Easthampton Pollinator Action Plan

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN Prepared for The City of Easthampton In Easthampton, MA, there exists a strong appreciation for the health of the natural landscape that reaches beyond the borders of this growing city. The community is aware of the decline in pollinator populations worldwide and understands the vitally important role pollinators play in the intricate ecological systems on which our world’s well-being depends. In response to current threats posed to these key species, the City of Easthampton Planning Department is interested in opportunities to protect, increase, and enrich pollinator habitats throughout the city, and is looking for ways to support residents in their own ecologically responsible efforts. Through careful analysis of Easthampton’s existing conditions, this Pollinator Action Plan identifies a variety of strategies that may be implemented to promote pollinator habitat health on both municipally managed and privately owned land.

The Conway School is the only institution of its kind in North America. Its focus is sustainable landscape planning and design and its graduates are awarded a Master of Science in Ecological Design degree. Each year, through its accredited, ten-month graduate program, students from diverse backgrounds are immersed in a range of real-world design projects, ranging from sites to cities to regions.

Cover photo from the New England Pollinator Gardens

PROJECT NAME SECTION TITLE

S. Maricela Escobar, Eva Hogue, and Ted Martini The Conway School Winter 2023

Easthampton Pollinator Action Plan Prepared for the City of Easthampton Planning Department

S. Maricela Escobar, Eva Hogue, and Ted Martini The Conway School Winter 2023

Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea

I can speak from personal experience that the biodiversity crisis is something that we can address personally, that we can address in our communities and, best of all, we can verify our success with our own eyes in our own places.

The biodiversity crisis is caused, in great part, by a massive loss of habitat for most living things. We want to bring back the birds and butterflies and bees, but where do we start?

We start by inviting insects back into our spaces. We plant pollinator gardens.

When the insects come, the birds and other animals will be able to come, too.

Over the course of her life, my mother has taken barren landscapes and turned them into veritable wildlife preserves. Life’s circumstances have led her to move often, compared to most folks, and she has managed to massively increase the diversity of every property she’s lived on, large and small. I’m trying to do my best to mimic what my mom has created in her yards, but the obstacles are real. Without guidance, even folks trying to help can do harm.

Not everyone has the time or the friends and family with the knowledge to help them discover how to sustain life, but everyone can enjoy watching bees and butterflies feeding at flowers in public gardens and local parks. Every step that we take, together, is a huge help.

I want my friends and neighbors here to be able to experience the joy that I have felt seeing a diversity of life come alive. We can turn this city into a haven, into our own, local wildlife park.

- Sean Abbott, Easthampton resident *This excerpt was shortened from a longer statement

Table of Contents Executive Summary....................................................... 5 Introduction..................................................................... 7 Pollinator Stressors...............................................................7 The City of Easthampton and the Pollinator Movement......9 Pollinators......................................................................11 Pollination...........................................................................11 Bees.....................................................................................11 Other Types of Pollinators..................................................12 Habitat and Forage..............................................................14 Existing Conditions...................................................... 17 Land Cover..........................................................................20 Suggestions for Improving Pollinator Habitat........... 27 Protect Valuable Pollinator Habitat on Unprotected Land..27 Improve Habitat on Existing Lawns...................................28 Improve Habitat on Roadsides............................................34 Improve Habitat in Public Parks.........................................40 Improve Habitat on Agricultural Land................................44 Integrate Pollinator Plans into Development......................48 Integrate Pollinator Plans into Policy.................................50 Public Engagement...................................................... 53 Charismatic species.............................................................54 Art.......................................................................................54 Signage................................................................................55 Demonstration Gardens.............................................. 59 Selection Location Process.................................................59 Demonstration Garden Location Recommendations..........61 Appendix A: Glossary ................................................. 66 Appendix B: Map Data................................................. 67 Resources..................................................................... 71 Bibliography.................................................................. 72 Residential Toolkit........................................................ 79

Bumble bee (Bombus) on coneflower (Echinacea). Photo by Eric Skadson, Adobe Stock.

Picture exeribusa velessi oditatur, iminvelition resequi body asibody

Ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris).

Photo by Ecaterina Leonte 4

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SECTION TITLE

Executive Summary Pollinators are an integral part of our food systems, human well-being, and ecosystem functioning. However, globally and locally, pollinators face stressors that impact their health and the ecological services that they provide. Habitat destruction, pollution, diseases, and pesticides contribute to pollinator decline. In Massachusetts, the broad range of pollinators includes butterflies, moths, bees, hummingbirds, beetles, wasps, and flies. This document primarily focuses on habitat for butterflies, moths, beetles, bees, and hummingbirds.

Easthampton, Massachusetts has a diverse landscape including agricultural land, forests, wetlands, water bodies, roadsides, developed commercial and residential areas with buildings, asphalt and lawns. A healthy wildlife habitat along the eastern border of town on Mount Tom, through the center of the city along the Manhan River, and along the brooks provides a diversity of plants and other habitat needs for pollinators.

However, lawns cover significant acreage on many municipal parcels and in residential areas, and provide limited habitat for pollinators while also fragmenting these larger areas of habitat. Additionally, management practices on municipal, agricultural, and residential parcels such as frequent lawn mowing, using pesticides, planting non-native plants, and removing leaves, twigs, and dormant herbaceous stems of flowers all negatively impact pollinator health.

Currently, the City and its community members are strategizing how to build a resilient environment that supports and serves pollinators across their city, and this document provides a pathway for expanding and strengthening pollinator habitat throughout the city, informed by an examination of the existing pollinator habitat in Easthampton. It maps hundreds of acres of agricultural land, wetlands, water bodies, roadsides, and turf. There is vast potential to connect these habitats, where currently impervious surfaces such as pavement and buildings fragment naturally occurring habitat.

The document helps identify community partners, provides methods for continued public engagement and resident involvement, shares pollinator policies for consideration, and recommends multiple locations for potential pollinator demonstration gardens for public education and community enjoyment. Management strategies are discussed for residential properties for renters and homeowners, in addition to management strategies for public property. These strategies include protecting valuable pollinator habitat on unprotected land and improving habitat in lawns, roadsides, agricultural land, and new development. This document provides case studies from around the country of other community initiatives to support pollinators.

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Eastern bumble bees on a swamp milkweed flower. Photo by JJ Gouin.

Introduction POLLINATOR STRESSORS

Globally and locally, pollinators are facing environmental stressors mainly due to human actions and decisions. For instance, the monarch butterfly travels thousands of miles across the landscape in the United States, and successful migration for this species depends on habitats along their migratory routes that have food sources, including host plants for the larva stage. Habitat destruction, pesticide use, disease, pollution, and climate change all pose risks to pollinators, including for the monarch butterfly.

Habitat Destruction Pollinator habitat loss including destruction, degradation, and fragmentation can be caused by development as well as through land use and management practices. The building of roads, buildings, parking lots, and commercial facilities are all examples of development that can contribute to pollinator habitat loss, particularly when land with forested edges is cleared. Land management practices can also impact pollinator health (U.S Forest Service: “Pollinator-Friendly Best Management Practices for Federal Lands”). In Easthampton, approximately thirteen percent of the overall land coverage is lawns (calculations for this percentage described on page 28). Lawns when intensively mowed do not allow for plants to flower, which results in limited to no floral food sources for pollinators. Planting decisions can also cause a loss of habitat for pollinators when native plants are replaced by plants that differ in nutrient density or that do not host caterpillars. Land use practices such as overgrazing and till agriculture can also detrimentally impact pollinator habitats by limiting both the foraging options and nesting possibilities.

Pesticides A “pest” is any living plant, animal, or microorganism that impacts food production, health or human convenience, in other words, any living thing that has been labeled a nuisance in human activities. “Pesticides” is an umbrella term often used to describe various chemicals, including herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, that are used to kill, deter, or mitigate specific living organisms. A major issue with using pesticides is that they often not only impact the targeted organism but in many cases have broader environmental consequences, including for pollinators. In a 2012 study in Ohio, US, twenty-two percent of the survey respondent homeowners used a lawn company to applied chemicals to their yard, while forty percent of the

homeowners applied chemicals to their yards themselves or had someone else do it (Blaine et al.).

The impact of pesticide use on pollinators varies from lethal to sub-lethal. For instance, the number of butterflies that lay their eggs on milkweed sprayed with pesticides is reduced (Olaya-Arenas et al.), and bees can face the sublethal impacts of depressed immunity, hindered learning, impaired foraging, and compromised homing abilities (Grozinger and Fleisher).

Disease One major concern for the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) is the high number of colonies lost due to colony collapse disorder that has been brought forth as a concern starting in 2006. Colony collapse disorder refers to hive abandonment by masses of worker bees with only the queen and a few care nurses left behind. In 2008, approximately 60 percent of colony losses were attributed to colony collapse while in 2013 that number dropped to approximately 31 percent (EPA: “Colony Collapse Disorder”). Though there is no clear consensus among scientists regarding the cause of colony collapse disorder, researchers are focusing on factors such as varroa mites (Varroa destructor), poor nutrition, habitat loss, bee management practices, and pesticide exposure for further studies (EPA: “Colony Collapse Disorder”). Stressors like pesticides or poor nutrition can affect whether disease contagion in pollinators is mild or deadly.

Air Quality Air quality can have implications for pollinator health. During the high temperature combustion of fuel, automobiles, trucks and construction vehicles produce exhaust pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx). When nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, which are released through industrial solvents, combine, ozone is formed. According to one study, air pollutants can significantly lessen

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flower visitation by pollinators even at levels considered safe by environmental legislation (Ryalls et al.). Another study found that ozone can negatively impact pollinator attraction to flowers by reducing the range that the floral scent is detectable by pollinators (Farré-Armengol et al.).

Light Pollution Light pollution refers to artificial light at night caused by street lights and other outdoor lights that brighten the sky. Approximately half of the land surface in the United States is impacted by light pollution (Falchi et al.). In addition to impacting night sky views, light pollution affects the overall flower visitation by both daytime and nighttime pollinators. In one study, daytime pollinator flower visitation was reduced in nineteen percent of the plants in the study due to artificial light during the night (Giavi et al.).

Climate Change Climate change in New England will continue to cause shifts in growing zones and unpredictable weather patterns. Pollinators and flowers have evolved to live in specific environmental conditions, and with potential changing weather patterns various life stages of pollinators can be altered. Drought, different blooming times, snow coverage, and changes in temperature can all have implications for pollinators. Warmer temperatures in the winter can negatively impact the survival rates of bumblebees, for instance (Holt: “Global Warming”). On a broader scale, pollinator migration patterns can also be disrupted. A monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) study found that “earlier warm temperatures…in the northern regions were negatively associated with population size, whereas later warm temperatures… were positively associated with abundance” (Thogmartin et al. 13).

This diagram depicts how pollinator numbers and diversity can be impacted by habitat fragmentation. Modified from a diagram (page 88) in the assessment report of Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN INTRODUCTION

THE CITY OF EASTHAMPTON AND THE POLLINATOR MOVEMENT

The City of Easthampton is taking steps to not only create safe and healthy habitat for pollinators, but also to bring awareness of these creatures to the city’s community members. City Councilor Owen Zaret initiated the Biodiversity Environment & Ecological Sustainability Committee (BEES C), which as of March 2023, is forming for the following purposes: 1. Biodiversity: Protecting, establishing, and expanding resources and habitat for pollinators and other vulnerable vertebrates and invertebrates.

2. Environmental stewardship: Evaluating ways in which the city may better protect the environment locally and globally, decrease waste, and decrease carbon emissions.

3. Ecological sustainability: Exploring municipal landscaping in regard to use of native plants and other sustainable planting practices.

4. Developing a native plant policy for municipal and commercial parcels in the city.

5. Planning and facilitating resident programs and initiatives.

Community Care The community members of Easthampton have already shown interest in supporting pollinators and expanding their habitat in the area. In response to this interest, the City of Easthampton contracted the Conway School to create this Pollinator Action Plan.

The core team guiding this project included Assistant City Planner Eli Bloch, City Councilor Owen Zaret, and two residents, Bex Zumbruski, a master gardener, and Mari Harrison, a beekeeper. Over a hundred residents took the time to fill out a pollinator survey that the Conway team distributed in February 2023, asking them about their base knowledge of pollinators, ways they’d like to be involved with the movement, and how they’d like to learn more.

Through the survey, residents expressed why they would like the City of Easthampton to make special efforts to support the health of pollinators: “The health and growth of pollinators is one of the best things we can do locally to support climate resilience and check the diversity crisis. It has real effects that we can see.”

6. Developing policies on pesticide use and an integrated pest management plan.

“Pollinators are essential to agriculture and wild ecosystems, and if cities can support economic and biological stability by creating pollinator habitat on city land, then they should.”

7. Pursuit of affiliations, designations, and/or certifications for the city such as the Xerces Society Bee City USA program.

“We need new approaches to creating conservation that starts in our yards and in our city to help our wildlife population.”

8. Discussion of all other “green measures” in the city.

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Bumble bee on a blooming goldenrod. Photo by ‘Marketa’, Adobe Stock.

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PROJECT NAME SECTION TITLE

Pollinators POLLINATION

Flowers and pollinators have an intertwined relationship where pollinators gather pollen or nectar (or both) as a food source from flowers, and in the process help facilitate flower fertilization by transferring pollen from the stamen to the pistil of the same or different flower. Even though some flowers are pollinated by the wind or moving waters, and some even self-pollinate, the vast majority of flowers depend on pollinators for reproduction, and for increasing their gene biodiversity pool.

When flowers reproduce, seeds are created. A diversity of animals depend on seeds set by pollinators as part of their diets. In our region, for instance, winterberry bushes are pollinated by bees, and this fruit nourishes winter songbirds including the black-capped chickadee, the cedar waxwing, and the eastern bluebird (Mass Audubon: “Take 5: Birds Love Berries”).

Insects such as bees, beetles, butterflies, flies, mosquitoes, moths, ants, and wasps form the majority of pollinators, but a few small mammals such as bats and some birds also pollinate flowers (Hopwood et al.). Though not all species in the aforementioned insect groups are pollinators, many do pollinate flowers. In Massachusetts alone, it is estimated that there are 380 wild bee species and 120 wild butterfly species (MDAR).

In some ecosystems, pollinators are considered a keystone species meaning that other species in the ecosystem depend on them for their health and survival. Without keystone species, those ecosystems could dramatically change. The different life stages of pollinating insects also serve as a food source for various animal species in our ecosystems. For example, birds feeding their nestlings caterpillars, dragonflies eating moths, and frogs consuming beetles are all examples of the ecosystem service that pollinators provide. The state bird of Massachusetts, the black-capped chickadee, in addition to eating seeds, berries, and small fruit, also relies on insect eggs and pupae which accounts for up to fifty percent of its diet during the winter months (Kaufman).

For humans, it is estimated that one out of three bites

that we eat results from the help of pollinators. Fruit trees such as apples, peaches, and plums are predominantly pollinated by bees. Other agricultural crops such as cucumbers, squash, and blueberries also depend on pollinating bees to set fruit. In Massachusetts, over forty-five percent of our agricultural commodities depend on pollinators for pollination (MDAR). Pollinators form an integral part of our natural ecosystems, our well-being, and our food systems.

BEES Wild Bees The vast majority of bee species are wild bees, which refers to bees that are not domesticated, and most of these bees tend to live solitary lives. Wild bees tend to be more effective at pollinating native plants. One study found that wild bees were the most effective pollinators of strawberries (MacInnis and Forrest) while another study found that wild insects were more effective at pollinating crops, on the whole, by twice as much as honeybees (Garibaldi et al.: “Wild Pollinators Enhance Fruit Set of Crops regardless of Honey Bee Abundance”).

Specialists versus Generalists Specialist pollinators are animals that have coevolved with a few specific or even just one flower plant family, genus, or species for their food source.

Some bees are specialists and some generalists.

Specialist bees rise from their nests at the same time that those flowers start to bloom. In Massachusetts, the nude yellow loosestrife bee (Macropis nuda) and the fringed loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata), found in wetlands, have this specially intertwined relationship. The nude yellow loosestrife bee collects pollen from this flower to feed its young (Buchmann and Moisset). Generalist bees, on the other hand, gather food from an unrelated, larger number of flower species. The western honey bee and bumblebees are both forager generalists.

Solitary Bees Most wild bees are solitary including the carpenter (Xylocopa spp.), mining (Andrena spp.), and many sweat bees (Halictidae spp.). One key difference between solitary and social bees is that solitary bees singly perform all work from foraging, creating

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nesting habitat, and feeding their brood. Most solitary bees nest in well-draining soils that are barren or sparsely planted. One commonly found sweat bee in New England is the augochlora sweat bee (Augochlora pura), which displays shiny iridescent colors and makes its nest under the bark of old trees.

