Canal Forest Restoration Project

04/20/2026

10/31/2023

You're invited to Rice Creek on 11/11 to Experience Rice Creek: Current Discoveries, Research, & Projects~
Learning about their small grants program since 1996~Meeting the '23 award recipient's & hearing about their projects.
Join to learn more at RCA annual social & presentation event, for an opportunity to submit your own project at Rice Creek
~Call for proposals open thru February 2024~
For more information contact [email protected]

10/27/2023

Thanks to the help of our wonderful volunteers, we have dozens of tree seedlings ready for new homes! Our fall giveaway runs tonight, Friday, Oct 27 from 4:30-7 pm, and tomorrow (while supplies last), 10 am-1 pm. Stop by to pick up as many seedlings as you can plant of these varieties: white oak, swamp white oak, bur oak, and tupelo (limited supplies of the last two).

We hope to see you there! Rice Creek Field Station, 193 Thompson Road, Oswego, NY 13126.

09/13/2022

It is seed collection time!

Now is the time to begin looking for and collecting the seeds of our focal tree species- White Oak, Swamp White Oak, Bur Oak, and Tupelo. This is one of the best ways to support the Canal Forest Restoration Project and we greatly appreciate all the help we can get!

We ask that seeds given to us be labeled with a date, location, and contact information. Also, a twig sample from the tree greatly helps with our identification, if you are able to include that as well.

Once you have collected the seeds they can be brought directly to Rice Creek Field Station or sent to our Mailing Address: Rice Creek
Field Station, SUNY Oswego, 1020 State Route 104, Oswego, NY, 13126.

In Oswego and other cities these tree species are often used as decorative street trees, which is a good place to start looking if you don't know where to find any.

If you need more information about identifying these species or how to properly send them in, please email [email protected] with subject line Seed Collection Information and we will send you pdfs with that information. Any other questions can also be sent to this email!

04/28/2022

Alt-text: 8 hours until National Arbor Day! 🌲 There are two ways to be involved right here in Oswego -- virtually or in-person -- tomorrow, Friday, April 29.

First, join us virtually at noon for the *final* Arbor Day Webinar Series talk to learn how New York State is battling climate change by adding forests. This talk is by NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Climate Change Forester Bryan Ellis. Full details and Zoom link are available at bit.ly/OzArborDay

Second, join us in person at 3 pm at SUNY Oswego's Centennial Arboretum for our Arbor Day celebration and re-dedication ceremony. Dr. Mary Toale, SUNY Oswego's Officer-in-Charge, Councilor Corradino from the City of Oswego, the Oswego Tree Stewards, and many others will be gathering for an Arbor Day address, the planting of three new trees, Arboretum tours. Our project will be there giving away free trees. Spread the word!

The Centennial Arboretum is located at the northwest side of the intersection of 6th and Washington Avenues. Free public parking is available along 6th Avenue.

Alt-text:
Image 1 shows a group of around 25 people gathered around a newly-planted tree outside SUNY Oswego's Moreland Hall.
Image 2 shows a photo of Bryan Ellis in the field, with the NYS DEC logo and the words "April 29, 2022 @ 12 pm".
Image 3 shows the poster for the Arbor Day celebration, with the same information as listed above, along with graphics of the Earth and a tree.

04/22/2022

Happy Earth Day! 🌏 Looking for a way to celebrate? How about with a virtual book talk by bestselling author Dr. Doug Tallamy on his new book The Nature of Oaks! This talk is perfect for those interested in gardening, supporting pollinators and other insects, ecology, native plants, or restoration. 🐝🌳

Dr. Tallamy is joining us as the fourth speaker in our free 🌲 Arbor Day webinar series, which runs Fridays at noon throughout April.

Oaks sustain a complex and fascinating web of wildlife. The Nature of Oaks reveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal. From woodpeckers who collect and store hundreds of acorns for sustenance to the beauty of jewel caterpillars, Tallamy illuminates and celebrates the wonders that occur right in our own yards and restorations. The Nature of Oaks will inspire you to treasure these trees and to act to nurture and protect them.

Join us at today's webinar by visiting bit.ly/OzArborDay, which includes the Zoom link. We hope to see you there!

Alt text: Headshot of Dr. Tallamy with the cover image of the book "The Nature of Oaks featuring an oak seedling, with the text "April 22, 2022 @ 12 pm".

04/14/2022

Tomorrow (April 15) is the third talk in our free 🌲 Arbor Day 🌳 webinar series, running Fridays at noon throughout April. This week's talk on the *Centennial Arboretum* and other campus tree projects is hybrid - you can come in person to Rice Creek room 121, or you can tune in by Zoom!

The bulk of tomorrow's talk is about SUNY Oswego's Centennial Arboretum, and will be given by Kate Spector and Jon Mills from the Office of Sustainability.

The 1961 Centennial Arboretum was gifted to the SUNY Oswego campus through donations made by community members and businesses to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the institution’s founding. As the campus expanded, the Arboretum was no longer centrally located, leaving it forgotten. In 2021, efforts to revive the arboretum resulted in an addition of 21 new and diverse tree species, planted by community members, student volunteers, and campus staff. The future of the Centennial Arboretum includes expansion to support both the ecological and educational connections between the campus community and the land in which we reside. This webinar will also include updates about other campus tree projects, including success stats from the CFRP 2021 tree giveaways.

Join us at tomorrow's webinar by visiting bit.ly/OzArborDay, which includes the Zoom link. We hope to see you there!

