Cross country practice often took me past the fire training tower, a structure several stories high along one of the main park roads. As I’ve learned more about PFAS chemicals, I’ve become aware of the toxic legacy left behind by PFAS-containing fire suppression foams. I wondered if these products had ever been used at Chestnut Ridge.

Located on Chautauqua County's Niagara Escarpment, Greystone is nestled amongst rolling hills and offers a stunning view of Lake Erie. Diane and Bill are passionate about connecting fellow humans to the natural world, and they welcome folks of all ages and styles to participate in nature-based programming.

Greystone's seventy-five acres is home to its share of native, non-native, and invasive plants. In this article, we'll explore the potential for partnerships between Greystone and local foragers.

As an herbal medicine and foraging instructor, I have partnered with numerous school districts in Western New York to offer wild edible and medicinal plant classes. Many continuing education participants and kids in science class or summer school have explored school property edges with me, plucking self-heal and linden flowers to nibble.

I've heard mixed information about pesticide application regulations at schools and daycares. Here, I'll share my findings on what's currently on the books in New York State.

Working for three organic or naturally-grown veggie farms taught me plenty about quality compost, foliar feeding with seaweed emulsion, mulching and intercropping to suppress weeds, and encouraging beneficial insects for pest management. However, it did not teach me a lick about conventional herbicides.

To gain a better grasp of safety when harvesting in the vicinity of treated lawns--whether physically or time-wise, months or years post-treatment-- I'll offer a series of articles delving into lawn chemicals. Here, we'll look at the categories of herbicides that are commonly used today and how they work. 

In 2009, New York State Parks Commissioner Carol Ash signed a Policy on Pesticide Reduction in State Parks and Historic Sites. In this article, I'll discuss points from the document that I found noteworthy for foragers.

Each time I have spoken with park management staff for parks in my area, I've found that there is potential for partnerships with foragers to remove invasive species and weeds that are edible and medicinal.

Before a forager harvests in any location, it's important to learn about the land-use history in that spot, and in the greater area. The Policy on Pesticide Reduction in State Parks and Historic Sites is a great place to begin.

Evyn Iacovitti, Environmental Analyst for New York State Parks, emphasized that foraging is prohibited in New York State Parks. However, Evyn said there is potential for partnerships between parks and foragers for invasive species removal. I explained that safe foraging requires knowledge of chemical applications in the area, and asked about herbicide/pesticide application practices.

Though I wasn't familiar with the park's rules on foraging, I assumed picking a leaf here and there for educational purposes would be no problem. However, it was a problem for the girls I worked with. They heard my shpiel about the importance of knowing whether a lawn or garden is treated with chemicals before we harvest. I suggested that tasting a leaf here and there wouldn't pose enough of a risk to worry-- but a few of the girls were wary (students after my own heart!).

I wish I had made the time for students to call the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy to ask this question for themselves. I'm making the time to find out now-- and will be ready with the answer for next year's program.

I enjoyed this park's beautiful creekside hike this spring, starting at the south end. My walk generated enough questions to do some research. First, I noticed that Ellicott Creek, which runs through the park, smelled like sewage. This didn’t seem to bother the fisherpeople wading with their poles. Turns out, the southern half of the park’s 80 acres is on the flood plain, and is "subject to periodic inundation by floodwaters" (Town of Amherst). What is known about the water quality?

As I collect contamination information for wild-harvesters on WNY public lands, my conclusions are informed guesses at best. Learning about the history of parks and surrounding property gives important clues, but we often don’t know how this translates into concrete contamination data. Even when testing is done for soil contamination, we can’t assess the levels of every possible contaminant. Some contaminants also break down into other (also toxic) chemicals that aren’t tested for.

Another issue is our lack of a complete list of industries and smaller businesses that have contributed to contamination in WNY. The 2018 book Sites Unseen is an outstanding resource for understanding the complexity of urban contamination history—particularly the quick "forgetting" of businesses that left contamination behind.

One might ask, “Why does it matter whether we’re technically allowed to harvest invasive garlic mustard, or Japanese knotweed? No one would mind if we took some.” My concern is that if parks and forests do not consciously allow visitors to harvest these plants for eating, their management practices and communication with visitors will also ignore this reality. If both visitors and employees are clear on what we are allowed to nibble, we will have increased the safety of the nibbling.

The more I learn about many “medicinal” plants, the more I realize that they are just real human food—the food we evolved eating, making our bodies what they are today.