Mamaroneck Urged to Apply for Forest-Saving Grants
BY STEPHEN E. LIPKEN
Mamaroneck Town Supervisor Jaine Elkind Eney convened the July Town Council meeting, beginning with Resident Comment by Sustainability Collaborative member Andrea Hirsch.
“I am here tonight to ask you to apply for a Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Urban and Community Forest Round 17 Grant,” Hirsch began. “The grants are between $50,000 and $2.5 million. This is an unprecedented opportunity for grants to inventory, study and analyze our work.
“The reason I come here is because our woods are dying. We have an overabundance of deer, who have eaten all the seedlings and saplings of the trees,” she said. “There are no seedlings or saplings to regenerate, which experts estimate takes approximately 40 to 65 years. Invasive plants will come in, there will be no woods anymore.
“Either the ground is barren, with just leaf litter on it, or we have places where we have English Ivy covering it. The deer do not eat the ivy but prefer the native plants. We have no wildflower plants in the woods because of this problem. If you cross the bridge over the Sheldrake River you will see masses of knotweed, a very hard invasive to eradicate. We have no small animals, insects or ground nesting birds,” Hirsch said. “As far as I can determine, nothing has been done since the 1964 inventory by the National Audubon Society.”
Hirsch concluded that, utilizing the DEC grant, the deer would be contained and native plants restored, as well as covering exposed tree roots, preventing the trees from falling.
Nancy Pierson, Acting Chair, Human Rights Commission spoke regarding the Town’s [Native American] logo survey. Summarizing the Commission’s review of the current Town seal and logo, Pierson discussed outreach conducted with representatives of the Lenape Center, expressing support for replacing the current logo with one that more accurately reflect’s the Town’s values and history.
Amy Nathan, a Town resident expressed support for updating the Town’s logo and discussed research concerning Native American imagery and encouraged the Town to continue its public outreach efforts.
In Affairs of the Town, concerning 2026 Capital Budget Amendments, $38,260 was transferred from the Highway Fund to increase roads, sidewalks and curb improvements. The base bid TA-26-10, “2026 Road Resurfacing” was awarded to Laura Li Industries in amount not to exceed $745,380, encompassing Eton Road, Ellsworth Road, Little Farms Road, Barnum Road, Stoneyside Drive, East Garden Road, East Brookside Drive, Rocky Road, North Brook Road, Hickory Grove Drive East, Lakeside Drive, Plymouth Road, Winthrop Avenue, Poplar Road, Springdale Road, and Rockingstone Avenue.