Date: June 6 & 7
Location: Steere Hill & Phillips Farm Conservation Area, Glocester, Rhode Island
The Glocester Land Trust will host the Rhode Island BioBlitz at its SPECTACULAR Steere Hill and Phillips Farm Conservation Area. You’ll be searching for biodiversity among secondary forests including enormous white pines and mixed hardwoods, a red maple swamp, shrubby hedgerows between old farm fields recently reclaimed from shrub succession by a lot of hard work. There are boulders and ledge and of course the ubiquitous New England stone walls.
Pre-registration is required to participate in RI BioBlitz.
Registration will open in mid-April and close May 16. Orientations will be held April 24 and 29, stay tuned for details.
Water? You bet (though the fish team will have their work cut out for them)! There are forested mountain streams with both rocky and swampy stretches, flooded quarry pits, vernal pools, and a shrub swamp/bog (it will be tough bushwhacking into THAT but unknown biodiversity treasures could await the tough of limb).
Get ready to do some hiking because this is old, hill farm country, and the site is draped over a ridge with streams at either end. There is 150 feet of elevation change between Science Central and the top of the ridge, with its stunning views to the west.
The BioBlitz boundaries encompass 278 acres out of 440 contiguous acres of conserved land. The northeast corner, where Science Central will be located, is the 68 acre Phillips Farm, acquired in 1990. The rest of the area is Steere Hill Preserve, acquired in 2002. (Abutting to the west is the Heritage Park parcel, but to make sure we get sufficient concentration of our BioBlitzing energy, we’re not going to include that area . . . this year!).
THANK YOU SPONSORS:
Roger Williams Park Zoo
Glocester Land Trust
Largess Forestry
Peter H. Warny Conservation Fund