What’s New at Wildlands
Wildlands’ Community Stewardship Program Builds New Trails and Amenities in Wareham
Since January of 2022, Wildlands’ Community Stewardship staff and volunteers have been assisting the Town of Wareham at its Minot Forest property.
By Owen Grey, Stewardship Manager
Wildlands Trust established our Community Stewardship Program in 2015 to help towns and conservation groups in Southeastern Massachusetts that lack staffing resources to care for conservation lands. Staffing constraints often mean that communities cannot fully benefit from the investments they have made in open space protection: management plans are not established, new trails are never built, and older trail systems and amenities are not properly maintained. As the region protects more open space, it is important to care for these conservation lands and, when appropriate, to establish access for safe public use and enjoyment.
Since January of 2022, Wildlands’ Community Stewardship staff and volunteers have been assisting the Town of Wareham at its Minot Forest property. Minot Forest, Wareham’s largest municipal conservation area, is contiguous with Wildlands’ 104-acre Great Neck Conservation Area, making it a perfect Community Stewardship site. The Wareham Land Trust and New England Forestry Foundation also own land in this area, and combined, the four groups protect 484-acres of conserved land with 8.5 miles of trails. Wildlands viewed this project not only as a chance to add trail improvements at a popular conservation area, but also as an opportunity to build a large and cohesive trail system that allows users to access a variety of protected lands.
Our work at Minot Forest began with a site visit in late January 2022 with representatives from Wildlands Trust, Wareham Land Trust, Wareham Natural Resource Department, and the Minot Forest Committee. We were excited by the potential the property had for public access and many miles of trails weaving throughout the property. The group unanimously agreed that the extensive trail system, while well established and heavily used, desperately needed some TLC. In the following months, Wildlands worked with Wareham Natural Resource Department to put the group’s vision into effect. We improved old trails, formalized trail loops, built new trails, and created an updated trail map. Once the trail loops were formalized, we marked each loop with color-coded trail markers called blazes. We have constructed ten wooden benches to be placed along the trails and are currently constructing three trailhead kiosks, which will hold maps and other important information for trail users. All work done by our staff and volunteers at Minot Forest was funded by a Massachusetts Recreational Trails Grant acquired by the Town of Wareham.
The work at Minot Forest is expected to be completed by December 2022. We encourage anyone who enjoys passive outdoor recreation and exploring new places to head over to Minot Forest; you will not be disappointed! Building relationships with Community Stewardship partners makes us feel lucky to have this program at Wildlands Trust. Our work with the Town of Wareham at Minot Forest has been a pleasure for our team and we look forward to continuing the relationship moving forward.
Want a guided hike of Minot Forest?
Join Wildlands Trust for Hike & Hops on November 20 – learn more and buy tickets here.
Wildlands' Governance News 2022
It’s always hard to say goodbye to long-serving, knowledgeable, committed board members. With their fingerprints on so many of our protected lands projects, Howard Randall and Gary Langenbach combined had 60-plus years of service to Wildlands by the time they retired from the Wildlands board this past September. We thank them both for their many years of service to our mission. Howard has served as past Board Chair, and Gary as the Chair of the Lands Committee. We would also like to thank Allen Caggiano, who stepped down after nearly a decade of service.
The board voted in a slate of new members, and we are delighted to welcome Matt Cammack of Milton, Russ Keeler of Rochester, Peter Tyack of Hanover, and Ethan Warren of Plymouth.
Hats Off to Tower Fest
On Saturday, October 8, the D.W. Field Park Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating D.W. Field Park, brought back the annual Tower Fest after a 2-year Covid hiatus, with great success! Tower Fest is a celebration of community located at the well-known lookout tower in D.W. Field Park, formerly the highest point in Brockton.
On Saturday, October 8, the D.W. Field Park Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating D.W. Field Park, brought back the annual Tower Fest after a 2-year Covid hiatus, with great success!
Tower Fest is a celebration of community located at the well-known lookout tower in D.W. Field Park, formerly the highest point in Brockton. This free festival has plenty to do for all ages, with pony rides, pumpkin painting, a bake sale, balloon animals, music with the Rose Conservatory, and of course, climbing to the top of the tower. This year, Wildlands Trust was invited promote the D.W. Field Park Initiative, of which the Association is a key partner.
