base2co at gmail dot com

I put up a couple pages on my website to keep useful information on Grand Island, NY, available to the public. Grand Island has a large amount of public use land, bike paths, hiking trails, creeks and of course, the Niagara River. Newcomers should be able to easily find the hidden gems and in our parks while remaining safe and keeping our wildlife protected.

There are other sites that provide tons of information about "The Island" - I'll add some links as I have time.

Thanks for visiting,
Joe Buscaglia

- We live on Grand Island, in the town of Grand Island. "The Island" is a real term we use and "off-island" is also a term.

Cow parsnip dangers.

Found along trails in both Beaver Island and Buchkhorn Island Parks on Grand Island. Do not touch these plants unless you are protected. For some reason the parks do not think this plant is invasive, yet I do not remember them as a child growing up here. Since they are growing in the parks it is illegal to kill or harvest them. Ridiculous!

Contains furanocoumarins (fyur-a-no-coo-MAR-inz), phototoxic chemicals which are activated by ultraviolet rays in sunlight. If sap gets on skin, and is then exposed to sunlight, it can cause a blistering itchy rash. Skin reactions caused by furanocoumarins take a long time to heal, sometimes months, and may even leave scars.

Phytophotodermatitis (PPD) is a cutaneous phototoxic inflammatory eruption resulting from contact with light-sensitizing botanical substances and long-wave ultraviolet A (UV-A, 320-380 nm) radiation

Edible - but be very careful harvesting

Wild Edibles: How to Harvest and Cook Cow Parsnip Greens

Wild parsnip dangers.

Wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) is an invasive plant from Europe and Asia that has become naturalized in North America.

Wild Parsip is also dangerous and not from New York! It is an invasive species and should be reported.

The pictures are of plants found at the Whitehaven overlook in 2017. It make sense that thee seeds would be found here since Ontario has also been invaded by wild parsnip.

See the New York State DEC Wild Parsnip

Also, contains furanocoumarins (fyur-a-no-coo-MAR-inz), phototoxic chemicals which are activated by ultraviolet rays in sunlight. If sap gets on skin, and is then exposed to sunlight, it can cause a blistering itchy rash. Skin reactions caused by furanocoumarins take a long time to heal, sometimes months, and may even leave scars.

Phytophotodermatitis (PPD) is a cutaneous phototoxic inflammatory eruption resulting from contact with light-sensitizing botanical substances and long-wave ultraviolet A (UV-A, 320-380 nm) radiation

Email photos and the GPS coordinates (which you can get from Google Maps) to imapinvasives at nynhp dot org.