(A special article to the TLIA
Newsletter By Kayla Rand, Poland Regional High School)
This Spring (2005), in my
Terrestial Biology class at Poland Regional High School, our class took
on a restoration project at Hemlock Shores Campground on Tripp Lake.
Our plan was to stop heavy erosion that was occuring by redirecting
water and planting gardens. We planned on using many plants native to
the area.
Erosion is the wearing away or
breaking down of rocks and sand by water or wind. It’s a problem
because it allows excess phosphorus and other harmful chemicals to run
into our waterways. To redirect the runoff, we installed two water
bars. Water bars are pieces of rubber and wood that stick out of the
ground a few inches and redirect flowing water into another place more
suitable to handle it.
At Hemlock, we decided to have two
separate gardens. The top garden would be a much drier area and the
plants that would go there would need to have shallow roots to match the
shallow soil conditions. We planted high bush blueberries and sedum
there. The lower garden would be much wetter; it was going to be a
rain garden. We installed plants that could withstand lots of water,
like the red-twig dogwood and Japanese painted fern.
It was a lot of hard work, but we
wouldn’t have been able to do it without the generous help of TLIA.
Phoebe Hardesty, Executive Director of Androscoggin Soil & Water
Conservation District, Maine Department of Environmental Protection and
Gerry and Tina Judson, owners of Hemlock Campground.