Social Bees Western Honey Bee A well-known and prolific pollinator species are bees, particularly the domesticated western honeybee (Apis mellifera) that was originally imported from Europe. As managed bees, the western honey bees are cared for by beekeepers for their honey or crop pollination services.

Domesticated bees are housed in different styles of wooden boxes that are conducive for honey extraction or transport. In the United States, truckloads of bees are shifted across the continent to pollinate agricultural crops, and it is estimated that they pollinate crops valued at $15 billion (USDA: “Honey Bees”) making it an essential agricultural pollinator.

Bumblebees The native bumblebees are social bees that live in annual colonies with multiple generations, labor divisions, and cooperative brood raising, but are much smaller in bee numbers than a honeybee colony. As generalists, the bumblebees forage on a range of flowers for both their pollen and nectar. The ability of many bumblebees to fly in lower light and lower temperatures, as well as their capacity to “buzz pollinate” can allow for more pollination services for specific flowers. During buzz pollination, bumblebees and some other native bee species vibrate their anthers to extract pollen from specific flowers, a pollen collection strategy not seen in the western honeybee. Unfortunately, Massachusetts has lost four of its eleven bumblebee species, and four others are in danger of extinction within the next decade (MassWildlife: “List of Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species”). Planting a pollinator garden that feeds bumble bees throughout their life cycles is one way of supporting these buzzing bees.

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OTHER TYPES OF POLLINATORS

Butterflies Butterflies are an essential component of natural environments. In addition to pollinating flowers, butterflies also serve as a food source for animals including birds, toads, snakes and other insects, and are considered an indicator species of the overall health of an ecosystem. Many butterflies in addition to needing a nectar food source in their mature stage also need host plants on which to lay their eggs.

A monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) foraging on a flower.

Host plants such as quaking aspens support over 287 species of lepidoptera, including the viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) (Leaves for Wildlife).

In Massachusetts, it is estimated that there are 120 species of butterflies, and although not all of these species pollinate, many do in the process of feeding on nectar in their mature stage as butterflies. Species such as great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele) butterfly and the spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) are two species of butterflies that pollinate, and can be found in Massachusetts.

Moths Many moths, similar to butterflies, unintentionally pollinate plants in the process of feeding on nectar, and also play an important role in the food web as a food source for birds, mammals and other insects.

Unlike butterflies, most moths are active during the night, serving an important role in pollinating flowers that bloom at night like the common evening

primrose (Oenothera biennis). The primrose moth (Scinia florida) found in Massachusetts uses the evening primrose as one of her host species for her eggs. Aromatic and white flowers are particularly attractive to night-feeding moths.

There are approximately 2,295 species of moths that have been recorded in Massachusetts, and although not all of these are pollinators, many do pollinate (Mass Moths).

Ruby-throated hummingbird One of the most well-known birds, the ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris), is found in the continental United States, and is an important bird pollinator (U.S. Forest Service: “Bird Pollination”).

In visiting a large spread of flowers for nectar, the ruby-throated hummingbird spreads pollen from one flower to the next by carrying pollen on its feathers.

The ruby-throated hummingbirds prefer foraging on red, pink and orange tubular flowers including bee balm (Monarda didyma) and beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis), and eating a wide range of insects such as ants, aphids and mosquitoes.

Beetles Beetles are one of the oldest pollinators. Across the world, beetles are one of the most numerous animals, numbering at approximately 350,000 species (Smithsonian Institution). In addition to helping pollinate some New England flowers including water lilies, sassafras, magnolias,

paw-paws, and sweetshrubs, some beetles are insectivores while others help in plant decomposition (Bayer). The convergent lady beetle (Hippodamia convergens) is commonly found in Massachusetts, and not only feeds on aphids that cause damage on gardens and agricultural fields, but can also pollinate when other sources of food are unavailable particularly in early spring (Nixon). Another kind of beetle that captures the curiosity of young and old, the lightning bugs in the Lampyridae family, not only spark up the night but many also pollinate flowers.

Flies Lesser known pollinators are flies. Many pollinating flies are attracted to flowers with an umbel flower plant structure, and a decomposing flower smell.

Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), paw-paw (Asimina), and red trillium (Trillium erectum) are all pollinated by flies. In Massachusetts, the flower fly (Syrphidae) and the bee fly (Bombyliidae) are two families of fly pollinators.

Wasps Many wasp species are also pollinators. In the process of drinking the sweet nectar from flowers, and traveling from one flower to the next, wasps transfer pollen from flower to flower. Paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus), yellowjacket wasps (Vespula spp.), and mud daubers (Sphecidae or Crabronidae) are commonly found around flowers foraging on nectar, and in the process, accidentally pollinating flowers.

Hippodamia convergens. Photo from Planet Natural Research Center.

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HABITAT AND FORAGE Pollinators need habitats that nurture all their life stages. Many pollinators need consistent available sources of food, including host plants, pollen, and/or nectar, for successful generational reproduction.

While some species of pollinators need specific host plants on which to lay their eggs, others need overwintering environments, a place where they can endure the cold winter months. This section describes the core components and qualities needed in pollinator habitats.

Food Sources Pollen, nectar, and host plants are important food sources that provide energy and support the reproduction of pollinators. A wide range of flowering times, flower structure, and plant colors helps to support multiple types of pollinators. A combination of flowering plants that bloom throughout the spring, summer, and fall, filling all flowering time gaps, supports pollinator health during their foraging stages (Narango). Though some species of flowers such as monarda (Monarda spp.) bloom for up to two months, plants such as bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) have a shorter flowering time of just two weeks. A wide plant color palette serves a greater diversity of pollinators.

Additionally, flowers with a wide range of flower structures also support different pollinators with various body structures (Beecology Project).

Pollinator species such as the Acadia hairstreak (Satyrium acadica) need specific host plants on which to lay their eggs. Found in riparian woodland zones and wetlands with willows, the Acadia hairstreak lays her eggs on Salix species like black willows (Salix nigra). As larvae, the Acadia hairstreak eats the leaves from these trees, and during the mature life stage as a butterfly, they feed on plants such as milkweeds (Asclepias) and thistles (Cirsium) for nectar. While some plant species serve as host plants to one or more pollinator species, others are hosts to several.

Zebra swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) on an eastern columbine flower (Aquilegia canadensis). Photo by ‘Papilio’ Adobe Stock.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN POLLINATORS

As previously mentioned regarding specialist bees, some other pollinators, similarly to some bees, are also specialists, and only visit specific flowers, and

others pollinators are generalists, visiting a wide range of flower species. Planting for pollinator specialists can also support pollinator generalists.

Native and Non-Native Plant Species Native plants are plants that occur naturally in an area, and a non-native plant is a plant that was introduced to a new ecosystem either intentionally or unintentionally by people. Native plants and insects have coevolved in ecosystems to support each other.

Doug Tallamy, an entomologist, notes that often non-native species such as the “Kousa dogwood, a species from China that supports no insect herbivores, [are planted] instead of our native flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) that supports 117 species of moths and butterflies alone” (Tallamy).

Nesting and Overwintering Habitats Nesting and overwintering habitats also form part of a healthy environment for pollinators (Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation). In Easthampton, pollinator species such common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) nest underground. Leaf litter, pithy plant material, bare

soil, burrows, and dead tree branches and trunks can serve as natural overwintering environments. Plants like elderberry (Sambucus nigra), and mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) produce hollow stems that can serve as overwintering habitat for bees.

Connected Environments Pollinators need environments that support all their life stages, and this can be more easily achieved when natural ecosystems are interconnected. Holly Holt, an entomologist and researcher, notes that “close or well-connected fragments create a habitat network, increasing the resources available to resident pollinators. Conversely, greater distances between fragments limits or prevents pollinators from accessing the resources in detached habitats.

Species with strong flight capabilities pay an energetic toll to reach disjointed habitats.

Meanwhile, weak fliers that are unable to reach distant fragments may face local extinction” (Holt: “Habitat Fragmentation”). Connected habitats not only support the overall ecosystem health but also provide food sources and nesting sites, serving pollinators through their entire life cycle.

Grass and shrubs provide great overwintering habitat for pollinators.

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Monarch (Danaus plexippus) butterflies on blazing star blooms (Liatris aspera). Photo by Paul Sparks.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SECTION TITLE

Existing Conditions BIOMAP3 HABITAT Mapping pollinator habitat across a city is a formidable challenge, but there are some assumptions that can be made based on available data. Pollinator and wildlife habitat in the city falls within the BioMap3 designated Core Habitat and Critical Natural Landscape areas. Core Habitat identifies swaths of intact ecosystems needed to promote species conservation. Critical Natural Landscape complements Core Habitat. It has an expansive overview of the landscape, identifies habitats that are connected for wildlife travel, maps buffering wetlands and aquatic cores, and shows habitat that can support a large range of different species.

BioMap3 is an evolving project of MassWildlife and The Nature Conservancy. It is a guide for ecological conservation within Massachusetts, compiled by combining forty years of scientific data to identify areas rich in ecological diversity (MassGIS: “BioMap: The Future of Conservation”). It identifies these ecologically wealthy zones and guides stewardship of them. Within Easthampton, the BioMap3 identified habitat runs along the eastern edge of the city at the base of Mount Tom, and along the Manhan River. The BioMap3 land use data layers indicate that the areas mapped as Core Habitat and Critical Natural Landscape are primarily brooks, rivers, wetlands, and forest.

Easthampton Water Dominated Habitats While most pollinators do not have an aquatic part to their life cycle, they do rely on the habitat that water provides. Social insects, such as honey bees and wasps, collect water to bring back to the hive and brood (Narango). Pollinators may collect pollen on flowering plants that thrive in a marsh or wetland, but many do not rely on the water source directly for hydration. Butterflies and bees drink water via nectar. The water bodies considered to be Core Habitat and Critical Natural Landscape in Easthampton include the Manhan River (south branch and north branch), Bassett Brook, Broad Brook, and Hannum Brook.

Wetlands within the Core Habitat and Critical Natural Landscape areas are along the Manhan River, and coincide with the floodplain of the river (PVPC: “City of Easthampton Hazard and Mitigation Plan”). These wetlands act as water storage in times of flooding, and aid stormwater flood control. Some, but not all, of the portions along the Manhan River are protected in perpetuity from development through conservation restriction. Trees dominating this area include silver maples (Acer saccharinum) and bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) (PCT: “Old Pascommuck Conservation Area”).

Maple trees bloom early in the year, therefore providing a nectar source for insect pollinators.

Bassett Brook, nestled on the northwestern edge of

Land Cover Acres • Agricultural Land: 860 acres • Bare Land: 22 acres • Grasslands: 214 acres • Scrubs/Shrubs: 100 acres • Deciduous & Evergreen Forest: 3,992 acres

• Impervious Surfaces (roads, buildings, sidewalks, parking lots, etc.): 1,255 acres • Developed Open Space: 1,364 acres, Turf: approx. 1,091 • Water: 126 acres • Wetlands: 773 acres

Hannum Brook, photo from the Pascommuck Land Trust.

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town, is fed by Parsons Brook, and drains into the Manhan River. A 200 foot riverfront buffer protects this brook and is regulated by the Wetlands Protection Act. Broad Brook, with a 6.65-acre Pascommuck Land Trust conserved area, is primarily a white-pine mixed hardwood hemlock forest (PCT: “Broad Brook Meadows Conservation Area”).

MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) has identified this brook as a Living Waters Critical Supporting Watershed.

“Living Waters” are freshwater areas in the Commonwealth that have been identified as valuable for long-term biodiversity (NHESP). A notable feature about Broad Brook is its sandy bottom and undercut bank, which host a range of wildlife. The brook’s sandy habitat likely provides space for ground nesting bees.

Hannum Brook, another brook with conserved land along it held by the Pascommuck Land Trust, is predominantly hemlock-mixed hardwood wetland, serving as a riparian area (PCT: “Hannum Brook Conservation Area”). Riparian area is the land Protected Land

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adjacent to the water body, such as a stream, brook, river, or lake. A native flowering plant at this site is the hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides), an early spring flowering shrub. This plant is a nectar source for hummingbird clearwing moths (Hemaris thysbe), the spring azure butterfly (Celastrina ladon), and the ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris).

The hobblebush leaves provide food for pollinators in the caterpillar stage of the hummingbird clearwing moth (Johnson).

Mount Tom Mount Tom State Reservation runs north to south and sits along the eastern edge of Easthampton. To its east is the Connecticut River, which separates Mount Tom from Mount Holyoke. Together the mountains form an important range for wildlife connectivity (Mass Audubon: “Site Summary: Mount Holyoke/Mount Tom/East Mountain Range”). This range is home to over 20 rare plant species and 47 tree species. Native butterfly species, such as the Edward’s hairstreak (Satyrium edwardsii) and the hoary edge (Achalarus lyciades) are found on the mountain ridge.

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN EXISTING CONDITIONS

Impervious Surfaces Naturally occurring pollinator habitat in Easthampton is separated largely due to impervious surfaces.

Impervious surfaces include roadways, sidewalks, paved and unpaved parking lots, asphalt, concrete, brick, and buildings (MassGIS: “Impervious Surface 2005”). Green spaces between human-created impervious surfaces do offer space for pollinator habitat creation, such as sidewalk strip gardens and rooftop gardens.

Impervious Surfaces

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LAND COVER

Beyond the Critical Natural Landscape and Core Habitat of BioMap3, pollinator habitat can likely be found across the city. Looking at land cover, broad patterns can be observed: the Manhan River separates the agricultural land primarily to the north from a more developed area between the river and Mount Tom. This developed area consists largely of parks, commercial, industrial, and residential development, and brooks. It is difficult to precisely map pollinator habitat within these areas without ground-truthing and talking with land owners about land management practices.

Forest Cover Deciduous and evergreen forests cover 3,992 acres of Easthampton. The forest cover was determined from MassMapper data from 2016, which was produced by analyzing 1-meter aerial land cover.

Some forests of Easthampton include the 15-acre Manhan Meadows Floodplain Forest (currently managed by the Department of Ecological Restoration and MassAudubon), Mount Tom, and Pascommuck Conservation Land. The general forest type in Easthampton and much of the Connecticut River Valley region is oak-hickory and mixed hardwoods. Some of Easthampton’s native canopy trees include black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), red maple (Acer rubrum), and pin oak (Quercus palustris). The black gum’s small, white flowers provide nectar, and as the tree ages and rots, it provides bee nesting cavities (Vermont Wetlands Program). While red maples are dominantly wind pollinated, they provide nectar for pollinators foraging early in the season, such as cellophane, honey, mining, sweat, and bumble bees (Perkins). Native oak trees, such as pin oaks, host over 500 species of lepidoptera: tree bark provides winter habitat, buds provide food for larvae in the spring, oak flowers provide nectar in the spring, and leaves are a place for native lepidoptera to lay their eggs (James).

Grasslands and Shrublands According to the Massachusetts Wildlife Climate Action Tool, grasslands and shrublands primarily naturally occur closer to the Massachusetts coast and mountainous regions. The Massachusetts Wildlife Climate Action Tool was created by The Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment in the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to encourage local policy makers and conservationists to protect Massachusetts natural resources in a rapidly changing climate (Massachusetts Wildlife Climate Action Tool).

In the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, grasslands are typically humanmanaged, such as those found on agricultural land.

The Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, a nature preserve spanning portions of Easthampton and Northampton, stewards a grassland that provides habitat for many grassland birds. Grasslands are often populated with native wildflowers that provide food for native pollinators. Shrubs also provide habitat for pollinators, such as woody stems that are used for nesting.

Manhan Meadows Floodplain Forest Restoration Project by the Division of Ecological Restoration.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN EXISTING CONDITIONS

Land Cover

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN EXISTING CONDITIONS

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Soils Pollinators rely on soils because they rely on the plants that grow in them; some pollinators also rely on soils for nesting habitat. While Easthampton has a variety of soil types, such as rippowam fine sandy loam and raynham silt loam, most of these soil types fall into the two general categories of sandy soil and gravelly soil. The map opposite overlays these sandy and gravelly soils with well draining and poorly draining soils. It can be inferred from this map and from these soils’ typical characteristics that both the sandy and gravelly soils are predominantly well draining. A separate drainage classification associated with soils along the eastern edge of Easthampton coincides with the rocky outcrop of Mount Tom: large impervious rocks likely beneath the sandy soils contribute to poor drainage.

Different plants thrive in different soil conditions.

