More than 500 visitors joined in the fun at Get Outdoors! Community Day, part of the statewide Outdoors Day events.  Visitors enjoyed learning a variety of skills in outdoor activities such as geocaching, birding, archery, camping, kayaking, and more. DEC Forest Ranger Tim Kennedy gave a backpacking and fire safety demonstration at the event. The Polish Villa2 and Yogurt Shack food trucks were also a big hit! Special thanks go to the  youth & recreation departments of the Towns of Cheektowaga and Amherst for supporting this event. Thank you to all that volunteered and participated at this year’s event.

On Saturday June 14 at Beaver Meadow Audubon Center, Reinstein Woods’ Cara Politi announced the  winners for the fourth annual Garlic Mustard Challenge. More than 300 volunteers removed 5,100 pounds of the invasive garlic mustard plant from three nature preserves in Western New York, improving hundreds of acres of habitat! The Challenge is a joint effort of Friends of Reinstein Woods, NYSDEC’s Reinstein Woods Environmental Education Center, Buffalo Audubon Society and the Western New York Land Conservancy.

To increase their impact , 17 volunteers also removed garlic mustard at the Lewiston Plateau Habitat Area in Lewiston, Niagara County, during a one-day “Super Pull.” Volunteers pulled 277 pounds of garlic mustard in just three hours.

Beaver Meadow Audubon Center claims bragging rights as “Challenge Champion” for harnessing the most volunteer power (pounds of garlic mustard per person) of the three nature preserves. The organization’s 52 volunteers pulled more than 2,394 pounds of garlic mustard!

Thank you to all of the volunteers who participated in the Challenge!

Garlic Mustard Challenge Winners

 Reinstein Woods:

First Place: Riptide Plus, Buffalo (168.75 pounds)
Runner Up: Pack 592, Orchard Park (123.75 pounds)

Beaver Meadow Audubon Center (North Java):

First Place: Olivia’s Mustard, Lancaster (1,113 pounds)
Runner Up: East Pembroke Grange, Pembroke (769 pounds)

Kenneglenn Preserve:                 

First Place: Boy Scout Troop 513, East Aurora (1,016) pounds)
Runner Up: Cub Scout Pack 514, East Aurora (348 pounds)

Lewiston Plateau Habitat Area ‘Super Pull”:

First Place: Unicorn Troop, Kenmore (151.5 pounds)
Runner Up: Daemen YALT, Daemen College (55 pounds)