Eagle Scout project could have lasting impact
By: Dick Brinster
EAST WINDSOR Ryan Vetter plans to use bats to build a park.
No, not bats as in baseball. Bats as is in, well, Batman.
Holy marauding mammals, what will they think of next?
Actually, the 17-year-old resident’s plan, his Eagle Scout project, makes perfect sense. More bats mean fewer mosquitoes, and that’s always desirable in the warm summer months when people want to stroll through places such as the area he calls Bear Creek Park.
"My troop cleans the park several times a year as part of the Adopt-a-Spot program," Ryan explained. "I decided to renovate the park because it is virtually unknown and from the nearest street is unrecognizable as a park."
Actually, it isn’t a park, but when Ryan finishes with his bat boxes and his showcase kiosk, which he says is the focal point of his mission, the land just a few blocks from his home will take on the appearance of a park.
The property is just one of many tracts the township has acquired over the years for its open spaces program, but it’s never been a park. It took on the appearance of one, however, because people created artificial trails by cutting through the property.
"The program is environmentally positive and very educational," Mayor Janice Mironov said. "A number of people live close to there. It’ll be another recreation area."
But first it needs to be made comfortable. That’s where nature and some wooden boxes come in.
"I would add bat boxes to encourage local species to roost in the area," Ryan told the Township Council earlier this month as he sought its support for his project. "The high mosquito population makes the park unpleasant from the late spring to early fall."
Bat boxes are unsophisticated wooden structures about 2 feet tall, a foot wide and 5 inches deep. The rough wooden interiors allow bats to cling to the walls after they fly in through an opening at the bottom of the box.
They are attracted to the boxes because they provide shelter in a nest area uninhabitable to other species located near sources of food and water.
"I have found plans for building one online but I am hoping to get them donated prefabricated," he said. "I’ll put up two or three of them. Each box can hold around 30 bats."
Ryan hopes to complete his project by August, improving a 43-acre tract in the northwest corner of the township that now is nothing more than an unlabeled sliver of green tucked against the Washington Township line near the South Branch of Bear Brook.
The area is accessible from the end of Dorchester Drive in the Hickory Corner neighborhood.
Ryan plans to erect an entrance sign with the help of his mates from Boy Scout Troop 59.
"I would add several things to Bear Creek Park to give it more structure and make it more enjoyable," he said.
First on his list would be the kiosk, both to mark the entrance to the facility and provide historical perspective, a map of the trail and ecological information. It would be stand 7 feet off the ground have an overhang and be laminated against the weather.
Then he would use a stencil to spray paint a directional arrow and a bear paw on trees to direct hikers along the pathway.
"I hope to get supplies for all this from donations from local hardware stores," Ryan said.
He’ll also be looking for help from his laborer Scout friends and commercial benefactors to salvage a trail he says is now in state of disrepair.
"There are numerous fallen trees and large puddles obstructing the path," he said. "I would clear the trail and mark the entire path through the park and around the flooded portions of the trail."
He also will need wood chips to fill in holes and ditches on the trial.
The Hightstown High School senior has been completing projects of one kind or another almost since he became a Cub Scout in kindergarten. He hopes this one proves quite rewarding even though it might not be as exciting as some activities that earned him merit badges along the way.
"I would have to say that rock climbing was the most fun, but high-adventure trips are the most enjoyable part of scouting," Ryan said. "Just last summer I canoed over 50 miles on the boundary water lakes in northern Minnesota as part of Northern Tier."
In the summer of 2003, he sailed in the Bahamas. He also attended the Boy Scouts’ National Jamboree in A.P. Hill, Va., in 2001.
The Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared," and Ryan doesn’t appear to have forgotten anything in his quest for Scouting’s highest honor. So his volunteer force need not worry about most problems encountered along the trail.
Ryan will have a first-aid kit and cell phone on site. He will mandate the use of appropriate protective equipment and have adequate supervision.
There also will be precautions taken against some of the less serious but more common maladies of the great outdoors. He’ll provide bug spray to combat ticks and mosquito bites, water to fight heat and dehydration problems and be certain everyone of is aware of the presence of poison ivy.
The overall plan impressed Councilman Alan Rosenberg, who also thought it was appropriate that Ryan’s idea was geared toward a natural restoration of the area.
"I think it’s great that you decided to use bats for the mosquitoes instead of chemicals," Mr. Rosenberg said. "I would like to commend you for that."
Mayor Mironov said the township enjoys dealing with the Boy Scouts and their projects.
"They have a real community interest," she said. "And Ryan seems to have a great environmental interest."
For now, the mayor will be an interested spectator, then plans to perform one of her specialties for the benefit of both a prospective Eagle Scout and the township.
"Whatever he raises, we’ll try to go out and match through private donations," she said.
But Ryan’s biggest contribution might be the comfort of the park users, something provided in part by several dozen bats.