Cascading Waters Property Monitoring Report

The good, the bad, and the ugly are all laid bare in a property monitoring report.
Without this sort of honest analysis it is impossible to fix problems and to improve the user experience of the public access and wildlife on Trust parcels.
When you come out and have a genuinely lovely day along the brook know that there is a gritty work side for the Rangers and Volunteers over the course of the year to make that experience possible.

March 25th, 2008
Started out at the Lodge at 4:00 pm ended at 5:30pm.

Route: Walked north along the boundary line to the SW corner with Cataract Street, then N along Cataract Street to the NW corner, then E along the property line (excepting the swamp in the NW corner) to the property jog half way along the N boundary line, crossed the stream and walked E on the Cascades Trail to the driveway entrance, then walked N to the NE corner on Olean Street, then W back to the jog halfway along the N bound, then S on the Olean Street edge to the SE corner, then W along the boundary line to the Lodge. Walked back and forth along the N side of the Cascades Brook.
Evidence of Property Use: Good amount of trail traffic based on the lack of leaf litter. Purple compact 'clown car' of five-six high school youth who hiked west on trail while monitoring. They came to hang out, one of them smoking illicit stuff, one of them needed to be chased off (actually just a yelled "Hey!") from relieving himself in the brook in broad daylight (completely aggravating). They were surprised and quickly altered behavior when confronted from a distance. Compared to the typical actual hikers as users we see each day I have to say that this was dispiriting, but I was glad to be there and to stop this ridiculousness. They mostly hung out and watched the falls then went and sat in their car in the parking lot for a while. They left no litter and cause no further problems.
Man Made Alterations: There was loose brush that was cut and thrown over onto the property in the NW, but not a ton of it and thankfully so. Not sure what best to do on this count. Generally the property was free of alterations. The small trees and bushes planted over the last two years were still present and showing life to some degree.All in all pretty good.
Natural Alterations: The brook has had a number of flood and near flood stages and the whole of the property shows evidence of it. There are cleared paths lacking leaf litter where overland streams flowed, mostly in the SW and NE corners of the property. There are evidences of erosion on the brook edges from the high flow. There is evidence of high wind with a number of blown down trees (like over five and some quite large.) The secondary branch of the brook that runs more northerly after the mini falls on the property is looking like it got flow and like it might become the main branch if we keep getting these big rain storms at some point. The property is changing with the brook thinking about new routes. There are also shelves of leaf and sticks piled up by floods that now retain pools of water in the brook.
Trail Conditions: Good overall. No terrible trail erosion spots. No mud holes. The rise on the western terminus next to the brook and the bridge could probably benefit from a hand rail at some point if that were possible. Blazes were good.
Water Related Issues: None of any particular concern.
Abutter Issues: Construction debris and yard waste present, but mostly removed by the end of the monitoring walk.
Property Signage: The boundary line could use posting with GWLT bound markers. That would likely help keep construction debris and yard waste down from hired hands. Also could benefit from a property sign on Cataract Street both for Cascading Waters and for Cascades Park.
Wildlife Observed: Sad to say none. That was partly due to my single-minded focus on finding and bagging trash though. There was a great Pileated Woodpecker I got to see fairly close this morning up at Cascades West, but nothing on the monitoring walk.
Plants Observed: Tons of plants observed! See below.
Woody Plants: Red Maple, Ash, Norway Maple, Sugar Maple, Shagbark Hickory, the Balsam Fir and White Pine Planted a whiles back on the bound line. There was more but I didn't make a list so this is what I recall.
Non Woody: Not much observed to be honest. It is too early in the spring for a lot of that stuff.
Other Comments: Lots of trash was collected during the walk. 4 large bags in all. Still need to go back and work away at the 10 year old + green carpet half-buried on the N boundary line near the NW corner. All obvious trash was removed from the whole of the property including the brook. Collected the most trash along the two street edges. Collected a fair amount of trash next to the three residential abutters and in particular a lot of building debris overflow on the N property line. Plenty of evidence of alcohol consumption on the Cataract Street edge N of the bridge over the Cascades. Some other evidence of illicit activity there as well. Might consider a monitoring device. Found a "No Parking 10pm-6am Both Sides" sign pulled down and half buried. Dug it out and propped it up.
Photos: None taken. None needed.
Annotated Map: No.
Illustrations: No.
Work Project Needed: Dig a new hole, get some concrete and reinstall the abused "No Parking" at night sign for Cataract Street. Install GWLT property boundary signs.