Meadow Brook Preserve Benefits Climate

Choosing key properties to protect is another strategy to mitigate the effects of climate change. The Meadow Brook Preserve in St. George provides two key climate functions for the community.

This 22-acre parcel helps to mitigate (reduce, relieve) the effects of rising temperatures, changing rain/snow patterns, and shifts in vegetation communities. Protecting coastal estuaries provides two key climate mitigation functions, room for storm event flooding and adapting to sea level rise.

With more intense storm events, the Meadow Brook estuary, including its forested wetlands, can absorb flood waters like a sponge thereby protecting the adjacent Turkey Cove Road and its culvert to the St. George River. Over time as we continue to see the effects of a changing climate in rising sea levels, the Meadow Brook property will provide room for high-value bird and wildlife habitats to shift upwards thereby giving species a chance to adapt.

The Land Trust helped community members create an easy 0.7-mile loop trail that leads hikers through the woods and to the brook for which the preserve is named. There is a three-car parking area on Turkey Cove Road just west of the Transfer Station.

In the spirit of “leave no trace,” please be prepared to carry out all waste (including pet waste) when visiting the preserve, keep pets under control, share the trail, and don’t forget your bug spray from early summer through fall.