The elimination of invasive, non-native vines completely covering nine acres of floodplain and wetland along the Mamaroneck River at Saxon Woods County Park in Mamaroneck and Harrison was the first task under this project. It occurred in the summer and fall 2011. Rock revetment was installed to stabilize severely eroding river bank next a bridge abutment in the winter 2012. Fine raking, hydro-seeding of seed mixes, and tree planting occurred in the spring 2012. Plans were developed in 2012 to restore an additional five acres downstream from the site by 2014.
The project restored some 2,000 linear feet along the river. Once the undesirable plants were satisfactorily eradicated, the river corridor was re-planted with native herbaceous plants (perennials and grasses) as seed mixes and woody plants as container-grown tree saplings. The primary objectives of the project are to restore the benefits of riparian (streamside) wetlands, floodplain and upland buffer along this segment of the river, especially for water quality improvement, flood mitigation, and fish and wildlife habitat enhancement. The long-term aim is to restore the site as a forested floodplain. 
The river corridor had been dominated by invasive and non-native plants, especially porcelain berry vine (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata), Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), wild grape vine (Vitis sp.), and oriental bittersweet vine (Celastrus orbiculatus). Other invasive plants included mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) and common reed (Phragmites sp.). Most of the native trees in the corridor were overwhelmed by the invasive vines and any native perennials and shrubs were long-ago smothered by the invasive vegetation. This degraded fish and wildlife habitats along the river, provided negligible water quality protection and enhancement due to its inability to properly filter polluted stormwater runoff, and de-stablized the river banks.
To View The Site: The site is next to the southbound, or west, side of Mamaroneck Avenue immediately south of the Hutchinson River Parkway in Harrison.