For example, Massachusetts native plant swamp butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) needs welldraining soil such as the sandy soils in Easthampton.

This butterflyweed attracts a large variety of pollinators such as eastern tiger swallowtails and monarch butterflies. Where soils coincide with development, they may have been altered through compaction, fill, and/or the long term addition of amendments or pesticides. Soil restoration may be necessary in these areas to support plant communities and pollinators.

Additionally, ground-nesting pollinators, such as

A female ground-nesting cellophane bee, Colletes inaequalis, at the entrance to her nest. Photo from Tufts Pollinator Initiative.

Massachusetts native bees in the collettes genus, rely on the grainy, bare sandy soil to dig for their nests.

Bare sand provides a space for the ground-nesting bees to create aggregates, or underground neighborhoods, for the bees to network within (Narango).

Butterflies will often be found in gravelly, muddy soils. While normally solitary insects, the male eastern tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus), for example, can be seen “puddling” in groups.

“Puddling” is the act of butterflies gathering around muddy puddles. The muddy water provides amino acids and sodium ions that they may not get in their primary diet of nectar from flowering plants (Buchmann).

Eastern tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus), pipevine swallowtails (Battus philenor), and Appalachian azures (Celastrina neglectamajor) mud-puddling. Photo by Patti Weeks.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN EXISTING CONDITIONS

Soil by Drainage

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN EXISTING CONDITIONS

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Light Pollution Light pollution can disrupt the foraging cycle of nocturnal pollinators. According to Johan Eklöf, Swedish bat scientist and author of The Darkness Manifesto on Light Pollution, Night Ecology, and the Ancient Rhythms that Sustain Life, artificial light is detrimental to most stages of an insect’s life cycle: “artificial light can prolong or shorten reproductive cycles, induce hatching, and affect metamorphosis, the insect’s transformation from larva to pupa to adult. Light can change the conditions for hunting and pollination, affect food intake, flight, and migration” (Eklöf 32).

Artificial light draws a moth’s attention towards the bulb rather than the evening flowering plants.

According to the light pollution map opposite, the most brightly lit area within Easthampton is the

downtown center along Cottage Street. This highly developed zone backs up to the Manhan River, which is designated as Critical Natural Landscape and Core Habitat by BioMap3 and rare species habitat according to the NHESP. According to Smith College Professor of Astronomy James Lowenthal, the primary street light bulbs in Easthampton are blue LED lights (Lowenthal).

While these LED light bulbs are seen as “ecofriendly” due to being more energy efficient than traditional bulbs, research is beginning to show that cold-colored LED bulbs are harming pollinator insect and songbird populations, and instead warmer LED lighting should be considered (National Park Service).

Moths attracted to a lightbulb. Photo by Dr. John Brackenbury / Science Photo Library.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN EXISTING CONDITIONS

Light Pollution

Case Study: Moths & Light Pollution Moths were studied in the Alps of Switzerland, in an unlit flowering meadow, where almost 60 varieties of flowers were visited by nearly 300 species of insects at night. Species of cabbage thistle were studied intently over a span of meadows, with half of the meadows lit with artificial light, and the other half left in darkness. It was found that moths were the primary pollinators, and that they traveled to the lit up meadows 62% less than they traveled to the dark meadows, and therefore fruit was never produced by the thistles (Eklöf).

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN EXISTING CONDITIONS

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Butterfly on milkweed (Asclepias). Photo by Amy Buxton.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SECTION TITLE

Suggestions for Improving Pollinator Habitat A primary goal of this report is to address pollinator habitat decline in Easthampton through identifying opportunities that currently exist within the city. A thoughtful examination of various existing conditions has presented a variety of situations where pollinator habitat has either been degraded by fragmentation in the more densely developed areas, or where habitat can be improved upon and strengthened by applying a multitude of practices, adaptations, and other considerations.

The community of Easthampton’s appreciation of and concern for the protection of the many natural assets in the city that are already supporting a wide range of pollinators and wildlife in general is a strong foundation to build upon. Exploring options to reduce pollinator harm and encourage habitat health on the many lawns and roadsides throughout the city has the potential to mend some of the lost connectivity due to habitat fragmentation. The consideration of expert-guided best management practices for the work done by city agencies can help to inform the residents of Easthampton on how they might best care for their private property in pollinator-friendly ways. The skills and wisdom that Easthampton farmers and gardeners are already applying to their work can continue to enhance the ecological health of the region through collaboration and support. Pollinator-friendly public policy decisions and initiatives could serve to strengthen the resolve of the community as a whole to create and maintain a pollinator paradise within the boundaries of this growing city.

PROTECT VALUABLE POLLINATOR HABITAT ON UNPROTECTED LAND

The Manhan River, which bisects the city, is both Core Habitat and Critical Natural Landscape according to BioMap3, an evolving project of MassWildlife and The Nature Conservancy. Though there is protected land that borders this river, most of the land is not under protection. Riparian buffers can benefit pollinators by providing food sources, nesting, overwintering habitats, or by serving as a riparian corridor. Pollinators such as the yellowbanded bumble bee (Bombus terricola) can be found in wetland habitats, which form part of the Manhan River.

A 2015 study found that a wider riparian buffer strip over 5 meters had a greater pollinator abundance when compared to narrower strip of less than 3.5 meters (Cole et al.). Human settlement pressures and land uses such as conventional mowing practices that extend to the edge of the river, can impact the riparian buffer by limiting or removing vegetation adjacent to riparian borders.

View of extended turf along the Manhan River, demonstrating a lack of a riparian buffer.

Recommendation: Prioritize land along the Manhan River by supporting conservation efforts and by prioritizing building relationships with local landowners that reside along the Manhan River. Support local land conservation trusts organizations and further investigate policies that could offer or further strengthen the riparian buffer. Other areas to consider for conservation efforts include land along the Broad, Hannum, and Bassett Brooks.

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IMPROVE HABITAT ON EXISTING LAWNS Encourage Lawn Conversion on Public and Private Land In the more developed areas of Easthampton, filter stormwater runoff or allow for stormwater residential and municipal properties that have large absorption. Homeowners in the United States areas of mowed turf are contributing to a variety of typically use ten times the amount of pesticides and ways to local habitat fragmentation. Easthampton fertilizers per acre on their lawns than farmers do on has approximately 1,091 acres of residential, their crops (Polycarpou) and these chemical commercial, and municipal open space that is compounds are known to be a major threat to the currently covered by and maintained as turf lawn, health of pollinator populations worldwide (Pesticide 80% of the total developed open space of 1,364 Action Network). The City Parks and Recreation acres. Common lawn vegetation provides very little Department and the Department of Public Works habitat and if sprayed with pesticides or herbicides already employ practices that exclude the use of can be actively harmful to pollinators. These areas chemicals and keep mowing schedules to a are often maintained for their traditional lawn minimum on the municipally owned and managed appearance, and some may be sprayed with lawn areas that they care for. The conversion of any herbicides and/or pesticides and treated with amount of lawn space that is not used for recreation fertilizers. or needed for access into areas of vegetation other than turf, could result in increased foraging and In addition to the fragmentation of habitat, turf nesting grounds for pollinators and help decrease lawns maintained with standard care practices can be fragmentation by creating connectivity between undesirable for several reasons. The root systems of existing habitats. turf grasses are too shallow and dense to effectively Developed Open Space

Land coverage acreage was determined by calculating acreage of the distinct Cover Name layers within Land Use Land Cover in ArcPro. Land cover categories were consolidated to create broader categories (listed below). It is important to note that the ‘Developed Open Space’ layer is used to determine acreage of lawns. This report is estimating that 80% of the ‘Developed Open Space’ layer is lawn/turf - approximately 1,091 acres of the total 1364 acres.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

Cemeteries There are three city-owned and managed cemeteries in Easthampton, making up a total of 40 acres (Main Street Cemetery, East Street Cemetery, and Brookside Cemetery). There are two other privately owned cemeteries, Saint Brigid’s Cemetery and Saint Stanislaus, Bishop, & Martyr Cemetery. There is opportunity for considering changing management practices of these sites to be pollinator-friendly.

Bodies are typically embalmed with a mixture of chemicals such as methanol, glutaraldehyde, and formaldehyde. Embalmed bodies are then placed in non-degradable burial vaults, which are typically constructed with high-strength cement and reinforced with metal or plastic. Cemeteries are typically mowed frequently with high level of chemicals and turf inputs. As a resulut, cemeteries are usually not pollinator or environmentally friendly habitat.

Green burials forgo embalming fluids and burial vaults. Burial containers can be biodegradable, such as non-toxic plant-derived softwood caskets. This alternative burial method is legal in the state of

Massachusetts, though it has only been implemented in a limited number of towns and cities, such as in the privately owned Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst, and in municipally owned Riverside Woods Natural Cemetery in Gill.

Hybridizing cemeteries to introduce green burial practices to existing conventional cemetery practices would enhance healthy wildlife habitat, as no detrimental chemicals would be put in the soil. In hybridized cemeteries, sections are separated specifically for green burials, and the surface in these areas is often maintained as meadows. This portion of the hybridized cemetery allows for limited maintenance and self-seeding wildflowers, creating good insect pollinator habitat. At Vale Cemetery in Schenectady, New York, sheep are used twice a summer to “mow” the green burial meadows, reducing lawn mower and fuel use, and naturally fertilizing the soil while they “mow” (Nelson). A sheep grazing plan must be in place to consider the life cycle of pollinators and their reliance on flowering plants (Federal Highway Administration).

St. Michael’s green burial meadow at Calvary Cemetery.

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Types of Lawn Conversion Lawn to Garden A popular option for lawn conversion is transforming the lawn area into a pollinator garden. Some homeowners in Easthampton have already begun to eliminate turf grass lawns on their property by creatively replacing these ecologically unhealthy areas with garden beds planted with native perennials that are prime sources of pollen and nectar. These garden areas. with more loose soils, mulches, twigs and stems, will also provide nesting habitat for local native pollinators.

For more information on planting native pollinator gardens, see page 82 in the Residential Tool Kit.

Easthampton resident Bex Zumbruski’s lawn to garden conversion, before (left) and after (right).

Case Study: Lawns to Legumes The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) has developed the Lawns to Legumes program in partnership with Blue Thumb Planting for Cleaning Water, an organization started in 2006 as an outreach program of the Rice Creek Watershed District located in Blaine, Minnesota. The organization was originally dedicated to assisting cities within the watershed to meet the goals set forth by the Clean Water Act. Blue Thumb has since expanded its efforts beyond the Rice Creek Watershed and its focus on the Clean Water Act and now includes the Lawns to Legumes partnership with BWSR. This effort encourages residents statewide to establish pollinator habitat in their private yards. In addition to providing outreach, plant information, and educational opportunities in the form of publications and workshops, and attractive yard signs for participants, the Lawns to Legumes

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program provides cost-share grants to establish community-wide projects known as ‘Demonstration Neighborhoods’ to assist resident landowners within these neighborhoods in installing various types of pollinator-friendly landscape designs with the intent of enhancing pollinator habitat in key corridors.

At the heart of the Lawns to Legumes project is the ‘Individual Support Grant’ program which can assist participants with reimbursement of up to $350 of the costs of creating pollinator habitat on individual properties throughout the state. Funding for these grants is provided by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

In the first two years of the program alone, individual grant participants spent thousands of hours on at-home pollinator-friendly planting projects, have created more than 1.2 million square feet of new pollinator habitat, and planted more than 1,000 pollinator-friendly trees and shrubs.

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

Bee Lawns Colorful, low-growing flowering plants and grasses provide essential pollen and nectar for bees and can create an alternative to traditional turf lawns.

Overseeding an existing turf lawn in the fall with a seed mix that commonly contains fine fescue grasses and a variety of other plants such as Dutch white clover (Trifolium repens) and self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), can create a “bee lawn” or flowering lawn, which will retain the general appeal of traditional lawn due to the low-growing nature and usability of the space. Bee lawns can be used recreationally similar to a traditional lawn, and yet they add ecological value that all-turf lawns lack. This popular alternative to turf can reduce the need for mowing and watering with the addition of droughttolerant native grasses. The deeper and less dense root systems of these flowering plants, as compared to standard turf plants, allows for better soil conditions for pollinator nesting and for water infiltration. These plants may also be better suited to conditions such as drought, flooding, and shade and have less need for fertilizer.

In an effort to improve pollinator habitat at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, a partially shaded area that has high foot traffic and which had been maintained as turf lawn in the at the National Museum of Natural History has been over-seeded each fall with a pre-mixed blend of low growing flowering plants since 2020. The mowing height of the lawn allows for the flowers to fully bloom. Photo by the Smithsonian.

Letting this new mix of plants grow above 4+” before mowing allows the lawn to flower. A method of “spot-mowing” can also be used, in which certain areas of the lawn are alternatively mowed while other areas are left longer which can support pollinators while still retaining a “cared-for” appeal.

A bee lawn is a pollinator-friendly turf alternative which retains a low, open, traditional lawn aesthetic. Signage on a flowering bee lawn, photo by the University of Minnesota Extension.

Spot-mowing allows for pollinator habitat in lawns while maintatining and intentional appearance. Photo (above)

by Pesticide Action Network UK. Photo (below) by Andrew Hancock.

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Meadow Lawns Where appropriate, meadows can replace turf lawns on both residential and municipal spaces. Meadow lawns differ from the more traditional appearing bee lawns due to their taller growth, usually 12 to 24 inches in height, increased diversity of plants, and abundance of native wildflowers.

There are no ordinance restrictions in Easthampton that would affect the choice to plant a meadow lawn on residential property. However, meadow lawns can at times appear overgrown or “weedy” when planted on smaller, suburban sites if an effort isn’t made to incorporate ‘cues to care’. Methods used to express a sense of intentionality in an otherwise relaxed design such as a massing of wildflowers, can include a narrow, mowed edge surrounding the un-mowed meadow, or even a more formal planting of lowgrowing plants to frame the area. Although meadow lawns are commonly left to grow out naturally, occasional pruning of dead stalks and flower heads can lend a cared-for appearance, and signs indicating

Turf replaced with native wildflowers requires minimal or no mowing.Photo from the Photo Botanic Garden Library of Saxon Holt

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the pollinator-friendly purpose of this type of lawn conversion can encourage appreciation of the area within the surrounding community.

When considering a meadow lawn, site selection and seed mix choices are important to keep in mind.

Many wildflower seed mixes are available from commercial sources, or mixes can be individually created, but it is important to either purchase or create a mix that will be successful in Massachusetts and the particular conditions of the site. A mix that is most beneficial to pollinators will provide blooms throughout the season, have a wide variety of perennial plants, and include warm-season native grass plants to create a weed-suppressing density and to provide opportunities for nesting and overwintering of pollinators. It is also wise to choose seed mixes according to the microclimates of the site in which they will be planted. The seed choices made for a sunny dry site will differ from those for a wetter, shadier area.

A front lawn converted to meadow in Leeds, MA. .Photo courtesy to Kevin Guttin of the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

Meadow and Bee Lawn Preparation A successful meadow lawn may take two to three seasons to fully establish and look its best, and proper preparation is essential. Simply overseeding an existing turf lawn with native wildflower seeds may not yield the desired result as first year seedlings will not be strong enough to compete with existing weed and turf growth. Removal of the existing turf grasses and the seed bank that is in the top level of the soil is best accomplished by “smothering” the area for an entire summer season.

The University of New Hampshire Extension office offers the following guidelines for the preparation of an area to be converted to either a bee lawn or a native wildflower meadow:

Mow the area as short as possible once or twice after it greens up in the spring. Scalp it! Then, rake

1. off any excessive organic matter to create a smooth surface. Leaving a light layer of clippings is okay. Do not till the soil.

Lay sheets of thick black plastic, opaque tarps, or landscape cloth over the entire area, overlapping the edges by about a foot if you use more than one sheet. Bury all the outside edges with soil, and/or hold the plastic down with rocks, cinder blocks, bricks or other available materials. The objective is 2. to exclude light from the grass and weeds trying to grow under the plastic. Weeds without light are unable to photosynthesize and will eventually run out of energy and die. Any seeds that germinate under the sheets are likewise unable to survive for long.

Thick layers of organic mulch can be used in place of the materials listed above if desired. If you prefer to use an organic mulch, it’s best to start with a layer of cardboard so that grass and weeds cannot grow up through the mulching material. Watering the cardboard and pinning it down may 3. help it stay in place. Applying shredded bark, leaves or other material over the top may make it less conspicuous than an expanse of plastic or cardboard. However, all the organic material should be raked off and redistributed elsewhere before seeding, to avoid enriching nutrient levels in the soil.

