Restoring Big Bend: How Invasive Species Management & Prescribed Fire Can Reset the Ecological Clock

NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS Parks) opened Big Bend Preserve on July 11th 2024. Purchased several years earlier as an addition to Moreau Lake State Park, the 860-acre Preserve has a long history of human influence, serving as a family farm in the late 1800s and later subject to several decades of white pine harvests. The NYS Parks acquisition was intended to offer public recreation opportunities and to restore habitat for native plant and animal species, including the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly. Historical impacts left the Preserve heavily dominated by invasive plants; native species were present but often struggling to compete with aggressive non-native species including Japanese barberry, shrub honeysuckle, and Asiatic bittersweet.

Restoration began in 2024 and included heavy machinery and prescribed fire to achieve an "ecological reset." How do these management strategies impact native plant species compared to non-native species? What kind of impact will restoration have on wildlife? How long will management last, and at what scale? Join us for a town-hall style presentation and Q&A where we will answer these questions and provide a closer look at the impacts of our restoration efforts at the Preserve.

Bring your questions, concerns, and ideas for discussion on September 16th at 7PM at the Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls. We look forward to seeing you!

Jen Selfridge serves as the Restoration Ecologist for NYS Parks in the Saratoga-Capital Region and oversees habitat management at Big Bend Preserve. Prior to her work with NYS Parks, she served as a senior biologist and entomologist for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Program, for almost two decades, focusing on research and habitat restoration for rare, threatened, and endangered species. She is a Southern Adirondack Audubon Society board member and a Conservation Committee Member for the Lepidopterists’ Society. Additional NYS Parks staff will also participate in the restoration discussion.

This event is co-sponsored by SAAS and the Glens Falls-Saratoga Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club.