Happy New Year! As we all reflect on our experiences from the past year and start thinking about what’s to come in 2024, we at Olmsted City have a lot to consider. In 2023, just our second year as a small, volunteer driven non-profit, we accomplished more than we dreamed we could. And we did it all with a growing community of people who love Utica’s gem that is FT Proctor Park. In 2024, we hope that community continues to grow, envelops the surrounding neighborhoods, and increases even more the improvements we are able to bring to the park and its visitors. We thought you might like to hear about the projects we have planned for this coming year, dream along with us about what we hope to accomplish, and think about how you may be able to help.
If you haven’t already heard, Olmsted City was one of 385 organizations, out of 842 applications nationwide, to be awarded an Urban and Community Forestry Grant from the US Department of Agriculture this past September. Twenty eight projects in NY State were selected. The funds will be used over the next 5 years as we continue our partnership with the City of Utica to complete the projects outlined in our application.
This grant opportunity was specifically created to address urban forestry inequality. Urban forestry is the care and management of single trees and tree populations in urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment. This includes urban parks, street trees, landscaped boulevards, gardens, river and coastal promenades, greenways, river corridors, wetlands, and nature preserves. Urban trees provide many benefits for city residents, including overall improved health and well-being due to cleaner air and water, reduced temperatures in the warmer months, and fewer illnesses and instances of death caused by extreme heat and poor air quality. Studies have shown that lower income communities have lower tree canopy cover, fewer parks, and smaller park area than higher income communities.
In Utica this is also true. FT Proctor Park is bordered by lower income neighborhoods and can provide clear benefits to these surrounding communities if cared for. Our grant proposal focused on 7 areas: Forest Renewal, Forest Management, Park Access, Water Conservation, Invasive Species Control, Nature Trail Revitalization, and Community Outreach. It was directly because of how we plan to improve and increase access to parks and nature in underserved communities that we were awarded this grant opportunity for FT Proctor Park.
We are incredibly humbled. However, this grant comes with an immense amount of responsibility and work! Along with continuing to maintain the areas we have already begun revitalizing, these are the grant projects we have planned for 2024:
Early Spring Blossoms of the Eastern Redbud Tree
Forest Renewal – We will be planting 30 new trees in 2 locations this year – near the park’s main gate at Culver Ave and Rutger St, and behind the new pavilion. But this is more than just digging a hole and placing a tree. In fact, the planting is just one step. We are researching and choosing native trees that will flourish in their new location, watering them through their first year to help them become established, and providing pruning and maintenance long term to help them thrive for years to come.
Forest Management – We will be working with tree care experts to evaluate the existing trees throughout the park. This will include hazard pruning, removal of trees where necessary, and watching for disease or other issues that may need to be addressed to maintain or improve the health of this small urban forest.
New Trail on the Lily Pond Plateau
Park Access – We will continue to increase and improve access throughout the park. This year we will connect more trails to the new ones created on the Lily Pond Plateau last year. These trails will extend into the wooded area behind the 2 small bathhouses and become part of a new nature trail destination. We will also be adding directional signage to help visitors navigate the park and educational signage to increase awareness of the value of urban parks like this one. This year signs will be placed near the new pavilion to give an overview of the history of the park and the amenities it holds. We will also be repairing and maintaining the stone staircases throughout the park. Which ones will be first we haven’t figured out yet. Stay tuned!
Water Conservation – Starch Factory Creek runs through FT Proctor Park and since the park’s creation has provided seasonal flooding challenges. We will be hiring a landscape architecture firm to look for solutions to better manage and use the water that flows through and the water that collects in the meadow on the lower level. Once completed, this project could not only mitigate flooding damage in the park, but improve flow and water quality downstream.
Invasive Species Control – Visitors to the park may not be aware of the efforts Olmsted City has made in the past 2 years to control the spread of non-native, invasive species in the park. We have focused on 4 of the most destructive species so far: phragmites, a reed that has spread through a large portion of the lower meadow; knotweed that has sprung up along the creek edge; garlic mustard that is invading the forest floor on the north side; and the spongy moth, an exotic caterpillar with a voracious appetite that was threatening the very trees we are trying to protect. Our efforts have shown success already! This year we will continue to focus on these invasives as well as add buckthorn, Japanese honeysuckle, and multiflora rose to our list. These plants can become dominant if left to thrive, and will choke out valuable native plants that are essential to the health of our local ecosystem. Find out more about invasive species in our blog post from February 2023, A Focus on Plants – Invasive Species.
Nature Trail Revitalization – This project will recreate the trails located behind the bathhouses and create a new destination on this level of the park. Currently there are 2 staircases from the upper walking loop that lead down into this area but are disconnected, basically dead ends. This project includes creating trails to connect these staircases to the Bathhouse Staircase and the new paths on the Lily Pond Plateau, adding yet more walking loops and another, more wooded destination for the many people who walk the upper loop. This is the just the first phase – watch for further improvements to this area in future years!
Be a Part of our Community of Volunteers
And lastly, but maybe most importantly, Community Outreach – The work we plan to do at the park is magnified if more people, and more of the people who live around it, come out and spend time enjoying it. Whether that be walking and biking, breathing in the fresh air, relaxing on a park bench, learning about our natural environment, or building comaraderie while volunteering with us, there are benefits for everyone to be found here. We will be spreading the word about what the park has to offer. We will also be conducting a Bioblitz at the park for people of all ages. This is like a nature themed scavenger hunt – a fun, educational discovery and inventory of the wide variety of living things that inhabit the park.
Search for fauna or flora like these found at FT Proctor Park last year:
Red Trillium
Whitetail Dragonfly
We hope you are as excited about the coming year as we are. Please consider volunteering with us, or joining us at one of our events in 2024. Learn about our efforts and the issues we are facing by catching up on our blog posts at olmstedcity.org/blog. Follow us on Facebook for the latest news and announcements. Reach out to us by sending an email to olmstedcity@gmail.com.
For more information, check out the following links:
USDA Urban Community Forestry Factsheet
National Geographic – Bioblitz