Leave the soil covered from mid-June until mid-September. When you remove the plastic or other mulch materials, you will have bare soil on which to plant. Avoid disturbing this clean seed bed; do 4. not till the prepared area or you may stimulate more weed growth. Do not apply compost, manure or other nitrogen-rich material, because wildflowers do best in soil that is low in nutrients. If needed, rake lightly to remove dead grasses and surface debris just before spreading the wildflower seed.

(UNH Extension: “Planting for Pollinators: Establishing a Wildflower Meadow from Seed”)

Existing sod can also be removed with the use of a mechanical sod cutter, and overseeding an existing turf lawn with native flowering plants over the course of a few seasons can be an effective and less laborintensive method of converting a lawn.

Once a meadow lawn is established, it is best for birds and pollinators to leave the dormant stalks and stems standing through the winter and mow once in early spring to clear the area for new growth and to cut back early successional trees and shrubs.

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

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IMPROVE HABITAT ON ROADSIDES Over one hundred miles of roadways serve to make connections throughout Easthampton. Many of the roadsides along these impervious surfaces can be improved to also create connections that would decrease the fragmentation of pollinator habitats. These commonly overlooked open spaces offer the opportunity to increase feeding, breeding, and nesting grounds for pollinators. With the proper care and management roadside spaces can be more appealing to the public and less burdensome for the City to maintain due to decreased mowing schedules.. In addition, roadside habitat can reduce soil loss and water runoff and can increase stormwater absorption and filtration compared to the denser soils and root systems of mowed turf roadsides.

Roads

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

One concern of roadside pollinator habitat management is the danger to pollinators from traffic. However, research shows that pollinator mortality is reduced when roadsides are managed with quality habitat that pollinators prefer to stay in rather than enter the roadway in search of flowers. In addition, the reduced mowing of well-managed roadsides also serves to diminish mortality due to harm from equipment (Hopwood, 2015).

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Handbook for Supporting Pollinators through Roadside Maintenance and Landscape Design” outlines strategies that can help to create and preserve pollinator habitat on roadsides while maintaining safety and appearance.

Protect Existing Habitat Identifying, protecting, and managing remnant habitat and other existing stands of native vegetation on roadsides can support the health of pollinators and ecosystems. Pollinators are more abundant and diverse on roadsides with native plants than on roadsides with nonnative plants. Roadsides with existing stands of native vegetation can serve as valuable habitat for pollinators. Additionally, managing existing stands of native vegetation effectively is costeffective and increases scenic beauty.

Create Additional Habitat Where safety issues, such as visibility, are not a concern, some roadsides that are currently being maintained through regular mowing could be considered for habitat improvement by eliminating the maintenance altogether.

Allowing these areas to revert to native growth will increase habitat available to pollinators.

(Federal Highway Administration)

The wildflowers are already there. We just need to stop mowing them down.

Jeff Caster, Florida Department of Transportation

Roadside habitat offers strong opportunity for increasing pollinator habitat with wildflowers and appropriate maintenance. Photo by ‘lri_sha’ Adobe Stock.

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

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Best Practices for Roadside Management Continue to Avoid or Reduce Herbicide Use Herbicides are known to be toxic to pollinators and people alike. Human exposure to pesticides from residue on landscape plants and through ingestion of contaminated crops has been linked to many forms of cancer (Beyond Pesticides: “Pesticide-Induced Diseases: Cancer”) and neurological diseases.

Pesticides are also one of the main drivers of pollinator decline world-wide through direct contact with wildlife. The use of pesticides is also responsible for damage done to the vegetation, soil,

and water sources that make up pollinator habitat, the loss of which is also a main cause of pollinator decline (Soil Association).

In Easthampton, both the Parks Department and the Department of Public Works already avoid the use of pesticides for the vast majority of the areas that they are responsible for. It is strongly recommended to continue non-pesticide practices and to be continually seeking ways to eliminate any pesticide use on all municipal-owned land.

The Xerces Society explains that pollinator exposure to herbicides can be reduced by: • Apply herbicides to vegetation and weeds before they flower. This can eliminate the spread of seeds and reduces the risk of pollinators visiting treated flowers.

• Adjust application timing to reduce herbicide contact to pollinators. Herbicides could be applied at times at less active times of day for pollinators. Before sunrise, after sunset, and during cooler temperatures are when most pollinators are less active.

• Limit caterpillars’ exposure to herbicides by not spraying systemic herbicides, particularly ones with with long residual effects. Caterpillars ingest plant foliage and stems, and can be harmed by contaminated vegetation.

(Frischie et al.)

Case Study: Pilot Project in Florida Reveals Energy & Cost Savings Typically, the rights-of-way of highway I-10 in Madison County, Florida, are mowed up to seven times a growing season. In 2009, a pilot study on a one-mile segment of the highway was initiated to look at potential effects of a reduced mowing regime on plant composition, soil erosion, expenses, and highway operations. From 2009 to the project’s completion in 2013, mowing fence to fence (or tree line to tree line) was limited to once a growing season, in the fall. A 10–15 foot wide clear zone adjacent to the pavement continued to be mowed seven times each growing season.

The vegetation was monitored over the years, and as time passed the disparity between the vegetation

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in the constantly mowed clear zone and the remainder of the right-of-way increased. With time, more desirable plant species were found in the section of the right-of-way with the reduced mowing regime. As blooming wildflowers increased, the section of the road became more aesthetically attractive, particularly in the spring.

Additionally, mowing costs were reduced by $1,000 per mile. The modified mowing regime did not increase soil erosion or have negative impacts on normal highway operations. The pilot study demonstrated that the Florida Department of Transportation could experience cost savings as well as safety, aesthetic, and ecological benefits by implementing reduced mowing procedures (Federal Highway Administration).

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

Frequency of Mowing To maintain visibility and a neater appearance, the Florida Department of Transportation suggests a well-mowed “Clear Zone” of at least six feet adjacent to the roadway. Beyond that zone, less frequent mowing will allow plants to flower and serve as nesting spots. To keep these areas free of brush and woody plants that might grow to unwanted sizes while reducing maintenance costs, it is generally recommended to reduce mowing, but to continue to mow two or fewer times a year (Hopwood et al.).

Schedule of Mowing It may seem counter-intuitive, but avoiding mowing during the growing season is best for both pollinators and the native plants that host them. If possible, a single mowing at the very start of the season in early spring is suitable for both. If additional mowing is desired throughout the season, it is important to remember that the timing of mowing will also affect the health of the plant community. For some vegetation, mowing at certain times during the growing season can encourage stronger growth but considering the life cycle and activity of the pollinators in these habitats is crucial and can vary by species.

A) Buffer Zone Native or naturally occurring vegetation B) Operational Zone No vegetation with stem diameter greater than 4” C) Clear Zone Low growing or routinely mowed vegetation and/or vegetation-free strip

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B

C

Roadway

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B Graphic adapted from the Federal Highway Administration.

Mowing Techniques The guidelines listed below, from the U.S Department of Transportation Environmental Review Toolkit, present a basic outline for roadside habitat mowing.

• Delay mowing. To allow pollinators which nest on vegetation to complete their life cycles, and to allow flowering plants to provide nectar and pollen throughout the season, it is best to delay mowing until after the first frost.

• Spot mowing. Alternating mowing patterns by allowing patches to grow while others are cut, rather than mowing entire areas at once, can provide continued habitat throughout the season.

• Adjust mowing height. Higher mowing levels of ten inches or more allows vegetation to recover more quickly and retains some flowering for pollinator foraging. Higher mowing also reduces plant stress during dry periods and retains thicker vegetation for pollinators to use.

• Avoid mowing when pollinators are less active. The colder temperatures of early morning, dusk, and nighttime are when pollinators are less active and will be more vulnerable to mowing blades and tires.

• Use a flushing bar. The addition of a “flushing bar” to mowing equipment can encourage pollinators to leave the area being mowed and avoid the damage that can be caused by the blades and tires.

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Sidewalk Strips A commonly overlooked opportunity for the expansion of habitat in cities and towns nationwide is the planting of the rights-of-way areas between roadways and sidewalks referred to as sidewalk strips. With proper planning, implementation, and care, these sidewalk strips could provide additional pollinator foraging and nesting grounds in areas throughout Easthampton that are the most fragmented by impervious surfaces, structures and the lack of natural habitat. As briefly discussed in “Habitats for Pollinators” on page ???, the ability of pollinators to travel within a well-connected matrix of diverse habitat is crucial to the health of pollinator populations (Taki et al). The sidewalk strips within Easthampton offer many possibilities to create stepping stones needed to mend the habitat fragmentation caused by development and may also serve to help beautification efforts.

One example of a city embracing the opportunities for pollinator habitats in sidewalk strips is Seattle, Washington. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), which is responsible for issuing street use permits in the city, has developed a program that encourages and supports residents to implement planted gardens within these roadside spaces. A page on the Seattle government’s website titled Gardening in the Planting Strip is dedicated to this program and offers guidance on planning sidewalk strip gardens for the safety and access of the public as well as advice and templates for drawing those plans, recommendations and examples of native and drought-tolerant plants for use in those spaces, and directions on how the permit needed to do this work can be applied for with a waived fee (SDOT).

A mowed sidewalk strip along Northampton Street on the entry to downtown Easthampton is not pollinator-friendly.

Before and after planting on a section of a sidewalk strip planting in Seattle, WA.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

Case Study: Pollinator Pathway Starting in 2007, Seattle resident Sarah Bergmann has been working to connect isolated greenspaces by creating natural pathways for them to travel through a densely developed area of Seattle. She engages other residents in the work of converting the sidewalk strips in their neighborhood from mowed turf areas into pollinator gardens. Along the route of Columbia Street 12th to 29th Avenues, the Seattle Pollinator Pathway project connects an open greenspace on Seattle University’s campus to Nora’s Wood—a pocket park in the Madrona neighborhood. To date, over twenty gardens have been installed in previously turf covered sidewalk strips and another forty gardens will be added before the project is complete. A second 1.5-milelong official pollinator pathway is planned to connect Seattle University’s campus to Volunteer Park along 11th Avenue.

The route of the Seattle Pollinator Pathway project runs along Columbus Street.

The Pollinator Pathway project has been a collaborative effort of the residents and the City of Seattle, and includes support from various businesses and community organizations. The first segment of the pathway on Columbia Street received grants from the City of Seattle, Northwest Horticultural Society, and Awesome Foundation.

A poster promoting a pollinator pathway volunteer work party.

Recommendation: While the sidewalk strips in Easthampton are owned by the city, Greg Nuttelman of the Department of Public Works expressed in an interview that for the most part, these areas are maintained by the residents who live adjacent to them. An exploration of creative ideas conducted collaboratively by the city and the residents of Easthampton could result in a multitude of opportunities for the City to support the public’s pollinator-friendly efforts in the planting of sidewalk strips throughout the city while identifying and maintaining agreed upon guidelines to address any concerns that might arise.

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IMPROVE HABITAT IN PUBLIC PARKS

Municipal parks and recreation areas managed by the Easthampton Parks Department cover approximately 220 acres of land that is mostly distributed throughout some of the most densely developed areas of the city. Though these spaces do provide some pollinator habitat, there are opportunities to increase the habitat that most native pollinators and other wildlife need for healthy survival.

Conversations with the Parks Department held in February 2023 revealed that for the most part,

Easthampton manages these lands with limited mowing schedules and with a bare minimum of chemical applications for weed and pest control. By keeping a reduced mowing schedule, restricting the use of herbicides and pesticides to only necessary applications, and allowing certain areas that are unused by the public to remain somewhat wild, these departments are allowing native habitats to serve as foraging and nesting grounds for many wildlife species and are supporting pollinator health and habitat throughout the city.

Municipally Owned Properties

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

Park Management Continue to Reduce or Eliminate Pesticides Although very little chemical pesticide is used by the Easthampton Parks Department, some recommendations for building disease- and pestresistant landscapes should be considered when alterations or improvements on public land need to be accomplished. Choosing plants that have natural pest resistance will build stronger landscapes with less vulnerability to damage and disease. Including a wide diversity of plants rather than monoculture masses can help to encourage a population of native beneficial pest predators into the entire area. While pesticides are most commonly used in landscape situations for aesthetic purposes such as weed control and neatness, acceptance and appreciation of less manicured sites, which might include some weeds and minor plant damage, can be encouraged with the use of informative signs.

Manage Lawn Space Decreasing mowing frequency to every two or three weeks and increasing mowing height to at least 3.5 inches allows low-growing plants to develop the flowers that are needed for pollinator foraging and can increase flower abundance by up to 300 percent.

Decreased mowing will also reduce compaction of the soil by mowing equipment, where groundnesting bees make their shelters. A mowing rotation plan, which varies when different areas are mowed at different times on any particular site, can assure that blooms are present in that site throughout the growing season. Creating or leaving some patches of bare soil in less trafficked areas allows for pollinator nesting sites. Leaving or applying organic debris, such as leaves and small branches, to the ground surface where appropriate can supply beneficial wildlife with various natural resources.

‘No Pesticides’ signs by the Sierra Club Grassroots Network Pollinator Protection Campaign Team

The Xerces Society offers guidelines and information specifically for the use of municipal agencies that care for public lands. One of their publications titled ‘Pollinator-Friendly Parks,’ is available as PDF on their website and contains a wealth of information for urban public land managers on the role and values of pollinators within urban environments and helpful information on on park planning and management with the health of pollinators and their habitat in mind.

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Conduct Habitat Inventory Determining the best path forward on the journey toward healthier public spaces could begin with a more thorough understanding of current pollinator habitat within Easthampton parks. The National Park and Recreation Association (NPRA) provides a comprehensive “Self-Assessment” tool and checklist that public land stewards can use to develop goals based on the particulars of the grounds and lands that are under their care. More information on the National Park and Recreation Association selfassessment program can be found on their website.

Snapshot of NPRA’s park self-assessment.

BioBlitz The NPRA has created the “Parks for Pollinators BioBlitz,” a nation-wide campaign using the iNaturalist app which involves local community members working with Parks Department staff once a year to identify and document wildlife found in local parks. This effort not only serves as an enjoyable and educational experience for community members, but also helps to inform the participating Parks and Recreation Departments on the existing inventory of pollinators and the pollinator habitats within the parks they maintain.

The BioBlitz is a campaign designed to see who can make the most observations, engage the most people and promote pollinator awareness and education. The results not only make an impact on awareness of pollinators nationally and for those that participate, but also helps participating agencies know more about what pollinator and plant species are in their parks and helps them plan for how to protect them and to promote biodiversity (NRPA).

A young community member participating in the City of Harrisonburg, VA BioBlitz. Photo by the city of Harrionburg, Virginia.

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The BioBlitz program engages local citizen-scientists to document various species throughout urban areas nationwide. Photo by River Collective.

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

Increase Habitat Some lawns or other landscaped areas such as mulched beds within city parks could be considered as opportunities to increase the diversity of habitat whilestill serving as a place for enjoyment and use to the public. Land where grass may not be needed for lawn-friendly activities can be allocated for the placement of taller, native flowering plants. Keeping in mind that pollinators need foraging sources from early spring through the fall, the choice of plants and their respective bloom times is as important as choosing locally adapted plant species that are best suited to locally native pollinators.

These added pollinator habitats can take many forms, from native flowering groundcovers to wildflower meadows to more robust pollinator gardens. The town of Strasburg, Pennsylvania has created a community park that is planted entirely with native meadow plants surrounding a winding trail for the enjoyment and education of the community (“Strasburg Community Park”).

Pollinator-friendly parks management can also result in additional community benefits such as community education, decreased maintenance costs, and increased pollinator habitat health throughout

Easthampton. Although it may take an initial effort to implement and establish healthy habitat areas where standard landscape management practices are now in use, converting to pollinator-friendly design and management can also directly benefit the Parks and Recreation Department itself in a variety of ways.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that the combined cost of installation and maintenance for natural areas amounted to one-fifth of the cost for conventional landscape maintenance over a ten-year period. It was also found that in open areas, the installation of native prairie rather than standard lawn can cost 56 percent less than an initial turf installation and can provide significant savings on maintenance costs over time. Reduced labor hours, equipment use and fueling costs, stormwater absorption from deeper root systems and less thatch buildup, public education and increased appreciation of native and natural garden assets are all reasons why pollinatorfriendly maintenance and management of municipally owned parks and open lands can benefit the City of Easthampton now and in the future (EPA. “Greenacres: Landscaping with Native Plants.”).

A butterfly walk through Strasburg Community Park, photo from the Strasburg Community Park Facebook Group.

