Volunteers Looking for Restoration After an Accident in Fair Haven Fields Natural Area

A “tragic mistake” in the has left years of hard work undone and the meadow susceptible to be overrun by invasive plants.

“After all of the work that I did, and a lot of other people, in clearing out the area and planting those trees, for someone to come in and whack it all down because they we ignorant, there is a responsibility there,” said Richard Mcgovern, a member of the Fair Haven Fields Natural Area Commission.

Volunteers have spent the past 10 years working on removing Asian Bitter Sweet, an invasive plant, from the Natural Area. After lots of hard, manual labor, the group was able to clear the meadow and plant new trees so that the invasive plant would not return. Because they did not have a large budget, the group could only afford small trees about a foot high.

Majority of the work done to keep up with the Natural Area is completed by volunteers and a small budget. The Fair Haven Department of Public Works (DPW) also contributes man-hours to maintaining the area.

One of the DPW’s responsibilities is to mow the meadow in the Natural Area twice a year. According to Mcgovern, DPW workers accidently bushwhacked around 150 small trees that the volunteers planted about a month ago. 

“There is supposed to be a schedule,” said Mcgovern. “They are supposed to notify us when it is going to be done so that we can be there, but they didn’t.”

, another board member for the Natural Area, and Mcgovern were present at the council meeting on August 8, 2011 to request that, if received, a portion of a be dedicated to fixing the wrong that has occurred. The borough is asking for a $250k matching grant from the county to improve circulation and drainage on the fields, add multi-purpose field and reconfigure existing fields.

“Fair Haven has two open space areas and I think that both need to be addressed,” said Fuller.

Although Mayor Halfacre said that if this money were received it would not go towards the Natural Area, he did acknowledge a commitment to fixing the mistake. “That was a tragic accident. An employee made a mistake,” said Halfacre. “That is a separate issue that has been handled administratively than this grant application.” 

The mayor also acknowledged a long-term plan to address issues in the Natural Area one step at a time. “I don’t want anyone to get the idea that the natural area is abused or neglected. Nothing could be farther from the truth,” said Halfacre.

Mcgovern said he is confident the borough council will help the committee in re-starting their project. “I do believe the lesson has been learned and we have the backing of the mayor and council,” he said.

Although it is a sad loss for the volunteers and high school students who dedicated their time to planting the lost trees, Mcgovern said he hopes that everyone will learn and grow from this mistake.