Preservation Committee Spent $15K on Tree Removal at Udalls Cove

The Udalls Cove Preservation Committee spent more than $15,000 during the past year to clean up the northeast Queens park in the wake of two storms that left trees blocking its paths, the group’s president said.

In June 2010, a mini-tornado known as a , knocking down trees in Udalls Cove. Then, in August 2011, paid a visit to the community.

Between the two storms, a total 50 to 60 trees were left strewn about the cove, said Walter Mugdan, president of the preservation committee.

“That first storm caused a lot of havoc, especially in Udalls Cove,” he said. “The biggest trees that fell were three feet in diameter. The ones we removed had fallen across trails or were pinned hanging over trails. [Pinned trees] are more dangerous because their roots are ripped out and they could fall at any time. In olden times, they were called ‘widow makers.’”

The preservation committee spent an estimated $8,000 for a contractor to remove trees from the cove following the 2010 tornado and an estimated $7,500 to clean up after Irene.

The group had received more than $140,000 in city and state grants during the past decade that they used for the project. In addition, several local businesses – such as Home Depot – donated to the cause, while the committee’s membership threw in an additional $6,000.

The group also had to obtain city permits to remove the trees.

Work at the cove was completed in November.

Mugdan said the committee attempted to replenish the storm-ravished park as trees were being removed.

“We tried to make lemonade out of lemons,” he said. “We put woodchips over the trails, which keep the weeds and vegetation from encroaching. In muddy areas, this makes it easier for people to walk through and not get wet. In areas where we have plantings, it acts as mulch and feeds the soil.”

In addition, the group planted three large trees and enlisted the help of local Boy Scouts to plant smaller saplings.

This spring, several neighborhood Eagle Scout candidates will assist the committee with additional plantings and build a footbridge in the cove.

Mugdan said he was inspired nearly 30 years ago to participate in the upkeep of the area.

“I grew up in the area at a time when these undeveloped areas around Douglaston and Little Neck were called swamps or woods,” he said. “They were the most fantastic playground imaginable. I’d spent countless hours around the woods, building forts, exploring and finding treasure. I had my first kiss in the swamps.”

Upon returning home from college, Mugdan took a job with the Environmental Protection Agency, where he still works.

In the 1980s, the preservation committee worked to preserve and protect the cove, but began to focus on restoration work in the 1990s.

“When the opportunity came to protect these local woods, it was like maintaining my ancestral playground,” he said. “We want to let other people know they have this valuable resource in their backyard.”