Alt text: A group gathered by a newly planted tree with a campus building in the background, with the Sustainability SUNY Oswego logo and the text "April 15, 2022 @ 12 pm".

04/07/2022

Tomorrow is the second webinar in our free 🌲 Arbor Day 🌳 webinar series, running Fridays at noon throughout April. We are welcoming Dr. Gregory McGee from ESF to talk about the Wildflower Restoration Project.

What do wildflowers have to do with trees and forests? They make up the forest understory, and many post-agricultural forests in the Northeast are missing their understory wildflower community. In these post-ag forests, active restoration efforts such as direct seeding and transplants are needed to bring back these essential parts of the forest ecosystem and restore plant diversity. Dr. McGee will discuss ways that landowners can work to restore wildflowers on their property and why doing so is important for improving landscape-level biodiversity and resilience to change.

Join us at tomorrow's webinar by visiting bit.ly/OzArborDay, which includes the Zoom link. We hope to see you there!

Alt text: Image of Dr. McGee in a forest with students, and a banner at the bottom saying "Wildflower Restoration Project" with a photo of forest wildflowers, along with the text "April 8, 2022 @ 12 pm".

Canal Forest Restoration Project SUNY Oswego Oswego County, NY

03/30/2022

Members of the campus community and the general public are invited once again to celebrate National Arbor Day with the Canal Forest Restoration Project (CFRP) and Rice Creek Field Station!

This year's free webinar series will be delivered as five lunchtime webinars on Fridays throughout April 2022. First up is Caroline A. Marschner's April 1 talk on the New York State Hemlock Initiative. Zoom links available at bit.ly/OzArborDay

Join us to learn about the importance of eastern hemlock for land and water ecology and how to preserve this species from hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive forest pest attacking hemlock on the East Coast. Marschner will also be talking about the impact and biology of the hemlock woolly adelgid, management options, and ongoing research. Learn about volunteer opportunities on your own property or in the larger landscape to help stop the spread of this destructive pest.

Alt text: Upcoming Event!!! April 1, 2022 at 12 pm. Includes headshot of speaker and logo of organization.

This year's free webinar series will be delivered as five lunchtime webinars on Fridays throughout April 2022. First up is Caroline A. Marschner's April 1 talk on the New York State Hemlock Initiative. Zoom links are available at bit.ly/OzArborDay

09/27/2021

This short NPR segment touches on the many reasons to plant trees – both for the planet and your own health and wellbeing. Reserve your free trees today on our website! Pickups continue through October. 🌲🌳 SUNY Oswego

A growing body of research shows the many ways trees improves our mental and physical health. There's a push to understand more.

09/23/2021

It's seed collection season! One of the best ways to support the CFRP is by collecting seeds. We are seeking seeds of the following species: white oak (Quercus alba), swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), burr oak (Quercus macrocarpa), white pine (Pinus strobus), and tupelo/black gum (Nyssa sylvatica).

If you are not sure how to identify these species, there are excellent resources like the free app PlantNet that can help you identify trees based on photographs of the leaves. You can also email images to us at [email protected] for confirmation.

If you are willing to collect but don't know where to go, we can direct you toward places to search.

Seeds are best collected when they are naturally dispersing. For many of these species, now is perfect! Here are some species-specific directions:

Oaks: Collect when the acorns are turning from green to brown and the cap can be easily removed. Best is to collect right off the trees or soon after they fall to the ground. Be gentle with acorns that already have an emerging root. Acorns should be packed into zip-top plastic bags along with a moist paper towel and a twig and leaf for verification of species identity. Keep acorns in the refrigerator until you can send or deliver them to Rice Creek.
Identification tips: all the oak species in our project are in the white oak group, meaning their leaves have rounded lobes, not pointy. Swamp white oak and burr oak leaves are darker green on top and fuzzy and whiter on the bottom. Non-native English oak (Quercus robur) can easily be confused for native white oak and is a common horticultural planting in this area. One distinguishing feature is the rounded, earlobe-like flaps at the base of English oak leaves, while the base of white oak leaves tapers to the stem.

White pine: Pine seeds develop under the scales of pine cones, two per scale. Cones you find on the ground may only have a few seeds left. Seeds can be stored and mailed dry, along with a twig for verification of species identity.
Identification tip: white pine needles are grouped in bundles of 5.

Tupelo/black gum: Fruits are ripe when they turn blue-black. They can be collected directly from trees or off the ground. Fruits can be delivered or mailed as-is to Rice Creek (along with a twig and leaf). Tupelo/black gum trees have oval-shaped glossy leaves that end in a pointy tip. The leaves turn bright shades of orange, red, and purple in autumn. This tree naturally grows in moist sites but is also planted as a street tree.

Please include your contact information and the collection location (as specific as possible) when you mail or drop off your seeds. Our mailing address is: Rice Creek Field Station, SUNY Oswego, 1020 State Route 104, Oswego, NY, 13126. Seeds can also be dropped off Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 4:30 pm, or Saturday 9 am to 3 pm.

07/29/2021

Records say that our area has been hit with an estimated six inches of rain in month of July, and our trees are loving it! 🌳🌧😄 These rain showers help to cool the leaves, transport nutrients up the tree, and ultimately produce oxygen. The tree enclosure pictured here is housing just under 700 trees, many of which are ready for new homes. Request your trees for pickup now or in September on our website: https://www.oswego.edu/rice-creek/canal-forest-restoration-project
SUNY Oswego Oswego County, NY Rice Creek Rice Creek Field Station