Help Us Raise the Roof!

Early this coming November the doors to our Community Conservation Barn will open in celebration! This new building, which replaces the original family barn at Davis-Douglas Farm, is so close to completion, but to finish we need your help! In our final phase of fundraising, your donation will help “Raise the Roof” with 6,000 board feet of local pine for the ceiling of the Conservation Barn. 

Our vision is for the Conservation Barn to be a venue for community engagement and environmental learning at Davis-Douglas Farm. Public programs, events, lectures, and meetings at the barn will aid in our mission to connect people to nature, inspiring broader support for land protection. We are most grateful to the community for supporting this important addition to Wildlands Trust’s new home.

While all donations are greatly appreciated, when you contribute $200 or more, you will be invited to our “Raise the Roof” Celebration on November 5, 2016! This level of support makes you a “Roof-Raiser”, and you will be recognized on the donor banner that will hang from the rafters of the finished barn. You can give online or respond to a mailing you may have received asking for your support.

We only have a short way to go before we have completed the restoration of the Davis-Douglas Farm property on Long Pond Road.  The beautiful land has been saved, the antique farm house restored, wildlife gardens planted, the iconic water tower has been restored, and the office is bustling! Come for a visit anytime!

Please contact Sue Chamberlain at 774-343-5121 ext 101 or schamberlain@wildlandstrust.org if you have any questions about the project or if you did not receive a mailing and would like one.

Sierra Club Volunteer Week

                                        Sierra Club volunteers gather at the new trail head at Emery East Preserve

On the week of August 15, volunteers from around the country took a Sierra Club working vacation right here at Wildlands Trust! Sierra Club offers these volunteer vacations to "give back to Mother Nature" on public lands across the country. Organizers began planning their trip with Wildlands Trust almost two years ago, and we were all very happy to see it come together at last!

Our week began at Emery Preserve East, on Ship Pond Road in Plymouth. This preserve helped launch Wildlands Trust (then Plymouth County Wildlands Trust) back in 1973 and is now part of the Davis-Douglas Conservation Area. Before we started work on Monday morning, the trail system at Emery East was in need of repair, and the small yet serene Cotton Pond was barely accessible to the public. With twenty two eager volunteers, we knew we could put a trail system here that would do this property justice!

Volunteers armed with hand tools spent hour after hour, day after day cutting, raking, pulling, and hauling. By the end of the week we were able to officially open a trail system ending in a loop to Cotton Pond, which we fondly call the Cotton Pond Trail. Posted signage helped make the opening official! However, there is (always) more work to be done there. If you're interested in helping widen the trail, put in benches, and install steps make sure to check out the September 10 Trailblazers work day!

During the week, these dedicated volunteers not only restored Cotton Pond Trail, but spend time doing service projects all over Plymouth. Here at the Wildlands Trust headquarters, they completed of a compost bin, benches which will be installed on various preserves, and the transplant and seeding of a new pollinator garden. The next morning, a giant pile of wood from a washed up dock and other trash was hauled about a half a mile from the beach to the trail head at Plymouth's Center Hill Preserve.

                               Sierra Club volunteers haul a washed up dock to the Center Hill Preserve trail head.

All of us at Wildlands Trust would like to extend a very big Thank You to the volunteers and organizers of this wonderful trip! We hope to work with the Sierra Club in the future on more projects throughout our service region.

Click here to find out more about Sierra Club working vacations.

Poison Ivy Be Gone

     While trail clearing this spring in efforts to open up the Hoyt-Hall Preserve in Marshfield to public recreation (stay tuned for official opening announcement – Fall 2016!) Wildlands Trust noticed that heavy patches of the nuisance poison ivy occur along portions of the trail system.  Wildlands Trust decided to try a no-chemical treatment with GoGreenGoat to eradicate the poison ivy.  

     For one week, four goats did a great job browsing down all things green along the walking trail. The Trust will be monitoring the regrowth of the woody nuisance ivy over the next few growing seasons. We will likely reenlist the services of the goats in future projects across Wildlands Trust properties in southeastern Massachusetts.

Trust "Green Team" Gets Outdoors

Seven local students completed Wildlands Trust 2016 Green Team this summer.  Despite being in the midst of a July heat wave, Green Team members spent two weeks learning about an array of topics in the environmental field from local professionals and volunteering with them as well.  Some of the highlights included:

• Constructing Bluebird boxes for Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable and learning about wildlife rehabilitation from Lynn Miller.

• A birding walk and workshop with Brian Harrington at our Great River Preserve, followed by trail maintenance throughout Great River.

• A beach cleanup at Center Hill Preserve in Plymouth.

• Constructing a trail at the Halfway Pond preserve to connect to Myles Standish State Park trails.

• Learning about organic growing from Kofi Ingersoll of Bay End Farm in Bourne and harvesting garlic.

Wildlands Trust’s Green Team provides job training for high school students interested in natural resource work. Under the supervision of Wildlands Trust Staff, students undertake trail maintenance and construction, wildlife nesting box construction, beach cleanups, and invasive species removal and farming projects. Students who complete the program receive a stipend for their efforts.

Trust Assumes Stewardship of Plymouth Farmland

On July 13, the Trust accepted a transfer of 58 acres in the Chiltonville section of Plymouth from the Eel River Watershed Association.  Colloquially known as the Whipple Farm or less commonly the Eel River Fields, the property includes open fields, extensive frontage on the Eel River, and pastoral views that provide a striking contrast to Plymouth’s more common landscape features such as ponds, pine barrens, and coastline. 

The land is under an Agricultural Preservation Restriction that ensures it will always be used for some type of agricultural activity.  Presently, Manomet farmer Jen Friedrich grows vegetables on a portion of the land, and another local farmer harvests hay several times during the year.  

With its rolling hills, expansive fields, and historic homes, Chiltonville is one of Plymouth’s most scenic enclaves.  The Trust has long had holdings in Chiltonville with the Eel River and Withington Preserves, but this new acquisition joins with these nearby preserves to significantly expand our presence in the area.  

While cranberry farming is the most dominant type of agricultural endeavor in Plymouth, the Eel River Fields will always provide fertile ground for a wide range of “terrestrial” farming opportunities.  We look forward to working with Farmer Jen and others to explore the possibilities for maximizing the property’s agricultural potential.      

Thanks to Mettie Whipple and the Eel River Watershed Association for entrusting this distinctive component of Plymouth’s landscape to the Trust.