Wildlands’ goal at Tower Fest was to pilot our newly completed community survey about D.W. Field Park. Our goal in surveying the community is to learn how people are using the park currently, what kind of improvement projects would be important to park users, and what access barriers there might be for both users and non-users. The survey is live online now at wildlandstrust.org/dwfieldpark in English and will soon be available in Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, and Spanish.
Director of Special Projects Rachel Calderara had a great time chatting with community members and encouraging survey takers to spin the prize wheel. We want to thank the City of Brockton Department of Parks and Recreation, the Fuller Craft Museum, and the D.W. Field Park Association for donating prizes, which included a golfing gift card, free organizational memberships, and bake sale items. Wildlands threw in a few free memberships, Halloween candy, and some $5 Dunkin gift cards, and the prize wheel was a hit! Over 70 people completed the survey, so we’re off to a great start.
If you live in Brockton or the surrounding towns and have a few minutes to tell us about your experiences at D.W. Field Park, please complete our survey at here.
A big thanks to the Old Colony Planning Council for developing this survey with us!
Shaw's Selects to Support Wildlands Trust, Again!
Wildlands Trust has been selected again as a beneficiary of the Shaw’s GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Reusable Bag Program for the month of October.
Every time this bag is sold, Wildlands will receive a $1 donation.
The Shaw’s Giving Tag Program, which launched in March 2019, is a reusable bag program that facilitates community support with the goal to make a difference in the communities where shoppers live and work.
Starting October 1st, when you purchase a $3.00 GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Reusable Bag at the Shaw’s in Cedarville, $1 is donated to Wildlands Trust. Wildlands has already generated donations through this previous participation in this program.
Our goal is to sell 75 bags, equivalent to $75 raised.
We are confident that with the help of our dedicated supporters we can reach this goal.
We strongly encourage you to share this news with family and friends as well! The GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Reusable Bags are located on displays around the store and at the checkout.
Participating location: Shaw's Cedarville 2260 State Road, Plymouth, MA
Late Summer Land Acquisitions Update
By Scott MacFaden, Director of Land Protection
Thus far in 2022, we’ve completed a variety of projects across our coverage area that protect a diverse array of habitats and conservation values, including properties on two of the region’s major rivers.
In February, we completed the first two phases of a long-contemplated project that will create our first preserve in Plainville. These first two steps involved adding another two acres to the 33.5-acre Conservation Restriction (CR) we’ve held on lands of the Crystal Spring Center for Ecology, Spirituality, and Earth Education Inc., since 2008, and then assigning the expanded CR to another qualified nonprofit conservation organization—the Attleboro Land Trust. With those steps concluded, the third and final step will transfer the “fee simple,” or outright ownership of the property, from Crystal Spring to Wildlands Trust. We expect that final transfer to occur before year’s end.
A drone's view of Sylvester Field and the Indian Head River in Hanover. Photo by Jerry Monkman.
In June, we acquired five acres in Norwell along the North River that protects important habitat for marsh wrens. Donated by the Estate of Clayton Robinson, the parcel represents the culmination of the Sylvester Field Preservation Project, through which we previously protected 20 contiguous acres along the Third Herring Brook in nearby Hanover.
In late July, we purchased 30 acres on Halfway Pond in Plymouth that was the largest remaining unprotected parcel on the pond’s west shore, and consequently one of our longest-standing preservation priorities. The property includes pockets of Pine Barrens, a globally rare natural community, and directly abuts and expands our Halfway Pond Conservation Area, now over 460 acres in extent and one of the crown jewels of our protected lands portfolio.
Most recently, in the waning days of August we protected 11.7 acres in Lakeville along the upper Nemasket River through the combination of a deed restriction and a two-acre land donation. This hybrid project protects over 900 feet of linear frontage along the Nemasket, a major tributary of the federally designated Wild and Scenic Taunton River.
Morning fog on Halfway Pond in Plymouth. Photo by Jerry Monkman.
We’re working to close more projects by year’s end, including the third and final phase of the Plainville project, and projects in Bridgewater, Scituate, Rockland, and Hanson.
Watch this space!