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IMPROVE HABITAT ON AGRICULTURAL LAND Within the approximately 860 acres of mostly privately-held farmland in the City of Easthampton, there are opportunities for increasing the health and extent of diverse pollinator habitats through improving, increasing, and protecting areas for foraging and nesting. Expanding on the healthy local environment for northeast native pollinators may also benefit the farmlands of Easthampton through increased crop yields over time for crops that depend on pollination (USDA: “Northeast Climate Hub”). While some farms do rely on non-native honey bees for crop pollination, native bees can still contribute significantly to crop pollination. A healthy native pollinator population can act as an insurance policy against shortages in honey bee populations.

Many native bee species are more active than honey bees in the early and late parts of the day, which can increase pollination activity. Native bees tend to visit and pollinate flowers on cooler, cloudier, or wetter days, times that honey bees usually spend in the hive. It is also known that hives of European honey bees (Apis mellifera) are becoming more difficult to manage and maintain due to pests, disease, and Colony Collapse Disorder, but honey bees that have been raised on a diverse selection of pollen, such as found in a healthy native pollinator habitat, can develop stronger immune system function to help withstand the damages caused by certain parasites (Vaughan et al.).

There are a multitude of strategies that growers can use to promote habitat health on their property, including the planting of flowering cover crops over dormant agricultural fields, the installation or expansion of hedgerows between and at the edges of fields, and the planting of native wildflower meadows in areas that are not in production or in areas that are not suitable for crops. Even the simple process of identifying and protecting existing foraging and nesting sites on the farm property can help to sustain Easthampton’s native pollinator population.

Protect and Increase Habitat Creating healthy habitat areas or restoring and enhancing existing areas that support pollinators can have other benefits to the farmland itself. In Farming for Bees Guidelines for Providing Native Bee Habitat on Farms, the Xerces Society recommends considering the buffer areas at the surrounding edges of crop fields, including hedgerows, road edges and banks of drainage ditches could offer opportunities to increase habitat. When these peripheral areas are managed as wellestablished, native hedgerows or buffer plantings, the non-weedy native forbs, shrubs, and trees can out-compete the weeds in these strips. In addition, these linear patches of habitat likely provide a traveling corridor for bees to migrate more quickly through the agricultural landscape.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

Commonly, these areas are covered with non-native plants and replacing them with non-weedy native plants can reduce the source of weed seeds so that over time, less labor and herbicide use would be needed. Other wildlife will also benefit from increased native habitat areas such as beneficial insects which prey on crop pests (Vaughan et al.).

It is generally recommended to plant a margin approximately 18 to 20 feet wide. Establishing this margin correctly is essential to reducing weed pressure in this area and for the habitat health of the margin. To prepare a weedy area for planting as a field margin, first clear the area of as much as possible of the existing weed seed bank by cultivating the area repeatedly as fresh seeds emerge.

The wildflower seed mix used should be native to the region that the field is in, and can be chosen to support the specific group of beneficial insects desired or for more generalized support for native pollinators (Biodiversity Landowners’ Guide).

Proper management of the planted field margin will also encourage the success of the margin. Keeping the area mowed to two inches as annual weeds begin to dominate during the first two to three years will help to reduce the spread of seeds from those plants.

In the following years, an annual mowing midsummer will encourage growth of the desired native wildflowers (Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust).

Reduce or Eliminate Pesticide Use Due to the harm to pollinators from pesticide use,

minimizing the risk to pollinators from pesticide applications on agricultural land in Easthampton is an important step in increasing pollinator populations in the entire city. If pesticides must be used in any agricultural effort, creating unsprayed and vegetated buffer zones and/or windbreaks along the outer edges of the fields will help to reduce drift of the spray into nesting and foraging areas outside of the growing area.

Careful selection and well-targeted use of pesticides while avoiding broad-spectrum insecticides can greatly reduce the risks to native pollinators. There are alternatives to chemical solutions for both herbaceous and insect pest management. Choosing crop varieties that are resistant to pests, and the using organic pheromones (to disrupt mating), baits, and lures can minimize crop loss. Encouraging healthy pollinator habitat in and around crop fields can also support native pest predators. Overall, a welldesigned Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system that is tailored to specific crops and surrounding ecosystems will minimize harmful impacts on pollinators.

The Beyond Pesticides organization, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., offers a comprehensive list of pest management products that are compatible with organic farming practices and are least harmful to pollinators (Beyond Pesticides. “Products Compatible with Organic Landscape Management”).

A native field margin along farmland in England. Photo by Paul Maguire.

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Form Partnerships to Protect and Expand Habitat on Private Agricultural Land Nationwide, the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) can provide financial assistance to support conservation efforts for pollinators and other wildlife on working agricultural lands. A review of websites owned by farms in western Massachusetts shows that many of the farms in Easthampton are already certified organic farms and therefore are engaged in practices that are pollinator-friendly and habitat-healthy. In addition, many of these regional farms are going beyond the elimination of pesticides and some have already put the NRCS partnership programs to good

use by improving habitat on their agricultural land with the use of these funds.

In 2010, That’s a Plenty Farm in Hadley, Massachusetts, agreed to a three-year plan with NRCS which stipulated that in the first year, the farm would plant a large windbreak to serve as a barrier against pesticide drift. The agreement called for the farm to convert an old, unused one-acre cornfield into a native pollinator meadow in the second year, and the third year was dedicated to nurturing the growth of both previous years’ plant installations.

This contract obliged the NRCS to cover 75 percent of the cash outlay needed for the installation of the plants (Frisch).

A windbreak of 125 arborvitae plants is intended to help protect a native pollinator meadow from pesticide drift on That’s a Plenty Farm in Hadley MA. Seventy-five percent of the cost of both of these installations was covered by a Natural Resources Conservation Service pollinator habitat enhancement plan agreement. Photo courtesy to Michael Katz.

Another example of a collaborative effort to protect habitat on agricultural land is the formation of the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program of Columbia County, New York. This program, founded in 2003 by the Hawthorne Valley Association, began as a simple outreach and research program with the goal of understanding the “two-way interactions” that the local human culture and the semi-agricultural, rural environment of Columbia County have with each other. Since its inception, this program has grown into a much broader ecological exploration of how farming and agriculture in general can influence nature conservation efforts, and how nature and 46

wildlife can also have their own effects on the agricultural interests and production in which they share a regional space. This work involves study of the value of on-farm wildlife habitats to the existing ecological landscape and the documentation of the potential benefit to agriculture of the local wild organisms (Vispo et al). A core staff consisting of a social scientist, botanist, and wildlife working with technicians, volunteers, and interns research the county’s history, culture and ecology and share their findings with the community at large through educational opportunities and presentations as well as public ecology walks and volunteer activities

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

throughout the county (Farmscape Ecology Program).

It was through the participation of volunteers in the Farmscape Ecology Program that in May 2022, the Hawthorne Valley Farm was able to plant on their farmland a 350-foot-long hedgerow of diverse native plants such as hawthorn trees, elderberry shrubs, American plum and apple, and hazelnut trees, providing flowers for pollinators and forage and nesting habitat for a wide variety of native wildlife.

This is not the first time this farm’s habitat goals have benefitted from this program. Together, the program and the farm have also created wooded riparian corridors and implemented beneficial insect habitats among the vegetable gardens on the farm (Gibbons).

Farming isn’t a battle against nature, but a partnership with it. It is respecting the basics of nature in action and ensuring they continue.

- Jeff Koehler, author and cook.

Volunteers for the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program plant a native hedgerow on the Hawthorne Valley Farm. Photo courtesy to Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Program.

Recommendation: Explore the variety of existing government and privately implemented programs that the City of Easthampton could endorse and/or sponsor (perhaps through the work of the BEES Committee), that work with and support private farm owners and managers in the protection and creation of healthy wildlife habitat. This could result in stronger protections of existing habitat, expanded habitat throughout the city, business-related incentives for Easthampton farmers, and greater public awareness and appreciation of the value of pollinators to basic human needs.

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INTEGRATE POLLINATOR PLANS INTO DEVELOPMENT

Pollinator abundance is an indicator of ecosystem health. Research shows that healthy pollinators have a positive impact on human health too. It has been suggested that “pollinator diversity could be a proxy for the benefits that landscapes provide to human health” (Garibaldi et al: “Exploring Connections between Pollinator Health and Human Health”). Increasing habitat for pollinators should be woven into existing and future city planning endeavors. Landscape design for new stormwater, housing, commercial development, and other city infrastructure projects must include a consideration of pollinator habitat. An opportunity for increasing pollinator habitat within the developing downtown is through combining green roofs and solar panels.

Green Roofs New developments, such as the retrofits of the three abandoned elementary schools in downtown Easthampton, are opportunities for incorporating green infrastructure. Adding pollinator-friendly vegetation to rooftops can help regulate roof temperature (Long Island Compost). The rooftops currently contributing limited habitat within the fragmented downtown landscape would now provide habitat for pollinators.

There are additional public and private benefits of green roofs. For the public, they are attractive, are associated with using less waste overall as they insulate the building and decrease demand on HVAC systems, slow and filter rainwater, reduce the urban heat island effect, improve air quality, and perhaps provide jobs to designers, garden installers, and maintenance workers (Green Roofs).

Solar PV Solar panels operate most efficiently between 59 and 95 degrees fahrenheit, and will perform inefficiently once exceeding this temperature. In general, panels are commonly placed on building rooftops or swaths of cleared agricultural land. According to Easthampton’s Open Space & Recreation Plan (OSRP), there are five solar panel developments under consideration within city limits. Plants lower the temperature of their surroundings (Akbari et al.).

Therefore, incorporating plants underneath solar panels not only benefits the humans relying on their power, but if the plants are chosen with pollinators in mind and bloom from spring through fall, they will benefit Easthampton’s wild pollinators as well.

Recommendation: If the proposed solar development sites become approved in Easthampton, require vegetation along the panels. Work alongside entomologist for solar array design to support pollinators.

Etymologists can provide appropriate seed mixes to attract pollinators over multiple seasons.

Solar panel array with native wildflowers at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. Photo by Terry Lavy.

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Case Study: Native Plant Ordinance in Somerville, Massachusetts In 2021, the City of Somerville, Massachusetts, passed a Native Plant Ordinance requiring a minimum percentage of native plants for new City-owned landscapes. Additionally, the Sec. 12-178 ( Ord. No. 2021-05 , 3-25-2021) gives a date by which purchasing any plants treated with neonicotinoids will from then forward be banned: January 1, 2026.

Sec. 12-177. - Native planting requirements. ( Ord. No. 2021-05 , 3-25-2021) All new plantings by the city within the following areas shall consist of native plants only: • Riparian areas; • The community path; • The green line extension rail corridor; • Bioswales; • Plazas; • Streetscapes; and • Other city-owned property; provided, however, that the city may plant not more than 50 percent nonnative, non-invasive plants in areas (4) through (7) when the city determines that the situation demands flexibility in planting, including for memorialization, aesthetic, geographic, survivability, or other purposes.

In city parks, a minimum of 75 percent of all new plantings planted by the city each year shall be native plants.

A minimum of 50 percent of street trees planted by the city each year shall be native plants, with a goal to increase this percentage in subsequent years.

The city may plant non-native, non-invasive plants in the following areas or for the following purposes; provided, however, that the city shall still make an effort to include native plants: • Community gardens; • Flower bulbs planted as part of volunteer initiatives including, but not limited to, the bulb blitz initiative; • Lawns and athletic fields; • Holiday, seasonal and annual decorative plantings; and • Extensive green roofs, provided that the city shall incorporate native plants into their extensive green roof plantings to the extent that doing so is feasible based on the survivability of native plants in such conditions, and will not compromise green building certification or stormwater mitigation requirements.

Operation & Maintenance Plan If developers have either a stormwater permit or a permit from the city such as a special permit, site plan review, or other plan review/approval, the City of Easthampton could require an Operation and Maintenance Plan (OMP) for the establishment and stewardship of the native plants to ensure their survival and establishment as the intended landscape, both aesthetically and functionally.

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INTEGRATE POLLINATOR PLANS INTO POLICY Existing Regulations Stewarding pollinator health in Easthampton can be reflected by the revision of existing regulations. For example, the Review of Permitting Requirements for Industrial/Manufacturing Uses states that “2/3’s of the square footage of the front yard must be covered with grass or appropriate landscaping.” Defining appropriate landscaping to require 100 percent eastern United States native plants is one approach to the revision. To make this more accessible to the contractors and designers, provide a list of suitable native shrubs, grasses, trees, groundcover, and flowers. By also requiring an OMP for this landscaping, the establishment of the plants is likely, ideally fostering success over the long-term.

This approach can be applied to municipal landscapes, new housing, and commercial development.

Easthampton’s 2021-2028 Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP) states that in order to meet the minimum requirement of affordable housing under Chapter 40B, the city needs 38 units of affordable housing implemented per year (21). This presents an opportunity to integrate pollinator habitat into required landscaping. As new housing is developed within a rapidly changing climate, the City can address stormwater regulations and pollinator habitat at the same time. The City of Easthampton Design Standards Smart Growth Zoning District addresses stormwater. The language of the zoning district should be amended to incorporate native flowering plants as a requirement for landscaping for new development. The addition of native plant requirements for rain garden and stormwater plantings would not only provide habitat for pollinators, it would also be beneficial for people. Native plants often have a strong root system to help with erosion and soil capacity to carry water, and in turn can help mitigate stormwater (Newell and Romanski).

Zoning Ordinance 2022 Recommendation: Define appropriate landscaping practices to include a native plant requirement to the extent possible.

Section Title 7.413 Design Standards

Subsection Title 7.4131 Adoption & Amendment of Design Standards

7.05 Use Regulations (Aquifer Protection District) 8.6 Planned Unit Residential Development for Affordable Housing 10.2 Environmental Performance Standards

7.054 Aquifer Protection Performance Standards 8.67 Landscaping & Buffer Area Requirements

10.2 Environmental Performance Standards

10.28 Stormwater Management

10.22 Erosion Control

Smart Growth Zoning District Design Standards Recommendation: Define appropriate landscaping practices to include a native plant requirement to the extent possible.

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Section Title

Subsection Title

Landscaping

Landscape Buffers

Infrastructure

Stormwater Management

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING POLLINATOR HABITAT

Tree Ordinance Trees are an important resource for pollinators.

Pollinators rely on blooming trees for forage, especially when other flowering plants may not yet be abundant in early spring. In New England this includes tree species such as oak (Quercus spp.), maple (Acer spp.), wild cherry (Prunus serotina), chestnut (Castanea spp.), serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), and native willow (Salix spp.) (UNH Extension: “Pollinator Plants for Northern New England Gardens).

The City of Easthampton does not currently have a tree ordinance in place. Tree ordinances can help the city to preserve trees, establish a tree committee, and have a tree planting plan and guidelines.

Easthampton has tree guidelines integrated into municipal code. For example, Easthampton has a tree cutting policy for projects permitted under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, applied to trees within wetland resource areas, riverfront areas,

and buffer zones to resource areas. This policy recognizes the importance of trees for wildlife habitat.

A tree survey of 200 public shade trees was conducted in Easthampton in April 2022, via collaboration between Easthampton’s tree warden Sarah Greenleaf, Department of Public Works (DPW), and climate activist Lilly Lombard of Northampton, MA. When Easthampton’s neighbor, the City of Northampton, had a public shade tree survey conducted, it was determined that these trees provided “1.3 million dollars yearly in energy savings, carbon sequestration, stormwater mitigation, and property value increase,” prompting further investing in trees and their role in local climate resilience (Thurlow). Northampton created a tree ordinance in 2015, and requires a fee for tree removal, which is then put into an overall fund for tree planting and maintenance.

Going through the process of developing a local tree ordinance can unify these provisions and ensure that rules related to trees are straightforward and compatible with the goals of the community.

- Guide to Local Tree Bylaws for Communities in Massachusetts (MA DCR)

Recommendation: Establish a tree ordinance in the City of Easthampton.

Eastern Redbud Cercis canadensis

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Section Head Line 1 body

Photo from Adobe Stock.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SECTION TITLE

Public Engagement The Conway team released a survey for public feedback to further understand the concerns and barriers residents have regarding creating pollinator habitats. Frequently mentioned concerns are shared below and paired with public engagement recommendations.

If pollinator habitat were encouraged in municipal areas such as city parks, residents have expressed concern that these spaces will potentially be underresourced and not maintained over the long run.

Recommendation: A strong understanding of habitat management practices paired with a long-term plan is essential for creating policies that sustain pollinator habitat implementation while also maintaining the safety and aesthetics of Easthampton’s public parks.

Not knowing where to source native plants.

