One year ago, Middletown’s Tree Commission and Open Space Committee joined forces and created a pilot program to rehabilitate the canopy of Albro Woods from beech leaf disease.
The discovery of the disease in the nine-acre forest spelled disaster: beech leaf disease causes beeches – especially the American beech tree – to lose their canopy and die. Albro Woods is one of the few forest habitats on Aquidneck Island, and a preliminary survey of the forest taken by the organizations showed that the woodland habitat was made primarily of beech trees. If no action were to be taken, the community would lose Albro Woods.
The foundational goals of the pilot rehabilitation program involved identifying native species other than the American beech tree currently growing in the woods, as well as finding an area which would benefit from canopy support and be visible to hikers. The latter goal would leverage the visibility of the plot to use the area as an education tool about the program’s efforts to rehabilitate the woods. More tangible goals of the program were to plant native trees in the identified pilot area and to create and install an informational kiosk to share information about Albro Woods and the canopy rehabilitation project.
On April 28, 2024, the program hosted its first work party as part of Aquidneck Island Earth Week. Over twenty volunteers worked in a 50-by-50-foot plot, chosen in part because a couple of large beech trees had fallen during a recent storm. The cleared canopy served as a stark reminder about what the forest would look like if no action was taken, but it also provided the perfect opportunity to educate the volunteers and take direct, immediate action to begin to restore the canopy. Although the canopy loss is like an open wound in a fully-grown forest, the opening to the sky provided ample sunlight to reach the native saplings the volunteer team planted.
Fighting threats to our forest: Middletown’s Tree Commission and Open Space Committee work together to rehabilitate Albro Woods
For over five hours, the group of volunteers worked to remove invasive plants, which had taken advantage of the loss of canopy, and planted fourteen native saplings – red oak, white oak, swamp red maple, and hickory – all marked with ribbons to discourage deer and to make locating the pilot trees easier throughout the year.
To do the work, the project was awarded an Urban Canopy and Forestry Grant from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management as well as a grant from the Merritt Neighborhood Fund from the Aquidneck Land Trust. The grants, combined with donations totaling over $2,500, allowed for the purchasing of the information kiosk, which was installed at the trailhead of Albro Woods by the Department of Public Works this week, according to Karen Day, the Chair of the Middletown Tree Commission.
Reflecting on the first year, Day recalls the surprising and encouraging extent of community support for their program and the woods. Beyond the donations and the dedicated volunteers who not only participated in the work party but continued to monitor and support the pilot plot and seedlings, one University of Rhode Island (URI) graduate took it upon himself to accurately research the health of the forest. “When our project became known,” says Day, “a recently graduated student from the University of Rhode Island was introduced to us by the Aquidneck Land Trust, Ian Delmonico.”
A Wildlife and Conservation Biology major, Delmonico “spent over 400 volunteer hours surveying the trees in Albro Woods, identifying every tree over 4 inches in diameter at breast height.” He gathered data on species, diameter, height, percentage of the canopy and condition on more than 900 trees. His data created a picture of the woods by identifying species and areas of concern. Although red oak, white oak, tupelo, sassafras, swamp red maple, American black cherry, black walnut, and shagbark hickory trees all exist within Albro Woods, “his work revealed the largest percentage of trees in the woods (almost 40 percent) were American beech trees (over 300),” Day explains.
Every single American beech tree in the forest was infected with beech leaf disease, Delmonico found. “This means we will be losing the canopy of all of these large trees over the next five to fifteen years if no treatment is found, and currently, there is no treatment for beeches in a wooded setting.” Delmonico’s research cemented the need for action, and from his time spent harvesting data in the woods, he was able to note specific areas where there was already significant canopy loss from trees succumbing to the effects of beech leaf disease.
Yet overall, “we feel our first efforts were successful,” Day says. “All the seedlings we planted have survived, except one. We have a very dedicated group of volunteers who worked throughout the year. All of this is terrific.”
Despite the success, Delmonico’s dire findings loom over the forest, and Day recognizes that this will be an ongoing battle. The program is marching forward, on its way to slowly encompass and support the whole of the forest. “We have selected a second site to begin planting seedlings and areas for invasive removal,” she says, and volunteers can join the second work party at Albro Woods on Sunday, April 27th from 1-3 p.m. For parties interested in volunteering and helping the rehabilitation efforts at Albro Woods beyond the work party, individuals should contact Day or Sara Poirier of the Open Space and Fields Committee.
