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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES! Earth Sangha is looking for six volunteers to form its Field Site Management Corps. The aim of this critical new task force will be to monitor and help maintain Earth Sangha plantings in various park sites throughout the region. The primary task will involve replacement planting of dead seedlings in the spring and fall. Other responsibilities will include making regular site visits to identify problems such as flooding, drought, vandalism, deer browsing, and errant mowing, as well as removing debris such as old tree tubes and support stakes that may no longer be necessary. Field Site Management Corps members will be asked to keep a maintenance log for each site and communicate regularly with Earth Sangha staff. Successful candidates will be field-savvy, field-hardy, and able to operate both independently and part of a team. They will also have access to reliable transportation (preferably a pick-up truck) and willing to commit an entire year (minimum 5 hours to maximum 15 hours per month) to the position. On-site orientation, tools, and Earth Sangha T-shirts will be provided. Positions in the Field Site Management Corps are volunteer positions, though mileage, lunch, and other expenses will be paid for by Earth Sangha. Interested, please write to info@earthsangha.org or call Tommy Ventre at (443) 801-3443. OUR FALL SCHEDULE The Fall season, the best season for gardening and planting in our region, will arrive soon. We are partnering with the Fairfax County Public Works Department and the Park Authority for the following planting events. We will provide all the tools and lunch for our volunteers. 1) Waverly Park in Vienna on Sunday, September 30: The Park Authority removed the concrete path along the stream. We will plant about 200 native seedlings. We are looking for 40 volunteers for 3 hours. 2) Rutherford Park in Fairfax on Saturday, October 6 (tentative): Right by the parking lot off Guinea Road, there are two sizable open, sunny area. We will plant about 200 tree seedlings and wild flowers. We are looking for 40 volunteers for 3 hours. 3) Frying Pan Park Farm in Herndon on Sunday, October 14: An enhancement planting job following last year's planting. We want to replace those seedlings that did not survive the bad soil and the dry Summer. We will plant 100 shrubs and some wild flowers and native grasses. We are looking for 15 volunteers for 3 hours. 4) Sully Historic Park in Chantilly on Friday, October 19: A lovely place and a fun job of planting about 90 to 100 wild flowers along a stream. A business group in Chantilly that works with Greater DC Cares may take on this task. 5) Noman Cole Waste Management Site in Lorton on Saturday, October 27, Sunday, October 28, and possibly again on Sunday, November 4: It's a secluded and gated site but the soil is nice and wet. It is also a huge site! We want to plant more than 1,000 shrubs and trees. Since it is inside the locked fence and with limited parking space, we will have to split the work into two or three events. We will be working both on Saturday (10/27) and Sunday (10/28) for 5 hours each day. We will most likely need another date to remove one huge bushed vines of Asian wisteria. We also saw the carpets of Japanese stiltgrass along the stream, but that won't interfere with our planting this Fall. 6) Canterbury Woods in Fairfax (corner of Braddock and Wakefield Chapel Road): Our beloved Maureen Goble's environmental class students, with the help of local residents, planted this site in the Spring. We will need to do some amendment planting to replace the dead seedlings and adding some more. About 50 shrubs will be planted. We would like to invite a small group of volunteers on a weekday afternoon, around 4 pm for 2 hours. We might need 5 to 6 volunteers. In addition, we will be building a huge new additional structure (for the shade cloth) at our Nursery in Springfield and a big planting job (for the rain garden and the cleared wooded area) some time in November in our Native Arboretum site (Marie Butler Leven Preserve) in McLean. I am also looking for one or two mature volunteers who would take care of watering the seedlings either on Saturday or Sunday for October and November. Our staff will be fully engaged with the Fall planting events, and we could use some help in our nursery during the weekend. Now that we are watering every day and with the new system, it takes only 2 hours to water the entire nursery. I am very grateful to you for your continued support. There is just no way of accomplishing any of these tasks without your help! Please call or e-mail to let me know if you can help. Lisa Bright OUR TREE BANK / HISPANIOLA PROGRAM The Sangha now has an international program! Last summer we launched a conservation agroforestry project in the Dominican Republic, near the border with Haiti. Details are in the October 2006 issue of our newsletter, the Acorn. For additional pictures, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/earthsangha. Home |
Buddhism and the Environment |
