. Here are the highlights of the report.

Water Awards

The Cary/Apex Water Treatment Facility was the winner of the 2009 ”Best Tasting Water” award at the 89th Annual Conference of the N.C. American Waterworks and Water Environment Association.  Twenty-seven treatment facilities submitted samples.

In 2009, Cary/Apex also received the Partnership for Safe Water Five Year Directors Award – one of only three in the State of North Carolina.

Water Source

Our water comes from the B. Everett Jordan Reservoir, locally known as Jordan Lake in Chatham County.  The lake is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is part of the Cape Fear River Basin.

What’s in Water?

The U.S. E.P.A. prescribes limitations of contaminants in all public water systems.  Water normally possesses some level of contaminants, but at low levels they are determined to not be a health risk.  These contaminants may include microbes, inorganic contaminants (such as minerals from urban stormwater runoff), pesticides, organic chemicals (such as petroleum products), and radioactive materials (these occur in nature or can be the result of mining).

Be Heard

The Town of Cary encourages public input regarding decisions affecting our community’s drinking water. Regular meetings of the Cary Town Council are typically held the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall located at 316 North Academy Street in Cary. The public is welcome.

More information about council meetings can be found on the Town’s Web Site.

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Zen Water by Frédéric Dupont via a Creative Commons license on Flickr.

Story and photo by Leslie Huffman

Cary, NC – This week’s rain was a pleasant break from the dry heat we had been getting.  Higher temperatures and drier air seem to have come a little early this Spring.  Has drought in recent years ever made you want to have a more sustainable landscape plan?  Does you home need a water efficiency makeover?

The Town of Cary has the answer for you.

“The Town’s water conservation program is designed to educate the community about the environmental and economic benefits of practicing water efficiency,” said Marie Cefalo, water conservation coordinator.

Good Water Habits Workshops are scheduled throughout the summer to help citizens learn how to pump up their water savings. Events are free and open to the public.  Check out these programs.

A Water Sensible Home - June 5 at 1 p.m., Home Depot, 2031 Walnut Street & 2 p.m. at Lowe’s, 2000 Walnut Street

Give your home a water efficient makeover!  Find out which appliances and fixtures use the least amount of water to help you save the most.  Presenters will also provide information on local, state and federal rebates.

Rainwater Harvesting: Irrigating the Natural Way – June 8 at 6:30 p.m., Bond Park Community Center

From rain barrels to underground cisterns, explore the options, techniques and benefits of rainwater harvesting with Mike Ruck from Rain Water Solutions.

Good Circulation: Tankless, Recirculating, and Solar Water Heaters -June 17 at 6:30 p.m., Bond Park Community Center

Saving water and energy go hand in hand. Join Wayne Hughart, Certified Green Plumber with WACO Plumbing, to learn about water and energy efficient solutions that can green the plumbing in your home. Information on available rebates will also be provided.

Composting: Good Soil Nutrition – June 24 at 6 p.m., Cary Senior Center in Bond Park

Learn how to transform your food scraps and yard waste into a nutritious fertilizer! During this indoor/outdoor workshop, we’ll explore how worms can recycle our food scraps and also visit the garden to see how a compost pile is created. We will provide you with the knowledge to compost and free materials for a starter worm bin. Class size limited to 25 participants.

For more information or to register for these WaterWise Workshops visit Water Conservation at www.townofcary.org or call (919) 469-4090.

Heather Morell, Conservation Specialist and Spruce Coordinator

Story and photo by Leslie Huffman

Cary, NC – The Town of Cary’s Spruce program, only a year old, has already drawn regional recognition.

Spruce is a volunteer-based program designed to connect citizens to beautification, litter reduction, and environmental service projects in our community.

The Award

Spruce has recently been presented with the 2010 Outstanding Litter Prevention Program Award by the Carolina Recycling Association.

The Carolina Recycling Association is a nonprofit organization made-up of multi-national corporations, small businesses, local government, state agencies and individuals across the Carolina’s who are committed to waste reduction and recycling efforts. Spruce was selected from other programs throughout North and South Carolina.

The Accomplishments

Heather L. Morell, Conservation Specialist and Spruce Program Coordinator, has made this program a huge success.

“We truly have our citizen volunteers to thank for this distinction. They have enthusiastically embraced this initiative by volunteering for projects and attending Spruce events. We could not have achieved our success or this award without their amazing efforts and support”, says Ms. Morell.

Spruce initiatives include biannual town-wide litter sweeps, Adopt-a-Spot opportunities, garden projects, tree/flower plantings, waste reduction events, beautification projects, and neighborhood-scale sweeps.

