Day 289
At our meeting, the representative got right to the line of guaranteeing us money without actually saying it. He was confident we would get funded for a few reasons. We are already in the system so we are familiar and we have established responsible practices in our restoration so far. Secondly, a large amount of money has entered the funding system as a way to battle the inflation that is hindering our nation's economy at the moment. Of course, even if we are blessed to be awarded funding to assist with our restoration goals, we have non control over how much we are awarded. But if and when we do, we will have to decide what projects we want to tackle.
We definitely have options. We could potentially go in a variety of directions, but with the help and guidance of the representative, I think there are three potential possibilities. Each has pros and cons. Each also are eventual parts of our overall plan, but we will know what might take priority based on if and when we get funded and for what amount.
One option is to continue the reed canary grass removal. Initially, it sounds like a slam dunk option. However, when you take a deeper dive, it's not as easy. This option would essentially mean mechanically removing the grass and starting fresh with expensive seedsing. Because we have already started this process and seen the once dormant and native seed bank come back to life, starting fresh sounds daunting and inefficient.
A second option is tree planting, especially around the property lines. We would love to address wherever possible, but having them act as a vegetation buffer near property lines will serve a dual purpose. Besides establishing more visual borders, it will block invasive seeds from entering into our restored land. Adding trees is something we have discussed but failed to start because we know it might not be a successful project until the invasive grass is under control. This is an expensive project so getting assistance would be great. The timing, however, might not be right.
A third option is intriguing, but I admit it's the option I know least about.
