Native Seed Pilot Project

On Tuesday, June 21, D&R Greenway Land Trust, in partnership with forty volunteers from Bristol-Myers Squibb, launched its Bulk Native Seed Production Pilot Project, at a public ceremony on Hopewell Township's St. Michaels Farm Preserve.

Hopewell Borough Mayor, Paul Anzano, and Mercer County Executive, Brian Hughes, joined Linda J. Mead, President and CEO of D&R Greenway and Frederick J. Egenolf, Director of Community Affairs for Bristol-Myers Squibb at the podium. Susan Payne, Executive Director of the State Agricultural Development Committee, spoke on the importance of preservation of lands such as St. Michael's to the SADC, --major provider of funding for this Preserve.

Representatives of Conservation Resources, Inc., and the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, --a division of The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, partners in this project--, were also in attendance for this initial planting of wildflowers and native grasses on 5.25 acres of the St. Michaels land. Linda Mead revealed that, throughout the St. Michaels fund drive, "Preservation was not an endpoint, --rather the beginning of opportunities for innovative stewardship approaches to benefit the entire region."

A unique grant supports this new partnership between D&R Greenway and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The federal Natural Resources Conservation Service [NRCS] awarded a Conservation Innovation Grant to D&R Greenway to create this bulk seed project over the next three years, to serve as regional model. This program represents a unique blend of agricultural and conservation techniques and objectives. A matching grant by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, --through its corporate giving program--, and seed (pun intended) money from Conservation Resources, Inc., allowed this project to flower. This initiative was the only New Jersey project funded by NRCS in 2010.

"At Bristol-Myers Squibb, we take seriously our commitment to economic, social and environmental sustainability," declares Frederick J. Egenolf, Director of Community Affairs. "By working with D&R Greenway Land Trust and other community partners on projects such as the native seed nursery and the acquisition of Carson Road Woods and the St. Michaels property, we are helping to improve the quality of life and protect the environment, in communities where our employees live and work."

Because of the success of its Native Plant Nursery, D&R Greenway was selected by the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, of Staten Island, to help expand their native seed operation for our region. Greenbelt Native Plant Center provided the bulk seed project's "founder plants", representing thirteen species, emphasis on native. Having evolved for our region and alongside native animals and insects, they will provide crucial nourishment and shelter for wildlife.

The project will propagate knowledge as well as seeds. Through a series of field days, New Jersey growers will learn the best techniques for growing native seed. The project will produce a Manual for Bulk Native Seed Production in New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic Region. Greenbelt will harvest ripe seeds here for a series of New York projects, including transforming Staten Island's 2,200-acre Fresh Kills Landfill into a park in years ahead.

background:
The model native seed project perpetuates the agricultural heritage of Hopewell Valley to serve 21st-century needs. The St. Michaels Farm Preserve property has remained largely undisturbed over the 300 years since Hopewell was settled. Funded through a wide coalition of local communities, private contributors, and state and county government, D&R Greenway led the preservation of the 340-acre property, completed in January 2010.

D&R Greenway has undertaken this one-of-a kind project in partnership with the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, a division of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Greenbelt is supplying the local founder plants that will be used to "seed" this project, and will advise the growing project throughout its infancy. Among the thirteen starter species are wildflowers, such as New England aster and Joe Pye weed; and native grasses such as Indian grass and broom sedge.

The project is an innovative blend of agricultural and conservation techniques. The bulk seed production fields will enhance soil tilth, increase rainwater infiltration, and support a diverse guild of native pollinators. The growing fields will produce seed for a blended native seed meadow mix genetically appropriate to the region. This pilot project will produce the only native plant seed mix derived from ecotypes local to New Jersey and metropolitan New York. Local ecotypes of native species are the most successfully adapted to conditions within their region.

In addition to supporting NYC Parks' projects, D&R Greenway will establish local and regional markets for native seeds. Someday soon, residents will be able to grow wildflowers on their own property, with native seed grown at St. Michaels. This new D&R Greenway preserve will become a viable "seed", growing community through the land.

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D&R Greenway Land Trust