In it’s first year of the program, Spruce has:

• Had 714 volunteers give 1,850 hours for environmental service projects in Cary.
• Volunteers collected over 10,500 pounds of litter,
• Spread 225 cubic yards of mulch,
• Planted almost 500 trees, flowers and plants,
• Diverted almost 54,000 pounds of household hazardous waste and electronics from the landfill,
• Given away 100 cubic yards of free compost.

Congratulations to Heather and all the volunteers throughout Cary that support efforts to keep our community clean and forever green.

Story by Matt Fisher, photos by Karl Fisher

Cary, NC – The SMARTT Challenge (Students Making Advancements in Renewable Transportation Technologies) ran another successful competition this Saturday, despite the hot weather. This marks the 16th anniversary of the challenge. I went to the challenge with my father, CaryCitizen photographer Karl Fisher.

The challenge was sponsored and hosted by SAS Institute and took place in a parking lot turned to race track.

The idea of the challenge was to get high schools around the country, including teams from North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Iowa and more, to modify gasoline vehicles to run solely on electric power. The teams then participated in events that displayed their cars, inside and out.

The cars were divided into three categories: Car, Truck and modified. Modified cars were allowed more latitude with respect to voltage used, motors, tires, and other features, while stock cars had to adhere to strict limitations.

This year, eight high schools, brandishing ten electric cars, showed up to the final event at SAS. Cars were judged in categories, depending on if they were stock or modified, including Troubleshooting, Oral Presentation, Autocross performance, Design, and more.

In the end, Topsail High School, from North Carolina, came out on top with their modified yellow Ford Ranger. Topsail High school won the Oral Presentation, Range (Stock cars), Website, and Vehicle Design (Stock cars) categories for their vehicle.

Miramar High School, in Florida, entered their Porsche 940, and ended in second place, winning the Vehicle Design (Modified cars) category.

Topsail High School’s other entry, a Toyota MR2, took third place, winning the Range (Modified cars) and Autocross (Modified Cars) categories.

Every school that participated did very well overall. Both Autocrosses, modified and stock, were thoroughly entertaining races, and it’s hard to imagine that not a drop of gasoline was used in the performance of the vehicles.

It was a wonderful event to witness and I can definitely say that I’m looking forward to going to watch the 17th annual SMARTT Challenge next year.

Cary, NC -If you’re like me, you have a few cans of old paint, several dead computers and a bunch of bottles of old insecticide floating around the house. Maybe more than a few. But how to get rid of it safely? That is, safely as far as the environment is concerned.

No, you can’t just throw it in the trash or dump it down the drain.

Dump Your Hazardous Junk This Saturday

Good news – the Town of Cary and Wake County will partner to host an electronics and residential household hazardous waste collection on Saturday, May 22, 2010 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Garmon Operations Center (address down below). The event serves as a safe and convenient way to dispose of old electronics, paint, automotive fluids, chemicals and spent fluorescent lights.

“Last year’s event was very successful: 744 residents participated in the event and dropped off 20,460 pounds of electronics and 53,806 pounds of residential household hazardous waste,” said Wake County Environmental Services Director Tommy Esqueda. “We look forward to another successful event this year.”

What to Bring

Citizens may bring electronic items for recycling such as:

• Computers (CPUs)
• Household Electronics
• Keyboards
• Laptop PCs
• Monitors
• Televisions

Citizens may also bring household hazardous materials such as:

• Household cleaners/chemicals
• Paints/lacquers/polishes
• Pesticides/herbicides/poisons
• Solvents

Where to Bring It

Town of Cary – Garmon Operations Center
400 James Jackson Avenue
8 AM – 4 PM
Saturday, May 22, 2010

For a complete list of acceptable items, visit Spruce or call (919) 469-4301.

Dump your junk safely this Saturday. Free up some space in your garage or attic and do the right thing by the environment.

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CaryCitizen Community News is sponsored by the Carolina Railhawks.

Cary, NC – Are you odd or even?  That will determine what day of the week you can water your lawn or garden.  Alternate day watering rules, adopted several years ago, are still in effect year-round in Cary.

When to Water

Cary residents are called upon to do their part protecting our environment, preserving water resources and limiting harmful runoff. The regulations apply to in-ground and hose-connected watering devices.

• Water customers with odd-numbered street addresses can water outdoors using automated devices such as sprinklers and irrigation systems only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
• Customers with even-numbered street addresses may water outdoors using sprinklers and irrigation systems only on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
• No one may use outdoor automated devices–including sprinklers–on Mondays.
• Hand-watering and using drip irrigation are okay any day of the week.