Recommendation: Per the requirement to become a designated Bee City USA, the City can keep an up-todate page on the city website listing resources such as where native plants can be purchased. Also, see page 94 for local native plant sources.

Actions for creating healthy pollinator habitat, such as mowing less and leaving fall leaves over the winter, may be seen as unattractive or ugly.

“Cues-to-care” is a term coined by Joan Nassauer, in a paper titled “Messy Ecosystems, Orderly Frames.”

This is the notion of taking small actions to demonstrate to neighbors and the surrounding community that steps are being taken to maintain a space. Perceptions of the large gradient of landscapes, from wild to curated, vary from person to person. Nassauer promotes the sweet spot of having a less manicured garden in order to promote a more ecologically balanced space, but taking small steps within the garden design such as adding designated paths and signage to identify plants, in order to demonstrate to passerbyers that there is care and maintenance put into the garden that may appear to be unconventional or overgrown.

Recommendation: Hold a listening session or workshop with the public to identify cues-to-care that would work in Easthampton.

Some residents associate increased number of ticks with mowing less regularly.

Research in Massachusetts has shown that tall, lessfrequently mowed grass does not correlate to a higher tick population. Researchers in Springfield conducted tick counts in lawns mowed at different frequencies, from every week, every two weeks, to every three weeks, and found no tick species in any level of lawn height (Lerman and D’Amico). Urban ecologist Susannah Lerman recognizes that acknowledging the possibility of ticks is important (Lerman: Interview).

While Lerman did note that ticks are rare in less freqently mowed turf grass, she also noted that ticks may still be prevalent in portions of a landscape that are brush and shrub heavy. Minimize time spent the brush and shrub areas, and instead keep a space such as a wide pathway cleared to move through. Both Lerman and conservation ecologist Desiree Narango of the Vermont Center for Ecostudies added that planting a diversity of native plants will attract more insects and wildlife, adding to the food web, which may dilute the number of ticks (Vermont Agency of Natural Resources).

Many people associate pollinators with bees, and are allergic to bee stings.

The realm of pollinators includes many insects outside of stinging bees. Bee stings can be very serious if one is allergic. However, less than half of bees are able to sting. When bees do sting, it's usually when they are in a less than ideal condition - defending their nest or if they get caught in clothes or accidentally pinched or stepped on. Bees are not seeking to sting - they’re seeking flowers and nectar.

Include signage to inform neighbors of the possibility of stinging bees around the garden.

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CHARISMATIC SPECIES

While there are many species of pollinators, focusing on charismatic species can help form a positive association with pollinators, using the insects that most people already recognize and many have learned to appreciate is a good place to start the conversation. Charismatic species consist of the pollinators that the general public most likely will recognize. The key characters may include monarch butterflies, bumble bees, and hummingbirds. The purpose of targeting charismatic species is for public outreach and engagement. It can be assumed that some of the general public may have a fear of bees due to the association of stings, or having a negative feeling towards insects in general. Once folks are on board with the baseline pollinators that they do like, it is assumed that there could be a more open conversation around other types of pollinators and their importance in Easthampton’s overall ecosystem.

ART

Visual aids can help inspire community members to join a pollinator movement. While scientists conduct and publicize research demonstrating the health of pollinator habitat, the language used in scientific reports and articles may not be easily understood by the public. Art is one method to bridge the gap between scientific research and community action. A 2019 study in Trends in Neuroscience and Education, reported that students who learn through art within the sciences are more likely to retain information (Hardiman et al.). Engaging with art to learn about the importance of saving and enhancing pollinator habitat in a rapidly changing climate can help facilitate personal action to learn more (Bentz).

Art can also serve as a cue-to-care, i.e., a signal that a space is intentionally cared for. It can draw the eye to a space that might be overlooked or misunderstood.

Pollinator mural on ‘The Grey Building’ at Rochester Municipal Park in Rochester, NY, by Detroit-based mural artist Louise “Ouizi” Jones.

Recommendation: Have a conversation with the City of Easthampton Arts Commission to identify how they might participate in the pollinator movement.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

SIGNAGE

There are two primary benefits of including signs near pollinator habitats. When pollinator habitat is inserted into developed areas, it can stand out as unconventional in appearance and requires different maintenance techniques, such as leaving leaves, spent flowers/seed heads, and woody stems over the winter, and not mowing or limited mowing.

Community members may not know that these practices are intentional and serve a purpose. Signs can help to educate the general public about what they are looking at and the importance of pollinator habitat.

Signs can more generally help to create a wider movement to support pollinators and wildlife habitat.

Using a recognizable logo in multiple places across the city, and ideally across the nation will help familiarize the public with the ongoing pollinator movement. Signs can be placed in community gardens, residential yards, and municipal pollinator demonstration gardens. There are multiple organizations that sell pollinator habitat signs.

Establishing an alliance with one of these organizations may help promote the larger, national effort of promoting habitat.

Why leave the flower stems in place through the winter?

To provide a house to support stem nesting bees! It may not look aesthetically pleasing to humans, but dried stems are a safe space for pollinators over the winter.

In the summer, blooming flowers are providing nectar for pollinators.

In the fall, petals drop.

But wait! Don’t cut them back yet.

Leave your woody plant stems standing into the winter and spring

• The Victory Garden of Tomorrow - Portland, OR • Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Art and Signage Community members from Mountain View School, Easthampton’s Girl Scout Troop, and Hilltown Cooperative Public Charter School have expressed interest in getting involved with pollinator programming. Another community engagement method, learning process, and signage opportunity would be for community groups to work with students at local schools to participate in sign making.

Pollinator habitat sign by the Xerces Society.

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POLLINATOR HABITAT CERTIFICATION Pollinator habitat certification may increase the involvement of residences and buisnesses within the city-wide pollinator movement. A group specializing in pollinators, such as a pollinator pathway organizations, can be the organizing body for these efforts. For example, the Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways Group (MCPPG), a volunteer garden coalition with members from eleven towns west of Boston, encourages garden conversions among residents.

One component of their habitat certification process is requiring residents to fill out a survey listing which criteria their garden meets to qualify as a pollinator garden. Filling out a survey regarding their garden is one way to have residents and business owners assess their garden and learn from the criteria presented (Lerman: Interview).

Certification criteria includes no pesticide use and planting six native plant species, such as trees, early/ mid-season/late blooming flowers. Gardens and

other certified pollinator habitats are then mapped digitally, and made accessible for the public to tour.

In Easthampton, certification programs could be obtained for habitat at multiple scales, from residential apartment balconies, to homeowners’ lawn conversions, to enhancing and showcasing larger scale habitats that are already thriving. For example, the meadows at the north trailhead of Mount Tom provide fantastic habitat for native pollinators, and the land management practices used at agricultural sites such as Park Hill Orchard and Echodale Farm can be “pollinator certified,” provided signage, and showcased for the public. The Ted Sparko Community Garden is another Easthampton locale that can be recognized for certification, with its perennial plants along the border of the parking lot, and ban on pesticide use.

Sites, once virtually mapped, could inform the creation of an Easthampton pollinator tour.

Case Study: Garden Certification in Asheville, North Carolina A Xerces Society Bee City USA affiliate in Asheville certifies different tiers of garden size. These levels, Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, and Butterfly, have specific requirements. The program, GreenWorks, provides online starter kits with planting ideas and local nurseries to purchase the plants from. The certification process leads to more public awareness of pollinator habitats.

Examples of tier certifications, provided by Asheville GreenWorks: Egg Level / Tier 1:

Caterpillar Level / Tier 2:

• 6 native perennial flowering species

• 2 native tree or shrub species

• 1 larval host

• 6 native perennial herbaceous species, with 2 blooming in each part of the growing season

• Remove invasive species • Avoid pesticides

• 1 larval host • 1 form of shelter • Remove invasive species • Avoid pesticides

The section ‘Community Actions’ (page 57) provides a list of methods the City of Easthampton can take to encourage pollinator habitat creation and enhancement at different scales across the city.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

COMMUNITY ACTIONS Through community outreach and engagement sessions, Easthampton residents have suggested numerous ways that they’d like to learn more about how they can support pollinators.

Garden Certification • Combine methods from existing certification programs to create a residential and business pollinator garden certification program.

• Apply for grant funding to provide signs at no or low-cost for residents and buisnesses (page 71).

• Create a subsidized Native Pollinator Plant Program.

Online • Provide a discussion board.

• Add a landing page on Easthampton government website with information.

Case Study: Pollinator Plant Program

One example is the City of Northfield, Minnesota, which offers a Native Plant Rebate Program, which can be paired with their Rain Garden Incentive Program.

• Rain Garden Incentive Program: 50% reimbursement on cost of rain garden materials; $250 reimbursement for equipment rental.

Host events and activities • A lecture series • Plant exchanges • Offer a mentorship program • Garden tours. Through the proposed pollinator habitat certification program (page 55), pollinator gardens would be mapped and locations available to the public.

• Native Plant Rebate Program: 33% rebate of up to $75 on native plant purchases. There is a provided list of native plants that are acceptable within the program.

COLLABORATION / VOLUNTEER NETWORKING Many individuals and organizations have reached out to the Conway School team to express their interest in being involved in pollinator habitat creation, education, and outreach. The pollinator movement within the City of Easthampton will rely on community members to facilitate, implement, and maintain. This plan serves as a guide to push the pollinator movement forward, and the following entities are interested in participating with the city on projects: Plants and Supply Connections It has been suggested by residents that local nurseries could provide the same plant starts that will be seen in the pollinator demonstration garden(s).

Massachusetts Pollinator Network (MPN) This statewide network connects researchers, organizations, native plant experts, communities, and individuals to support pollinator habitat. Initiatives and organizations included in building the network include the Western Mass Pollinator Network, Bee Friendly Williamstown, Wing and a Prayer Pollinator Nursery, Greening Greenfield’s Planting for Pollinators, and Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways.

Pascommuck Conservation Trust This Easthampton-based 501(c)3 non-profit holds thirteen properties as conservation areas. Board members of the Pascommuck Conservation Trust have reached out to support the pollinator initiative.

Schools & Educational Opportunities for Kids Local Garden Club

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Pollinator garden at the Sharon Audubon Center in Sharon, CT. 58

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Demonstration Gardens A pollinator demonstration garden is a form of public education which invites the general public to consider ways in which they can support pollinators in their own yards. Core components of these public gardens include high visibility, a palette of plants that is easily accessible for the public to study, and interpretative signs. The City of Easthampton is interested in installing a demonstration garden, and requested a list of two to three recommended locations.

SELECTION LOCATION PROCESS

Community members at the pollinator team table at WinterFest, February 2023.

Demonstration garden location suggestions were initially made by the Pollinator Action Plan core team. These locations included the Easthampton City Hall, Millside Park, Brookside Cemetery, the Emily Williston Memorial Public Library, Pulaski Park (popularly called “The Red Gazebo”), the Manhan Rail Trail next to the Public Safety Complex, and on the intersection of Union and Cottage Streets. The Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, John Mason, and the Director of the Department of Public Works, Greg Nuttelman, both suggested the Millside catchment area adjacent to the Manhan Rail Trail.

These original suggestions were mapped, and shared in February 2023 with the public at the annual Easthampton WinterFest, a public, city-wide event.

Participants at WinterFest had the option to place a sticker on their preferred location, and to suggest other possibilities. The Manhan Rail Trail, Mountain View School, Emily Williston Memorial Public Library, and Nonotuck Park were the top preferred locations.

Community members watching a presentation at the pollinator plan public meeting, March 2023.

Community members doing a team activity at the pollinator plan public meeting, March 2023.

With these suggestions in hand, the Conway team developed criteria for narrowing the list to four potential locations. Criteria included accessibility, visibility, management considerations, and whether the site or nearby areas could potentially support pollinators throughout their various life stages.

Interviews with pollinator ecologists and researchers informed the development of habitat criteria: sun exposure, nesting sources, water access, and nearby pesticide usage.

The Conway team applied this criteria to all suggested locations, and revealed the four locations deemed well-suited for the creation of a demonstration garden at the second community engagement meeting. The four locations were the Manhan Rail Trail next to the Public Safety

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Complex, the Millside catchment area, the Emily Williston Memorial Public Library, and Pleasant Street Park. Though this last location was not suggested by the core team nor the public, it emerged as a suitable location as it met many of the criteria components.

At the public community meeting held at the Easthampton City Hall in March 2023, the community voted both individually and collectively.

The attendees, as groups, voted on the four recommended locations, and elected the Manhan Rail Trail next to the Public Safety Complex, the Millside catchment area, and the Emily Williston Memorial Public Library as the three recommended locations. In an individual exercise, the top choice was the Manhan Rail Trail next to the Public Safety Complex, and in a group activity, three out of the four groups decided on the Millside catchment area, while one group opted for the Manhan Rail Trail next to the Public Safety Complex.

Based on the input from surveys, interviews with ecologists, researchers, and city employees, the community engagement input at the WinterFest and at the City Hall meeting, the Conway team recommends the Millside catchment area, Manhan Rail Trail next to the Public Safety Complex, and the Emily Williston Memorial Public Library as the three potential locations for a pollinator demonstration garden.

Recommendations Continuing to build community partnerships with various stakeholders can potentially support the efforts of the City of Easthampton in implementing a pollinator demonstration garden. City Counselor Owen Zaret has already started this process in building a partnership with the Emily Williston Memorial Public Library as a potential site.

Continuing to meet with City officials stakeholders is a starting point to finalize what location would be the most practical in terms of implementation feasibility, management, and partnership support systems. Furthermore, additional site analyses, speaking with landscape professionals that specialize in pollinator habitats, and developing a planting plan design for the demonstration garden can be helpful in the design and implementation of the pollinator garden. Funding for the planting can potentially be sourced through grants, or through local community partnerships. An important final step is developing a management plan for the initial planting as well as for the long-term care that helps to maintain a healthy, thriving educational demonstration pollinator garden for the Easthampton community.

A pollinator demonstration garden at Tufts University. Photo from the Tufts Pollinator Initiative.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN DEMONSTRATION GARDENS

DEMONSTRATION GARDEN LOCATION RECOMMENDATIONS

Emily Williston Memorial Library Catchment Area Near Millside Park Manhan Rail Trail on Payson Avenue

Implementation Steps • Convene city officials to discuss which of the sites is most feasible.

• Determine whether additional design services are required to create a final design plan.

• Determine costs for initial plant acquisition and planting.

• Create a management plan for the area to ensure appropriate cutting schedule.

• Create community support for the project through stakeholder or committee support from Agricultural Commission or BEES Committee.

• Create signs for the pollinator garden demonstration areas.

Case Study: Cold Spring Park Pollinator demonstration gardens can be implemented and managed by various entities. An example that outlines multiple stakeholder collaboration is the pollinator habitat that was established at the Cold Spring Park in Newton, MA. The design was completed in partnership with a local Boy Scout and the Friends of Cold Spring Park, a local non-profit organization. Feedback from various pollinator experts was incorporated into the planting selection, and the plants were purchased through funding provided by the Friends of the Cold Spring Park, and grants from the Green Newton, and the Newton Conservators.

In implementing the design, the Newton Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture helped in identifying a suitable location for the garden, prepared the site by removing the sod, and set up a water tank to water the plants during their initial establishment. During the planting day, various community members planted the pollinator seedlings.

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Emily Williston Memorial Public Library • Popular choice among community members • High public visibility • Wheelchair accessible • Nearby nesting and overwintering habitat • Near a source of water • Supportive partnerships

Existing conditions at the Emily Williston Memorial Public Library.

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A photomontage of what the Emily Williston Memorial Public Library might look like after establishing a pollinator demonstration garden.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN DEMONSTRATION GARDENS

Millside Catchment Area • High public visibility • Wheelchair accessible • Nearby nesting and overwintering habitat • Near a source of water • At least six hours of sunlight • Supportive partnerships • Popular choice among community members

Existing conditions at Millside catchment area near Millside Park.

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A rendering of what the Millside catchment area near Millside Park might look like after establishing a pollinator demonstration garden.

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Existing conditions at Manahan Rail Trail at Payson Avenue

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN DEMONSTRATION GARDENS

Monarch caterpillar. Photo by ‘ondreika’, Adobe Stock.

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SECTION TITLE

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Appendix A: Glossary Annual: plants that live their entire lifecycle in one season or year.

Biodiversity: the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms that make up our natural world.

Climate change: long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.

Core Habitat (BioMap3): a GIS dataset layer that indicates habitat in Massachusetts that is critical to the long-term persistence of rare species and other species of conservation concern, including a wide diversity of natural communities and intact ecosystems.

