Thank you to TC Energy!

Ridge and Valley Conservancy would like to acknowledge and share our profound gratitude for a recent grant our organization received from TC Energy. RVC was awarded $19,000 from TC Energy for our Riparian Buffer Restoration initiative at Dark Moon Preserve. These funds will be used to restore a 6-acre buffer along the stream that runs through the preserve, a tributary of Bear Brook through which flows Category One waters.

This project will rehabilitate a landscape which was degraded by many years of prior agricultural use. The native plants installed will provide habitat for many species including beneficial insects, amphibians, and birds. Our work will enhance the existing buffer to develop and protect this ecosystem’s microclimate. As plants grow and mature, they will provide shade which will keep this stream cooler and improve conditions for fish and macroinvertebrates. These actions will also help offset the negative effects of our changing climate.

In the future, hundreds of mature trees will absorb and hold stormwater on site and erosion caused by heavy rains will decrease as shrubs and grasses add structural integrity to the shoreline. These plants will also improve water quality by slowing runoff and encouraging contaminants to settle before entering surface water.

Over the next two years, with the help of volunteers, RVC will plant approximately 800 plants along two-thousand feet of stream bank. This effort also provides an opportunity for local schools and organizations to study the positive effects of ecological restoration over time by measuring healthy habitat indicators such as water temperature, flow, and quality, macroinvertebrate abundance, and biodiversity.

None of this would be possible without the generous contribution from TC Energy! Keep checking the Dark Moon Preserve page for updates on this project - our first group of volunteers is already breaking ground at the beginning of September!