August 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 48

FORT WAYNE
To date, the crew has removed
more than 818 tons of woody
debris from the downtown area
of Fort Wayne.
To date, the crew has removed
more than 818 tons of woody debris
from the downtown area of
Fort Wayne.
Herbivory Management
Water not only attracts humans,
but also all kinds of wildlife, and
the rivers at Fort Wayne are no exception.
The city features a healthy
ecosystem that attracts river otters,
mink, frogs, foxes, deer, muskrats,
numerous aquatic birds and beavers,
as well as more than twodozen
different varieties of fish.
Unfortunately, beavers, deer and
geese have proven to be a nuisance
to riverfront development.
Geese normally would migrate
during winter months, but with the
current urban setting, they feel no
need to migrate. Their numbers
have swelled within
downtown
Fort Wayne, and geese tend to be
aggressive toward our community
members - not to mention
the green waste they leave behind,
which has become one of the major
contributors of pollutants to our
rivers. To combat this problem, the
riparian crew has begun to follow
the Indiana Department of Natural
Resource's regulations to addle
geese eggs in February and March.
Later in the year, they contract a
professional wildlife expert to catch
and relocate hundreds of geese.
Beavers are cute, but their large
orange teeth are destructive. They
can ring the base of a tree in a matter
of hours, which, in turn, kills
the tree. It doesn't take long after
the death of the tree for it to fall
into the river, causing navigational
hazards for park patrons. The
riparian crew has mitigated this
problem by wrapping the base of
the beavers' favorite species of trees
with hardware cloth or by applying
sand paint. Both methods are highly
effective to deter beavers from
chewing through the bark of the
tree. The same method is used to
protect trees from deer as well.
Invasive Species
Management and
Volunteerism
Fort Wayne is no stranger to invasive
plant species, the number one
culprit being Asian bush honeysuckle.
Once people learn about
this plant and what it does to the
ecosystem, they start to notice it
everywhere. The riparian crew has
worked hard to remove this plant,
along with Japanese knotweed,
tree of heaven, buckthorn, garlic
mustard and many others.
The crew has worked with thousands
of volunteers who are just as
passionate about the removal of invasive
species in Fort Wayne. As a result,
more than 56 tons of plants have
been removed with the assistance of
more than 1,551 volunteers, amounting
to $88,790 worth of labor.
Improving Water Quality
and River Safety
Fort Wayne City Utilities draws its
water from the St. Joseph River, so
the city takes water quality seriously.
The city currently is undergoing
a massive deep tunnel project to improve
water quality, and the riparian
division is doing its part as well. The
crew installed booms, which act as
floating barriers around outflows to
catch debris coming into the city's
rivers. Controlling the geese population
helps with water quality as well.
Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation
staff, with the help of volunteers, have
removed more than 56 tons of invasive
plants from riparian zones.
48 Parks & Recreation | A UGUS T 2 0 2 1
| PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
August 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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