Critical Natural Landscape (BioMap3): a GIS dataset layer that includes large natural landscape blocks in Massachusetts that provide habitat for wide-ranging native species, support intact ecological processes, maintain connectivity among habitats, and enhance ecological resilience; and includes buffering uplands around coastal, wetland, and aquatic Core Habitats to ensure their long-term integrity.

Ecology: the relationship between organisms and their environment.

Entomologist: a scientist who studies insects.

Habitat fragmentation: the disruption to an organism’s natural nesting and feeding area, separating it into smaller disjointed pieces.

Impervious surfaces: a hard area that doesn’t allow water to seep into the ground.

Lepidoptera: order of insects that includes butterflies and moths.

Native plants: plant species are considered native if thay occur naturally in a particular region, ecosystem, or habitat without human introduction.

Non-native plants: plant species that originated somewhere other than its current location and has been introduced to the area where it now lives Perennial: plants that live for multiple growing seasons, often losing foliage in the winter and having new herbaceous growth each year.

Pollinator: anything that helps carry pollen from the male part of the flower to the female part of the same or another flower resulting in fertilization.

Rights-of-way: the strip of land over which facilities such as highways, railroads, or power lines are built.

Riparian buffers: an area adjacent to a stream, lake, or wetland that contains a combination of trees, shrubs, and/or other perennial plants and is managed to provide conservation benefits.

Sustainability: the integration of environmental health, social equity and economic vitality in order to create thriving, healthy, diverse and resilient communities and ecologies.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY

Appendix B: Map Data Land Cover

MassMapper: Land Cover/Land Use 2016 Rename within Cover Name: • “Impervious” to “Impervious Surfaces”, “Developed Open Space” to “Lawn” Cover Name Merged: • Forest = Deciduous Forest + Evergreen Forest • Agriculture = Cultivated + Pasture/Hay • Wetlands = Palustrine Aquatic Bed + Palustrine Emergent Wetland + Palustrine Forested Wetland + Palustrine Scrub/Shrub Wetland • Grasslands & Shrubs = Grassland + Scrub/Shrub Attribute table: New Column: “Simplified” to contain the new merged values with other cover names.

Protected Areas BioMap 3 - Critical Natural Landscape BioMap 3 - Core Habitat MassMapper - Protected and Recreational Open Space • Symbology: Unique Values; field 1: lev_prot • Relabel “P” (Permanent Protection) to “Permanent Protection” • Select by attribute: Cover Name = P • Extract Data Layer; single symbol

Impervious Surfaces MassMapper: Land Cover Land Use 2016 • Select by attribute: Cover Name - Impervious • Extract Data Layer (Impervious)

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body

Agricultural Land

Mass Mapper - Land Cover/Land Use 2016 • Merge Pasture/Hay + Cultivated = Agriculture • Select by attribute: Agriculture • Extract Data Layer (Agriculture); single symbol

Soils MassMapper - Soils • Poorly Draining Soils: • Drainclass: very poorly drained, poorly drained • Well Draining Soils: • Drainclass: well drained, somewhat excessively drained, moderately well drained, excessively drained

Light Pollution Lightpollutionmap.info • Symbology: • Primary: Stretch • Stretch type: Standard deviation • Number of standard deviations: 4 • Number of intervals: 2 • Statistics: Dataset

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN APPENDIX B:MAP DATA

Current Lawns BioMap 3 - Critical Natural Landscape BioMap 3 - Core Habitat MassMapper - Land Cover Land Use • Select by attribute: Cover Name - Developed Open Space • Extract Data Layer • Symbology: single symbol • Rename “Developed Open Space” to “Lawn”

Municipally Owned Land MassMapper - Openspace • Owner_type: Municipal • Single symbol

Current Roads BioMap 3 - Critical Natural Landscape BioMap 3 - Core Habitat MassMapper - MassDOT Roads

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Hummingbird hawk moth pollinating bee balm (Monarda species).

Photo by Christine Grindle, Adobe Stock.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SECTION TITLE

Resources FUNDING Federal Funding • Clean Water Act (CWA): 319 Grant Program for States and Territories - supports education, demonstration projects, etc.

• National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF): Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund technical assistance for private working lands and habitat improvement projects.

• U.S. Department of Transportation: Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) - small scale transportation projects such as bike paths, stormwater, habitat connectivity, recreational trails, etc.

Construction projects with consideration of pollinator habitat.

• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: State Wildlife Grants - wildlife conservation • U.S. Department of Transportation - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Monarch and Pollinator Highway (MPH) Act of 2021 - $2 million dollars every year from 2022-2026 for states, federal agencies, and Native American tribes to accomplish projects that benefit pollinator habitat along roadsides.

• U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration: Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Formula Programing Ecologically determined landscaping improves the enhancement of transportation infrastructure to be more resilient to the quickly changing climate.

• U.S. Department of Agriculture Environmental Quality Incentives Program Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) State Funding • MA Department of Conservation and Recreation: Forest Stewardship Program Other • Environmental Protection Agency: Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) loans - to cover capital costs of green infrastructure.

• New England Grassroots Environmental Fund: Seed Grants, Grow Grants, Young Leaders Grants • National Recreation and Park Association; American Planning Association: Financing Green Infrastructure Projects

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Mass Audubon. “Take 5: Birds Love Berries.” Mass Audubon, 4 Dec. 2019, blogs.massaudubon.org/ yourgreatoutdoors/take-5-birds-love-berries/. Accessed Mar. 2023.

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Interview by Eva Hogue et al., 16 Feb. 2023.

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Nelson, Paul. “Sheep, Goats Handle ‘Mowing’ Duties at Schenectady’s Vale Cemetery.” Times Union, 21 July 2015, www.timesunion.com/news/article/Sheep-and-goats-clip-cemetery-grass-6396578.php. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

Newell, Avery, and Tess Romanski. “Native Plantings as a Strategy for Local Government.” Pace University - Elisabeth Haub School of Law, 2020, law.pace.edu/sites/default/files/Team%20%233%20Brief.pdf.

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Nixon, Phil. “Pollinators: Entomology Fact Sheet.” University of Illinois Extension, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018.

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Nuttelman, Greg. Interview with the Department of Public Works. Interview by Ted Martini et al., 13 Feb. 2023.

Olaya-Arenas, Paola, et al. “Larval Pesticide Exposure Impacts Monarch Butterfly Performance.” Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no. 1, Sept. 2020, p. 14490, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71211-7.

PCT. “Broad Brook Meadows Conservation Area.” Pascommuck Conservation Trust. www.pctland.org/ properties/broad-brook-meadowsconservation-area/. Accessed Feb. 2023.

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PCT. “Hannum Brook Conservation Area.” Pascommuck Conservation Trust. www.pctland.org/properties/ hannum-brook-conservation-area/. Accessed Feb. 2023.

PCT. “Old Pascommuck Conservation Area.” Pascommuck Conservation Trust. www.pctland.org/oldpascommuck-conservation-area/. Accessed Feb. 2023.

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PVPC. “City of Easthampton Hazard Mitigation Plan.” Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, 17 Feb. 2015, p. 9, www.pvpc.org/sites/default/files/Easthampton_HMP_02_17_2015.pdf. Accessed Mar. 2023.

PVPC. “Easthampton Open Space & Recreation Plan.” Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, Mar. 2021, pp.

1–251, www.pvpc.org/sites/default/files/Easthampton_OSRP_2020_032221_FINALfull.pdf. Accessed Mar. 2023.

“Rain Garden / Rain Barrels / Native Plant Rebate.” City of Northfield, www.northfieldmn.gov/338/RainGarden-Rain-BarrelsNative-Plant-Reb. Accessed 15 Mar. 2023.

Ryalls, James, et al. “Anthropogenic Air Pollutants Reduce Insect-Mediated Pollination Services.”

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Smithsonian Institution. “Beetles (Coleoptera).” Smithsonian Institution, www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/ beetle#:~:text=Beetles%20(Order%20Coleoptera)%20are%20known,30%2C000%20kinds%20of%20 beetles%20known. Accessed Apr. 2023.

Soil Association. “Why are bees important?” Soil Association. https://www.soilassociation.org/take-action/ growing-at-home/bee-organic/why-are-bees-important/#:~:text=We%20are%20dependent%20on%20 bees,pollination%20services%20to%20farmers%20worldwide. Accessed Apr. 2023.

“Strasburg Community Park.” Larry Weaner Landscape Associates, lweanerassociates.com/portfolio/ strasburg-community-park-strasburg-pa/. Accessed Mar. 2023.

Taki, Hisatomo, et al. “Plantation vs. Natural Forest: Matrix Quality Determines Pollinator Abundance in Crop Fields.” Scientific Reports, vol. 1, no. 1, Oct. 2011, pp. 1–4, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep00132.

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Thogmartin, Wayne E., et al. “Monarch Butterfly Population Decline in North America: Identifying the Threatening Processes.” Royal Society Open Science, vol. 4, no. 9, Sept. 2017, p. 170760, https://doi. org/10.1098/rsos.170760. Accessed 1 Mar. 2023.

Thurlow, Emily. “Volunteers Branch out to Conduct Easthampton’s First Tree Inventory.” Daily Hampshire Gazette, Concord Monitor, 3 Apr. 2022, www.gazettenet.com/Easthampton-hosts-a-tree-inventory-event-inwhich-volunteers-will-collect-data-on-a-sample-of-the-city-s-public-shade-trees-45756346. Accessed 14 Mar.

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2023.

UNH Extension. “Planting for Pollinators: Establishing a Wildflower Meadow from Seed [Fact Sheet].”

University of New Hampshire, extension.unh.edu/resource/planting-pollinators-establishing-wildflowermeadow-seed-fact-sheet. Accessed Mar. 2023.

UNH Extension. “Pollinator Plants for Northern New England Gardens [Fact Sheet].” University of New Hampshire, 10 Jan. 2018, extension.unh.edu/resource/pollinator-plants-northern-new-england-gardens-factsheet. Accessed 14 Mar. 2023.

USDA. “Honey Bees.” United States Department of Agriculture, www.usda.gov/peoples-garden/pollinators/ honey-bees. Accessed 5 Mar. 2023.

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U.S. Forest Service. “Bird Pollination.” United States Development of Agriculture, https://www.fs.usda.gov/ wildflowers/pollinators/animals/birds.shtml. Accessed Apr. 2023.

U.S. Forest Service. “Pollinator-Friendly Best Management Practices for Federal Lands.” United States Department of Agriculture, 2015, www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/BMPs/documents/ PollinatorFriendlyBMPsFederalLands05152015.pdf. Accessed Mar. 2023.

Vaughan, Mace, et al. “Farming for Bees.” Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, 2015, www.xerces. org/sites/default/files/2018-05/15-007_04_XercesSoc_Farming-for-Bees-Guidelines_web.pdf. Accessed Mar. 2023.

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Vispo, Conrad et al. “Accidental Harvest: The Farmscape Ecology of Columbia County, NY.” Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program, https://hvfarmscape.org/sites/default/files/vispo_knab-vispo_and_ duhon_for_web.pdf. Accessed April 2023.

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. “Nesting & Overwintering Habitat.” Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/18-014.pdf. Accessed Mar. 2023.

We would like to thank our core team: Eli Bloch, Easthampton Assistant Planner; Owen Zaret, Easthampton City Councilor; and Eashampton community members Bex Zumbruski and Mari Harrison for their wonderful presence, dedication and support throughout this project. Jeff Bagg, Easthampton City Planner, started us with an incredible and insightful tour of Easthampton at the beginning of our project- thank you!

Thank you to John Mason, Director of Parks and Recreation, and Greg Nuttelman, Director of the Department of Public Works, for taking the time to speak with us about the behind the scenes work that happens on municipal land. A special thank you to all the Eastampton community members not only for their enthusiastic participation on this project, but also for their warm welcome into their vibrant community.

This project would not have been possible without the wealth of knowledge shared by the following researchers, ecologists, entomologists, and organizations. We are indebted and grateful for your time and willingness to answer all of our questions.

Our sincere thanks to: The Emily Williston Memorial Library and Museum staff, Jermaine Hinds, Ph.D., Susannah B Lerman, Ph.D., James Lowenthal, Ph.D., Peggy MacLeod, Rosemary Malfi, Ph.D., Elyse McCormick, Desirée L. Narango, Ph.D., Tom Sullivan, and Jenny Van Wyk, Ph.D.

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The conventional turf lawn may have a strong cultural attraction for many people, but provides little or no habitat for pollinators. These lawns can be converted into pollinator garden habitats that can create a wealth of pollinator diversity, as explained in this residential pollinator toolkit.

The Conway School is the only institution of its kind in North America. Its focus is sustainable landscape planning and design and its graduates are awarded a Master of Science in Ecological Design degree. Each year, through its accredited, ten-month graduate program, students from diverse backgrounds are immersed in a range of real-world design projects, ranging from sites to cities to regions.

The common buckeye (Junonia coenia) on a New England Aster.

Photo by ‘Michael’, Adobe Stock.

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN SECTION TITLE

RESIDENTIAL TOOLKIT Prepared for residents and community members of the City of Easthampton as part of the Easthampton Pollinator Action Plan.

The Conway School Winter 2023 S. Maricela Escobar, Eva Hogue, and Ted Martini

INTRODUCTION The residential pollinator garden toolkit describes a starting approach for creating a pollinator garden within a residential landscape. Sections give a general description of “how to’’ do site analysis, site preparation, plant selection, and maintenance. This residential toolkit is intended for those that would like to join the movement in supporting pollinators, but it is a general starting point, and further research and consulting might be needed. Some landscape designers specialize in pollinator gardens, and can conduct site analysis as well as produce a planting plant strategy.

Conventional residential lawns can be converted into pollinator gardens that support and maintain pollinators, nurture healthy natural ecosystems, and provide ecosystem services that directly support human well-being. A pollinator garden supports every life stage of pollinators by providing food sources, nesting habitats, cover from the elements, and protection from pesticides.

SITE ANALYSIS When choosing a site for a pollinator garden, a starting point can include assessing the current state and layout of your residential property noting the current existing vegetation, microclimates, topography, soils, and drainage.

Existing Vegetation

Take note of the current plant vegetation including trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses, and groundcovers, and assess what the current plants provide for pollinators. Some trees like native oaks serve as a host species for many pollinators while some plants like shades of gold marigold, which have double flowers, do not provide as much pollen and nectar in comparison to native flowering plants. You might choose to remove plants that provide no pollinator functions such as invasive species, like multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), that crowd out other species by forming a closely knit blanket canopy over other plant species. You may also choose to supplement planted areas with additional species and/or convert areas of lawn into a more diverse pollinator planting.

Additionally, observing the surrounding natural environment can provide clues as to what plant species attract pollinators. Noting the ground cover in these natural environments, for instance, serves as a clue as to what pollinators might need. Natural mulch under trees, for example, not only helps in regulating soil temperatures and in the decomposition process recycle nutrients back to plants, but can also serve as nesting habitat for pollinators that bury under leaves as cover.

A typical lawn provides limited or no food sources for pollinators. What are the existing conditions here?

See page 94 for online databases for plant lists that support pollinators.

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Microclimates and Topography

Observe the land throughout the day noting sunny, and windy areas. Sunny areas are typically favored by herbaceous perennials while shadier areas create conducive environments for woody plants.

Note the topography of the area: a north-facing slope or an area north of a structure will receive less light and a low point in the garden can be more susceptible to frosts. Planting on a south-facing slope grants more sunlight for pollinators while planting on higher ground can provide frost pocket protection particularly during the early spring days.

In selecting plants, choose plants that are best suited for site conditions of your residential property. Additionally, when selecting a location for a pollinator garden, consider that many pollinators need sunny areas to warm up, and a sheltered environment that protects them from certain elements, like strong winds. Plants, particularly trees and bushes, planted on a northern side of a house can provide protection from the wind particularly in the winter months.

Your soil water holding capacity can be indicated after a heavy rain. Phobo by ‘Kokhan O’ from Adobe Stock.

South-facing garden on a slope. Photo by ‘Katy,’ Adobe Stock.

Soils and Drainage

Investigate the soils in the potential pollinator garden area to determine what kind of soils are present, and investigate how well they drain. An appropriate time to see how water has drained from your residential property is after a rainy day.

Puddling in soils, and soils that remain wet for an extended time can be matched with plants suitable for wetter conditions. Additionally, a testing lab can detail the soil contents including pH levels and organic matter, and whether the soil has any contaminants. Select plants suited to the soil conditions or amend the soil for a different planting palette. Wetter, clay soils need a different plant selection than soils that are dry and sandy, for instance. While plants like Allegheny monkey flower (Mimulus ringens), Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), and wood lily (Trillium grandiflorum) inhabit moist soils, other plants such as inkberry (Ilex glabra), fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) and arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) prefer well-drained soils.

