Photo By Sgt. Symira Bostic | A heavy forestry disk breaks new ground on an overgrown food plot at Marine Corps Air...... read more read more
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Changes are underway for Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point’s habitats. The Environmental Affairs Department (EAD) converted old fire lines and food plots into new usable ones at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina, Jan. 25, 2022. The conversion is intended to reestablish and enhance the wildlife habitat and to further provide recreation for MCAS Cherry Point personnel.
EAD broke new ground using a small Caterpillar D4 dozer with a heavy forestry disk. The fire lines and food plots will later be seeded and fertilized, enhancing foraging opportunities for wildlife. Unused fire lines often turn into ditches, promoting sediment runoff into nearby waterways and increasing the possibility of pollution. Sowing the unused fire lines helps prevent soil erosion.
“We want to maintain Cherry Point’s natural resource areas to the best of our abilities because in addition to the wildlife it provides training and outdoor recreational experiences for personnel,” said Laura Webster, a forestry technician at EAD.
Food plots are just the beginning of the big plans EAD has for Cherry Point. Future projects include applying herbicide to overgrowth in flightline clear zones, establishing longleaf pine ecosystems, replanting native grasses and increasing diversity of plant life, prescribed burns, a deer study to see what the population of deer look like and if they are being sustainably harvested, and a non-native invasive species project.
“For the small team that we have, we make a really big impact,” Webster said. “A lot of folks enjoy the recreation opportunities here but don’t think about the hard work that goes behind it.”
The next time you go hiking, camping, or hunting on Cherry Point, keep in mind the team and their efforts that made it possible.
| Date Taken: | 01.25.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.02.2022 09:22 |
| Story ID: | 413562 |
| Location: | MCAS CHERRY POINT, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Small Team, A Big Impact, by Sgt Symira Bostic, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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