The North Woods off the University of Rhode Island’s campus is home to a variety of species and is a hub of activity for wildlife research and conservation at the university.
The North Woods Hiking and Conservation Club, which was founded two years ago, seeks to educate students on the value of the North Woods, according to Norah Weber, the club’s president and third-year wildlife conservation and biology major.
“It’s a great way to get students involved in nature,” Weber said.
The state of Rhode Island has very fragmented natural habitats due to development and is home to a few vernal pools where frogs and other amphibians go to lay their eggs in the springtime, according to Weber.
“Any small amount of habitat that we have that we can protect and save is a small win,” Weber said.
Club members get involved with the health of the woods by participating in trail maintenance and clean-up projects, according to Weber. The members also help mark the trails for visitors.
The woods are also used for research projects, such as the Snapshot Project organized by the Smithsonian Institution, according to a research associate in the department of natural resource science, Amy Mayer.
URI has been involved in the Snapshot camera trapping project since its start in 2019, according to Mayer. The project collects data by taking photographs of animals that pass cameras in the woods and helps researchers identify animal distributions in an area, find out the times of day animals are active and locate vegetation.
“I’ve been doing camera trap work for a number of years across the whole state so we get the usual suspects, you know, deer, coyotes, that sort of thing,” Mayer said.
Despite the North Woods being so close to URI, many people in the community don’t know about it, according to Mayer. Mayer doesn’t necessarily view this as a bad thing; she believes it could lead to the area becoming rundown.
“The people that do use it seem to be really respectful and stay on the trails and don’t go leaving trash and destroying stuff out there,” Mayer said.
To better educate people about the woods, the North Woods club has informational lectures at each of their meetings covering topics such as overgrazing and the effects of deer populations, according to Weber.
“We encourage students and faculty and anyone just in the general area to go into the North Woods and identify all the species that they can find in the North Woods,” Weber said.
The club has similar activities throughout the year for its members including critter walks and visits to the vernal pool during the spring to identify species in the woods.
“You know, a lot of my favorite memories as a student here are taking walks in the woods, you know, looking up and seeing the sun peep through the leaves and it’s just a peaceful place to be,” Weber said.
The North Woods club will be holding its third annual Bio Blitz so people can learn more about the woods on April 19, according to Weber. The event will feature walks through the woods with experts in identifying species, such as different types of birds and a plant-pressing activity so people can make art out of their plants.
