Year 3, 2028
– Riparian Forest & Habitat Establishment

Action Goal 1: Evaluate Previous Work

Strategy

• Native plant survival
• Bank quality
• Water Quality
• Bat count (citizen science encouraged) – and perhaps other counts
• Pollinator garden / bee count
• Meander-core wetlands

Action Goal 2: Maintenance & Stewardship Strategy

Strategy

• Invasive checks: 2× per year
  • Invasive removal
• Meadow mowing (if applicable): 1× annually (late winter)
• Tree care: Mulching, watering first 2–3 years
• Stream access points only—no general bank trampling
• Volunteer stewardship days to build long‑term success

Action Goal 3: Apply Regenerative Practices

Strategy, Year 2 – increase biomass & introduce natives

• Mow in late spring
• Keep Spring Cover Crops → Protect soil, improve structure & microbial activity ; Oats or annual rye (root mass +erosion control), Buckwheat (fast biomass + pollinator support), Daikon radish (compaction breaker); Red clover (fix nitrogen) & Fall Cover Crops → Protect soil, improve structure & microbial activity ; Cereal rye (root mass +erosion control), Crimson clover (fix nitrogen)
• Add:
• 20 % Grasses → build soil carbon + structure; Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
• 40% Forbs (wildflowers) → support biodiversity + microbes; Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Lanceleaf coreopsis
• 40 % Legumes → fix nitrogen; Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata), Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
• Track: % plant cover, number of species, soil feel (crumbly vs compacted), earthworms / insects

Action Goal 4:  Build volunteer base 

Strategy

• Community engagement:
  • 4 Educational Events / Site walks
    • The Greenspace in Winter
    • The Greenspace in Spring
    • The Greenspace in Summer
    • The Greenspace in Fall

• Nurture contact list – newsletter, social events
• Signage
• Volunteer workdays

Action Goal 5: Secure funding

Strategy

• Always reapply for Lexington Stormwater Quality Grant (2029 - May 1, 2028 deadline)
• Document list of potential grant sources and deadlines
  • Lexington Stormwater Quality Grant (Priority)
  • NRCS (eligible only for EQIP)
  • CAIP (eligible due to farm #)
  • FCCD educational grant

✅ Administrative Deliverables:

Updating and maintaining conservation plan and maps

Functioning riparian framework