See page 94 for resources on how to do a simple ribbon test for soils, and where to send a soil sample for testing.

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PLANT SELECTION Pollinators need plants that provide food throughout all their life stages, and a suitable pollinator garden has a diverse plant palette. While some species of pollinators, like the clearwing hummingbird moth (Hemaris thysbe), lay their eggs on various plants including honeysuckle bushes (Lonicera spp.), cherry trees (Prunus spp.) and hawthorn trees (Crataegus spp.), other species like the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) rely exclusively on milkweed species. Select plants that provide food for larva and the mature pollinator stages. Favoring plants for specialists will also support generalists. Since pollinators come in all shapes and sizes, a variety in plant flower and stem structures will accommodate those needs as well. Additionally, a variety of colors and aromatics supports a greater pollinator diversity. A multilayered plant canopy that includes trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants is usually better than one canopy layer with a smaller range of plant types. Remember to choose plants that are adapted to your sun, soil, temperature and habitat conditions.

Flowers

For flowers, choose at least three different species that have a bloom in each season– selecting around nine different flower species should help create a continuous flowering sequence throughout the growing season. An example of an early flowering plant is bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), which awakens early in the spring, providing nectar and pollen for native bees, and ants. The cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is an example that provides one form of shape diversity in flowers through the tubular structure that attracts the ruby-throated hummingbird. Flowers like goldenrods (Solidago spp.) attract not just one pollinator but various natives bees and other pollinators, serving as an example of “powerhouse flower”.

An array of flower colors attracts a diversity of pollinators. Blue, purple and violet colors, for instance, attract bees, while red, orange and yellow colors draw hummingbirds. Choose flower species native to Massachusetts with these characteristics in mind since pollinators and native plants have evolved together, and have supported each other for a long time. Selecting flowers for specialists will also support generalists.

Trees

Many trees serve as host plants, and as a source of food for pollinators. Native trees, including red maples (Acer rubrum), provide an early source of nectar and pollen for native bees, and black cherry (Prunus serotina) serve as a host plant for the spring azure butterfly (Celastrina ladon).

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Hawthorn Crataegus

Shrubs

Native shrubs are a great food source for pollinators since they often bloom in large quantities, and many bloom during the spring and early summer. The buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) and highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) are two examples of shrub food sources for pollinators.

Winterberry Ilex verticillata

Seedlings and Seeds

Northern sea oats, a native grass, can provide overwintering habitat. Photo by Stonehouse Nursery.

Budget, time, size, and resources all help determine whether to purchase seedlings or seeds. Purchasing seeds is generally less expensive than buying seedlings but it can be harder to establish plants from seed if an area has not been intentionally cultivated before or is home to aggressively spreading plants. When planting seeds, keep in mind that some seeds need a cold stratification period to germinate, and are best to be sown in the fall. Seedlings can also come in different sizes. Landscape plugs are the smallest, and are usually purchased in bulk trays but they are less frequently found in retail locations.

Seeds can be bought online through companies that specialize in native plants, and seedlings can be bought at local nurseries. Ask the nursery for seedlings rather than cultivars since they offer a greater diversity of genes and are typically more resilient. Cultivars are cloned or grafted plants that have been bred for specific traits, and depending on the bred traits, these plants may or may not provide food sources for pollinators.

Grasses

Native grasses provide overwintering habitats for pollinators. Additionally, grasses help to create a denser environment that can suppress weeds in a pollinator garden. Two examples of grasses are the big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), which stays upright during the winter months, and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium).

Landscape plugs. Photo by Stonehouse Nursery.

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LAWN SITE PREPARATION Site preparation for a pollinator garden begins with removing the existing growth. Various techniques can be applied for turf removal including sheet mulching, solarizing, using a sod cutter, or removing by hand.

In sheet mulching, overlapping cardboard pieces are placed on grass and staked down during the fall season typically, blocking sunlight.

Once in place, the cardboard pieces are soaked with water to help with the decomposition process, a layer of compost is added, and then it is topped off with wood chips or straw mulch.

Solarizing involves placing tarp or plastic over the desired garden area to kill grass and weeds. Finally, mechanical grass removal using sod cutters is another option in lawn removal. In this case, the removed sod can be composted on a side mound which can later be sown with wild seeds.

Once the site is prepared, seedlings should be planted right away, and surrounded by mulch to suppress competition from weeds. Leaves and straw can serve as excellent mulch material. Watering at this state of life is essential for plant growth as the plants establish a solid root system.

Manual removal of existing turf sod. Photo by ‘knowlesgallery’ from Adobe Stock.

CREATING SHELTER FOR NESTING AND OVERWINTERING Many pollinators need habitats in which to raise their offspring (nesting) along with overwintering habitats. Nesting and overwintering habitats include pithy plants, rocks, stumps, logs, sticks, fallen leaves, or a barren soil spot. Conventional landscaping practices can include removal of dead vegetation and leaves as they wither particularly in the fall months. For pollinators, habitat value is increased by leaving dead vegetation and leaves throughout the fall and winter, and leaving the upkeep for the spring. Leaving dead plants and fallen leaves in place provides pollinators with protective overwintering habitat. You may also select to do garden edging where a surrounding backyard edge is created as place to layer fallen leaves and dead vegetation during the spring months. Selectively cutting back dormant

herbaceous plants, such as flowering perennials and grasses, about halfway also provides future nesting habitat for some pollinators. Though commonly accepted, “bee hotels” can pose risks to native nesting bees through the accumulation of disease in one location, and potentially greater access to predators (McCormick and VanWyk).

Photo by ‘MN Studio’ from Adobe Stock.

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MAINTENANCE Establishing a pollinator garden is a commitment to supporting pollinators. The initial start to a pollinator garden requires more frequent maintenance until the plants are fully established: watering and weeding in the first year will help newly planted species thrive. In the following years, once the plants are established, the pollinator habitat will need to be weeded for undesired plants, and thinned and/or divided if clumps of plants are growing too close to each other.

Some conventional lawn practices can also include using dyed wood chip mulch or plastic barriers to

planting strategy that includes ground covering plants such as creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis), common blue violet (Viola sororia) and/or wild ginger (Asarum canadense) to shade over weeds, in addition to herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees. Though some weeds can suppress the growth or out compete some plants in a intentionally planted pollinator garden consider that some plants that are typically labelled as weeds, like common dandelions (Taraxacum officinale), serve as an early foraging sources for some bee species. Leaving some common weeds intact may support pollinators.

Avoiding the use of pesticides is key to pollinator health. Though an occasional plant like bee balm (Monarda didyma) is subject to disease (powdery mildew), avoid the use of treatments. Fungicides are detrimental to bees and other pollinators. A different management strategy might include planting different sized flowers in front of the bee balm to help obscure the powdery mildew. In selecting plants, also choose plants that are adapted to the local climate conditions and pests which can reduce pesticide use. Though creating a pollinator habitat supports not only the health of pollinators but overall ecosystem health, pollinator gardens can also draw criticism from neighbors who are not aware of pollinator benefits or do not value these benefits over Wheelbarrow full of weeds. Photo by ‘Mieszko9’ from Adobe Stock. other concerns. The standard American lawn has a strong suppress weeds. Dyed wood mulch can contain foundational hold on what is deemed as unkempt and chemicals that can leach the dye and chemicals into tidy, and this standard is a cultural practice for many the environment potentially harming pollinators. people. Creating pollinator gardens that are being Alternatives to dye wood mulch include natural wood integrated into a lawn heavy neighborhood can chips and straw, from reputable sources, or using leaf benefit from indications that a space is intentionally mulching from your own backyard. Weed barriers can being crafted. Signs of intention and care may include block access to nesting for pollinators that use soil. a mowed grass strip or other edging around the One possibility to explore is selecting a multi-layered pollinator garden, paths, and signs.

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A rendering of what a pollinator garden could look like at a residential scale.

Group planting of the same plant species supports pollinators that visit the same flower type during a foraging trip.

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PROJECT NAME RESIDENTIAL TOOLKIT

Trees such as native oaks and cherries function as a food source for many caterpillar species, and provide edge habitat.

Logs, rocks, and sticks provide cover from the elements, nesting and overwintering habitats for pollinators.

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RESIDENTIAL POLLINATOR GARDEN SCALES Habitats for pollinators come in a diversity of sizes and care efforts. Pollinators can be supported by providing flowering or host plants in container gardens, small and medium sized pollinator gardens, or meadows. Letting lawns flower can also provide an additional food source for pollinators, and it involves less commitment than establishing a pollinator gardens since there is no flower planting or watering.

Container Gardens

Container gardens can support pollinators when yard space access is limited. Pots can be placed on a porch, along a driveway, or hung from a fence. Larger, more expansive containers give plants more space to grow their root systems, and require less watering. Good drainage is key in keeping container gardens healthy. Plants that have longer flowering periods like threadleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata) and butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) are suitable for container gardens. In container gardening, another planting strategy that can be explored is selecting species that attract a diversity of pollinator species like Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum) or mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum).

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Lawns

Folks who want to participate in uplifting pollinator health, but are unable to establish a pollinator garden, can allow their lawns to flower before mowing, and raise their lawn mower blades. Not mowing or reducing mowing in May can provide supplemental food sources for pollinators. A study conducted in Springfield, MA suggests that lawn flowers can serve as an additional source of food for pollinators (Lerman and Milam). Leaving leaves around shrubs and in garden beds throughout the fall and winter is also an easy alternative for creating pollinator habitat. A pesticide free lawn can also support pollinator health. Alternative lawn cover plant species can lessen mowing times including wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana).

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN RESIDENTIAL TOOLKIT

Small and Medium Sized Pollinator Gardens

A typical residential yard can often support small and medium sized pollinator gardens.

Starting small and then expanding into a medium sized gardens offers the opportunity to gauge what plants do well in the land, and to ease into the initial establishment time commitment.

Meadows

On larger residential properties, wildflower meadows can be established to provide nesting and food sources for pollinators. Meadows are larger and take a greater commitment to establish. Once created, meadows need a management plan such as a mowing schedule that compliments this strategy or proper soil amendments. Consulting a meadow design specialist can be helpful in developing a management plan that is suitable for a specific area, and that keeps in mind pollinator needs.

For further details on initial meadow establishment, see page 33.

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The design below is an example of what a pollinator garden plan can look like for a residential pollinator home garden.

body

Highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum

Little bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium

Swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata

Joe-Pye weed, Eutrochium purpureum

Purple prairie clover, Dalea purpurea

Jack-in-the-pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum

Anise hyssop, Agastache foeniculum

Wild lupine, Lupinus perennis

Common dandelion, Taraxacum officinale

Aster ‘wood’s purple’, Aster

Swamp thistle, Cirsium muticum

Common yarrow, Achillea millefolium

Purple conefower, Echinacea purpurea

Scarlet bee-balm, Monarda fistulosa

Sunflower, Helianthus annuus

Goldenrod, Solidago spp.

The sketches on the right show a sample of plants that support pollinators in the spring, summer and fall.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN RESIDENTIAL TOOLKIT

Spring

Bird’s foot violet Jack-in-the-pulpit Viola pedata Arisaema triphyllum

Red clover Trifolium pratense

Peach Prunus persica

Highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum

Eastern red columbine Aquilegia canadensis

Crested iris Iris cristata

Common self-heal Prunella vulgaris

Wild lupine Lupinus perennis

Purple coneflower Echinacea purpurea

Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata

Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta

Swamp thistle Cirsium muticum

American witch-hazel Hamamelis virginiana

Foxglove beardtongue Penstemon digitalis

Summer

Anise hyssop Agastache foeniculum

Red beebalm Monarda didyma

Fall

Goldenrod Solidago spp.

New England aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae PROJECT NAME SECTION TITLE

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Trees Shrubs

Type Bloom period

Common name

Scientific name

Color

Tree

Early

Pussy willow

Salix discolor Yellow

Spring forage for bees; host plant for mourning cloak butterflies

Tree

Early

Eastern redbud

Cercis

Attracts butterflies, songbirds.

Tree

Early

Serviceberry

Amelanchier White canadensis

Host plant for the Red-Spotted Purple and Viceroy butterflies.

Type

Bloom period

Common name

Scientific name

Color

Pollinator notes

Shrub

Early

Highbush blueberry

Vaccinium corymbosum

White/ pink

Attracts mining bees, mason bees, longtongued bumble bees

Shrub

Early-mid Common ninebark

Physocarpus opulifolius

White/ pink

Shrub

Late

Common Cephalanthus White buttonbush occidentalis

Attractive foliage and peeling bark; birds, bees, butterflies. Native in southern New England.

Host plant for moths and butterflies, attractive to bees.

Shrub

Late/ early

Witch hazel Hamamelis virginiana

Pink

Pollinator notes

Yellow

A honeybee sipping nectar from a A honeybee visiting a witch hazel highbush blueberry bloom. Photo by the blossom. Photo by Danny Schissler.

Blueberry Pollination Project.

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN RESIDENTIAL TOOLKIT

Pollinating insects on a common buttonbush. Photo by Linda Taylor.

Type

Bloom period Flower Early

Common name Wild blue phlox

Scientific name Color

Notes

Phlox divaricata

Blue

Flower Mid

Purple coneflower

Echinacea purpurea

Pink

Bumblebees, hummingbirds, honeybees.

Long-tongued bees, butterflies & skippers

Flower Mid

Wild bergamont Monarda fistulosa Maroon

Hummingbirds and long-tongued bumble bees, hawk moths

Flower Mid

Wild mint

Attracts bees, solitary wasps, flies, beetles, butterflies, & skippers.

Flowers

Flower Mid

Mentha arvensis

Purple

Swamp milkweed Flower Mid-late Common yarrow

Aslepias incarnata Pink

Host plant for monarchs

Achillea minnefolium

White

Miner, digger, bumble, leafcutter, sweat, and mason bees.

Flower Late

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae Rudbeckia hirta

Purple

Andrenid bees, carpenter bees, bumble bees, sweat bees.

Larval host for Silvery checkerspot caterpillars and attracts adult butterflies.

Flower Late

New England aster Black-eyed susan

Swallowtail butterfly on a wild bergamont plant. Photo by Blazing Star Gardens.

Yellow

Monarch butterfly on a swamp milkweed plant. Photo by Jocelyn Anderson.

Bumble bee collecting pollen on a New England Aster. Photo by Regenerative Design Group.

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RESOURCES Online Database Plant Lists

UMass North American Plants for New England Gardens Xerces Society Pollinator Partnership Native Plant Trust

Nurseries

This is an initial list of local places to buy plants and seeds. There may be others that are not listed here.

Easthampton Feed & Supplies Abundance Farm Nasami Farm Nursery Native Plant Trust American Meadows (VT) Tripple Brook Nursery Helia Native Nursery (West Stockbridge, MA) New England Wetland Plants (South Hadley) Seed Companies

Ernst Seeds Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Johnny’s Selected Seeds Fedco Prairie Moon Nursery Hudson Valley Seed Company Soil Testing Lab

UMass Amherst Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory

Simple Soil Ribbon Test

City of Cedar Falls Simple Soil Ribbon Test

Books

Planting in a Post Wild World by Claudia West and Thomas Rainer Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer The Garden Revolution by Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher Lawns into Meadows by Owen Wormser

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EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN RESIDENTIAL TOOLKIT

EASTHAMPTON POLLINATOR ACTION PLAN Prepared for The City of Easthampton In Easthampton, MA, there exists a strong appreciation for the health of the natural landscape that reaches beyond the borders of this growing city. The community is aware of the decline in pollinator populations worldwide and understands the vitally important role pollinators play in the intricate ecological systems on which our world’s well-being depends. In response to current threats posed to these key species, the City of Easthampton Planning Department is interested in opportunities to protect, increase, and enrich pollinator habitats throughout the city, and is looking for ways to support residents in their own ecologically responsible efforts. Through careful analysis of Easthampton’s existing conditions, this Pollinator Action Plan identifies a variety of strategies that may be implemented to promote pollinator habitat health on both municipally managed and privately owned land.

The Conway School is the only institution of its kind in North America. Its focus is sustainable landscape planning and design and its graduates are awarded a Master of Science in Ecological Design degree. Each year, through its accredited, ten-month graduate program, students from diverse backgrounds are immersed in a range of real-world design projects, ranging from sites to cities to regions.

Cover photo from the New England Pollinator Gardens

PROJECT NAME SECTION TITLE

S. Maricela Escobar, Eva Hogue, and Ted Martini The Conway School Winter 2023