Creswell/Frey Farm Landfill

About the Program
Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority's (LCSWMA) Creswell/Frey Farm Landfill consists of the closed Creswell Landfill and the active Frey Farm Landfill. The 850-acre site is located in Conestoga, Pennsylvania and has been a certified program since 2010. Habitat at the site includes grassland, forest, riparian corridors with forested wetlands, and early successional areas. The team actively manages 300 acres for wildlife habitat, focusing on avian habitat enhancement, planting native grasses and wildflowers, and identifying and managing invasive plant species.

Practices and Impacts

• The team began the avian management project in 1995 with the construction and installation of 20 bluebird nest boxes. Currently, 94 bluebird nest boxes and 8 kestrel nest boxes are maintained and monitored.
• With the help of the Lancaster County Bird Club and Franklin and Marshall College students, the team monitors the boxes weekly during nesting season. Data collected from the bluebird nest boxes is reported to the Bluebird Society of Pennsylvania at the end of the nesting season. In 2014, 124 eastern bluebird, 16 tree swallow and six chickadee chicks successfully fledged from the nest boxes.
• The team continually surveys new areas to install nest boxes, ensuring boxes are not installed in active areas of the landfill or near busy roads.
• To improve the habitat for birds and other native species, the team seeded native grasses and wildflowers across 14 acres in 2012. The team expanded the project to an additional 33 acres in 2013 and 55 acres in 2014 with a range of native plant species. Each of the three plots contains a different mix of species dependent on the location and surrounding habitat. Examples of the species used include plains coreopsis, black-eyed Susan, butterfly milkweed, big bluestem, and stiff goldenrod.
• The team monitors the growth of these meadows, reseeding and performing invasive species removal as needed. Invasive species that have been identified and targeted for removal by the team include mile-a-minute, foxtail, ailanthus, and Japanese honeysuckle. Herbicide treatments, manual removal, and mowing are all used to control these aggressive species.