Page 6
Fall 2013
NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
ďůƵĞƉůĂƐƟĐϱϱ ŐĂůŽŶ ĚƌƵŵ ǁ ŝƚŚ Ă
white lid and a lifelike animated
dinosaur from “The Land Before
Time” series.
In May NRPA came down and
cleaned the beach. Over 400 lbs.
of debris was removed!
vironment that is around the
shoreline. Through plant dona-
ƟŽŶƐ͕
ƚŚĞ ' ĂƌĚĞŶ ŚĂƐ ďĞĞŶ ĂďůĞ
to give out over 300 lbs. of toma-
ƚŽĞƐ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ^Ăůǀ ĂƟŽŶ ƌŵLJ ĂŶĚ
local residents.
Many people have been excited
about the change in the neigh-
borhood due to the garden. It is
known, that when you see a
ďĞĂƵƟĨƵůŐĂƌĚĞŶ ĂŶĚ Ă ƐĂĨĞƉůĂĐĞ
ƚŽ ĞŶũŽLJ͕
LJŽƵƌƐƉŝƌŝƚƐ ĂƌĞƵƉůŝŌĞĚ͘
The Garden not only provides a
ďĞƩ Ğƌ ůĂŶĚƐĐĂƉĞ͕
ŝƚ ŵĂŬĞƐ ƚŚĞ
ĂƌĞĂ ƐŵĞů ďĞƩ ĞƌĂƐ ǁ Ğů͘
,
Ăǀ ŝŶŐ
plants that give off oxygen and
nice odors always is an aid in the
air quality of a place. The garden
has an area to accept compost,
raw plant scrapes that decom-
pose in-
to soil
which
then is
used in
the gar-
den’s
beds.
There is
recycling
infor-
ŵĂƟŽŶ
that is
handed
out to
the visi-
tors and
all
are
welcome
to come
and enjoy. There will be a Pump-
kin event late in the fall and we
ůŽŽŬ ĨŽƌǁ ĂƌĚ ƚŽ ŵŽƌĞ ƉƌŽĚƵĐƟǀ ŝͲ
ty in the future.
&
Žƌ ŵŽƌĞ ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚ͗
wellfulenvironment@gmail.com
A Closer Look At Shoreline
Boardwalks
By Ida Sanoff
^Ğǀ ĞƌĂů ǁ ĞĞŬƐ ĂŌĞƌ , ƵƌƌŝĐĂŶĞ
Sandy, Mayor Bloomberg toured
the flood damaged beaches of
Rockaway. Upon seeing the de-
ƐƚƌƵĐƟŽŶ ŚĞ ƉƌŽĐůĂŝŵĞĚ ͞
E Ž
more wooden Boardwalks!”
What is so troubling about this is
that while Bloomberg is certainly
an accomplished man, he is not a
coastal engineer, not an architect
and not even a carpenter. What
ƉƌŽŵƉƚĞĚ ŚŝƐ ƉƌŽĐůĂŵĂƟŽŶ ǁ ĂƐ
the sight of the ruined wooden
boardwalk. But what he didn’t
know is that there was a lot more
to this story. In areas where
ƚŚĞƌĞ ǁ ĞƌĞ ƌŽĐŬ ŐƌŽŝŶƐ Žƌ ũĞƫ ĞƐ
on the beach, both wood and
concrete boardwalks survived
ƌĞůĂƟǀ ĞůLJ ŝŶƚĂĐƚ͘
Ƶƚ ŝĨ ƚŚĞƌĞ
ǁ ĞƌĞ ŶŽ ũĞƫ ĞƐ͕
ďŽĂƌĚǁ ĂůŬƐ ǁ ĞƌĞ
devastated. Later, it was discov-
ĞƌĞĚ ƚŚĂƚ ƚŚĞƌĞ ǁ ĞƌĞ ĂĚĚŝƟŽŶĂů
problems: The wooden board-
ǁ ĂůŬ ƐĞĐƟŽŶƐ ŚĂĚ ŶŽƚ ďĞĞŶ
properly fastened to their sup-
ƉŽƌƟŶŐƐƵďƐƚƌƵĐƚƵƌĞ͘
The historic wooden boardwalks
along New York City’s beaches
are fast becoming an endangered
species. Originally made from
tropical rainforest hardwoods
such as Ipe and Coumaru, the
wood in these boardwalks was
salt and rot resistant and very
durable. Although the Ipe and
Coumaru trees are not in them-
ƐĞůǀ ĞƐ ĞŶĚĂŶŐĞƌĞĚ͕
ŚĂƌǀ ĞƐƟŶŐ
them destroys acres and acres of
rainforest habitat. So the Parks
Department turned to an alterna-
Ɵǀ Ğ͗
ŽŶĐƌĞƚĞ͘
Ƶƚ ŝƐ ƚŚĂƚ ĐŚŽŝĐĞ
safe or will it result in more de-
ƐƚƌƵĐƟŽŶ ĚƵƌŝŶŐĂƐƚŽƌŵ ƐƵƌŐĞ͍
Community Garden
By Keith Jacobsen
Community Gardens are becom-
ing an intricate part of neighbor-
hoods. The Wellful Environment
Garden, at 11 Brownell is working
ƚŽ ďĞĂƵƟĨLJ ĂŶ ĂƌĞĂ ůĞƐƐ ƚŚĂŶ Ă
mile from the waterfront, while
teaching the neighborhood about
ĐĂƌŝŶŐĨŽƌŽƵƌĞŶǀ ŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚ ďĞƩ Ğƌ
and feeding themselves in the
process.
The Garden has over 10 volun-
teer members and is part of the
NYC Parks Department’s Green
Thumb program.
The Natural
ZĞƐŽƵƌĐĞƐ WƌŽƚĞĐƟŽŶ ƐƐŽĐŝĂƟŽŶ
is the Garden’s Sponsor and has
been working to enhance the en-
Wellful Environment Garden