More Info

For more tips and information, visit Water Conservation at The Town of Cary or call (919) 469-4387.

Cary, NC – In honor of the one-year anniversary of Spruce and International Compost Awareness Week,* the Town of Cary has partnered with residential yard waste company McGill Environmental Systems to host a Free Compost Giveaway.

The Spruce Program is a Town of Cary award-winning organization helping citizens, groups, businesses and schools work together to provide a direct impact on our environment.  Spruce is designed to support efforts to keep our community clean and forever green.

Get Your Free Compost on Saturday, May 8

Come to the Garmon Operations Center at 400 James Jackson Avenue and get your garden beds ready for spring planting with free compost.  The Town is giving away 100 yards of compost to Cary citizens.  Town of Cary residents (ID required) may receive up to one yard of free compost.

Saturday, May 8, 2010
9 AM – Noon
(or until supplies run out)
Garmon Operations Center

*seriously

Earth Day Celebration 2009, photo from Spruce

Cary, NC – This April 22nd, the country will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.  The Town of Cary will be holding its celebration in conjunction with the Spring Daze Arts Festival this Saturday at Bond Park.  This is the 10th year that Cary has held an Earth Day celebration.

How Did Earth Day Begin?

Senator Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day

In November 1962, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin wanted to bring environmental issues into the political agenda. The first task was to persuade President John Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. President Kennedy liked the idea and began a five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963.  This was the seed that ultimately flowered into Earth Day.

At that time in our history, environmental degradation was appearing everywhere.  Air pollution was thick, our parks and roadways where covered with litter and a little thing called “the greenhouse effect” was being discussed by scientists.

“Everyone noticed except the political establishment. The environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation’s political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not,” recalled Senator Nelson in a 1993 article.

The idea occurred to the Senator – why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to the environment?  Nelson announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone in the country to participate. The news of the demonstration spread rapidly across the nation.

“The response was electric. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air – and they did so with spectacular exuberance,” recalled Senator Gaylord Nelson.

40 Year’s of Earth Day

On April 22, 1970, more than 20 million demonstrators from 10,000 elementary and high schools, 2,000 colleges, and over 1,000 communities participated in Nelson’s demonstration. The occasion made people pay attention and concerns about environmental issues began to take root.

1995, Senator Nelson Receives Presidential Medal of Honor

On March 21, 1971, the UN Secretary General signed a proclamation establishing Earth Day as an official international holiday. Now people all over the world are learning about environmental issues in their communities.  In 1995, Gaylord Nelson received the Presidential Medal of Honor from President Clinton for his lifelong work on behalf of the environment.

Celebrate Earth Day In Cary

During this Saturday’s Spring Daze Arts Festival you are invited to celebrate Earth Day’s Birthday by visiting 8 booths near the boat house in Bond Park.  When you visit your first booth, be sure to pick up an Earth Day Birthday Card.  Then take your card and visit all of the environmental booths to get a stamp and learn how Cary is helping the environment.

Stop by, play a game, get a stamp and learn about:

• Water Conservation – Learn about ways and devices that will help you save water in and around your house.  Play a fun game to “Whack Water Waste”.
• Recycling & Spruce – Ever wonder what you can recycle in Cary?  Visit the recycling booth to learn what items you can recycle and how to keep them out of the landfill.  Also, find out about ways to volunteer with the Spruce Program to clean up litter, plants trees and flowers and take care of Cary’s parks.
• Horticulture – Here you can learn about the importance of trees and pick up a free tree seedling.
• Wastewater Pretreatment – Our sewer system needs your help to protect it from clogs and overflows.  Learn how you can help by keeping fats and oils out of the system by recycling your oil.
• Parks & Greenways - Cary has so many beautiful parks and greenways, visit the booth to find out which greenway is closest to you house.
• Hemlock Bluffs – Hemlock Bluffs is a treasure in your backyard.  Play a fun game to learn about wildlife and the park.  Pick up some bird seed for our feathered friends as well.
• Storm Water – You can play a big part in protecting our rivers, streams and lakes.  Come to the storm water booth to learn how and make a cool button to take with you.
• C-Tran – Stop by to find out how you can ride a C-Tran bus and help reduce your carbon footprint.

Once you receive a stamp on your Earth Day Birthday Card from all 8 booths you will receive an Earth Day gift from the Town of Cary.  Remember, everyday is Earth Day!