Scituate High School students display their new Tree Farm sign at the Tree Farm Dedication ceremony held in Scituate.

 JULY 2010
Tree Farm Dedications Held in Scituate
See photo at right.

 WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2010
Community Presentation by Scituate High School Students
READ PRESS RELEASE (PDF)
VIEW PRESENTATION (PDF)

 PRESS RELEASE - January 26, 2010
Scituate High School Students Develop Forest Stewardship Plan
VIEW PRESENTATION (PDF)
In an effort to understand and apply forest stewardship practices, the Scituate High School Environmental Science Class, under the teaching of Ms. Shannon Donovan, has embarked on a process to identify potential opportunities for the school's woodland acreage. Two foresters, Christopher Modisette, Coordinator of RI Resource Conservation and Development, Inc. and Paul Dolan, Assistant State Forester for RIDEM, both residents of Scituate, have committed themselves to instructing the students through the development of a recertification application for Tree Farm status for the property located between the school athletic fields on Danielson Pike and the high school building on Trimtown Road.

The school originally received Tree Farm status on November 17, 1976. Recertification is required every five years. The recertification will require students to identify property boundaries, research the history of the area, determine the species of trees on the property, identify invasive plant species, study applied forest ecology and develop goals for the property. Goals may include such opportunities as protecting wildlife, harvesting products such as wood, mushrooms and/or maple syrup, or even developing an outdoor classroom for the school. Local officials on the Town Council and School Board will be interviewed by the students to help determine priorities for the area that will be expressed in the final plan. It is important that the final plan represent unified agreement. The plan development process will continue through the spring and will culminate in a public presentation to the community in June of 2010.

During their first walk through the forest, identifying unique characteristics of the area, Mr. Modisette explained to the students the unique capability of trees to capture carbon, a by-product of burning fossil fuels. "One of you (the students) may decide to manage the school's woodlands so they can store more carbon and play an important role in mitigating climate change," he stated.

This project is coordinated and funded by the Scituate Reservoir Watershed Education Program, a collaboration of Providence Water and the Northern RI Conservation District. For more information, go to www.landwaterconnection.org or call Gina DeMarco at 401-949-1480. To learn more about how to obtain Tree Farm designation, go to www.treefarmsystem.org.

 2009 Projects
The Scituate High School is partnering with the Scituate Reservoir Watershed Education Program to bring awareness to the community about the importance of water quality protection and conservation of natural resources and energy.

Scituate High School Environmental Science Students had a productive year in 2009 working with the Scituate Reservoir Watershed Education Program.

In May of 2009 they completed a plunge pool on Rockland Road in Scituate, just a short walk from the high school. The project will help alleviate stormwater issues associated with run-off from Rockland Road that had been rushing along a slopped area directly into a stream that led to the Scituate Reservoir. The stormwater was carrying a large amount of soil erosion and sediment from an embankment.

The plunge pool was designed and installed as a settling basin so that the stormwater is now slowed down and allowed to settle a while, allowing sediment to collect in the plunge pool before cleaner water runs off into the stream.

The project was completed on one side of the road in December of 2008 and students were able to observe the amount of sediment that was collected between December of 2008 and May of 2009. During that five month period, nearly a yard of sediment was trapped. The students removed the trapped sediment in the first plunge pool and constructed an additional plunge pool across the street. The plunge pool should be maintained once or twice a year in order to maximize its effect.

The students have chosen to be part of the RI Department of Transportations Adopt a Spot Program and will continue to care for the area, with the hope of removing some invasive plants in the area in the future and also planting native species of plants.

The students were directed by Fuss & ONeill Engineering the designers of the project, Angell Construction, Northern RI Conservation District, and their instructor, Ms. Shannon Donovan. This project was funded by Providence Water.

In May of 2009 these same students held a Water Festival in the Village of North Scituate. After studying the impact that non point sources of pollution can have on both ground and surface water quality, the students used models, demonstrations and games to teach the public how they can reduce nonpoint sources of pollution, which can include: leaky or faulty septic systems, litter, pet and agricultural wastes, pesticides and fertilizers used on lawns an gardens, household cleaners and chemicals, automotive fluids and road salts.

The Water Festival was held in conjunction with the opening day of the Farmers Market in the Village of Scituate, May 2.

Students also used the opportunity to teach the public about the importance of purchasing local farm products. The students sold heirloom organic plants at the water festival and continued to offer these plants to the public throughout the Spring. Why heirloom varieties? Heirloom plant varieties, as the name implies, were often passed down from generation to generation of farmers and gardeners. Many were uniquely adapted to the microclimate of the family compound, having been selected for their outstanding productivity, taste, or disease resistance. These varieties are open pollinated so that from generation to generation the characteristics of the offspring are very similar to those of the parents. This would not be the case if you were to try to replant seeds produced by hybrid varieties commonly found in industrial seed catalogs. To get more of the hybrid you have to buy more seed.

Since the invention of agriculture some 10,000 years ago, humans have consumed an estimated 80,000 plant species. For a number of reasons, the biodiversity of our agricultural crops has plummeted in recent history. In part as a result of the first "green" revolution which promoted monoculture, mechanized field work, an intensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, an estimated three-quarters of all our food comes from only 8 species. This presents a dangerous situation.

The oil that we rely on to drive industrial agriculture will not last forever. The cultivation practices used in industrial agriculture deplete soils, pollute ground water, select for resistant pests, and kill beneficial insects. Especially in a changing climate we must hedge our bets and establish diverse cropping systems to reduce the risk of catastrophic losses due to unforeseen weather conditions, insect infestations, or disease outbreaks.

While the students realize their sale is not going to fix all the ills associated with industrial agriculture, it may help preserve some genetic diversity still available to us thanks to some forward thinking traditionalists like the folks at Seed Savers Exchange. All the seeds that we have selected for their sale were grown by Seed Savers members utilizing organic practices. Organic practices respect and utilize natural systems in promoting soil fertility and resisting pests.