Thanks to a partnership between the Ausable Freshwater Center (AFC) and the Uihlein Foundation of Lake Placid, we've laid the foundation for a hyper local native plant nursery―the Ausable Conservation Nursery. The nursery is located on the privately owned Uihlein Farm.
The Ausable Conservation Nursery will prioritize establishing and growing hyper-local, elevation-hardy, woody plant stocks at a scale that will measurably enhance the native plant supply available for habitat conservation—starting with AFC stream restoration projects over the next few years. The long-term goal of the nursery is to increase availability of native plants to enhance native habitat and stream side ecosystems, augment flood and climate resilience for local communities, and provide engagement opportunities to the public.
For 13 years, AFC has been successfully restoring damaged streams with the goal of rebuilding stream health, in and near stream habitat, reducing flood impacts, and making communities flood and climate resilient. When we rebuild a stream channel or replace an undersized culvert with a climate ready culvert, replanting native vegetation – grasses, shrubs, and trees – is an essential step in the restoration of a site. As our stream restoration work has expanded, we have realized the importance of (1) identifying and using hardy, hyper-local riparian species that can survive Adirondack winters, and (2) developing better access to appropriate plant and seed stock to aid our stream restoration efforts. Core native plant stocks are limited and, in some cases, though regional, not necessarily hardy for our area. As a response, we chose to pursue two complementary goals. First, identify core riparian species native to the Ausable and our neighboring watersheds. Second, identify sources of these species and, if need be, propagate them.
Thanks to funds from the Lake Champlain Basin Program and other public and private donors, over the past three years we've completed the field research identifying the core native species that create the riparian structure essential to restoration efforts, stream health, and biological health in our region. Thanks to the Uihlein Foundation and a network of landowner relationships that give us access to existing, hardy hyperlocal plants, we've established a small plot of core species of hyperlocal woody shrubs at the Uihlein Farm. The Uihlein Foundation's donated access to the extensive infrastructure established and used by the former Cornell University seed potato research program is the site for the Ausable Conservation Nursery.
For more information contact Ausable Conservation Nursery Curator at kiana@ausablecenter.org.
