On Saturday, August 10, nine local residents of Belmont, Arlington and Cambridge participated in a wildlife walk led by David Brown in Alewife Reservation.

The group toured the north trail, which leads along the Little River of one linear mile as far as Little Pond in Belmont. The value of the dense summer vegetation for food and cover for wildlife were noted amongst the complex river/forest ecology. Brown pointed out the "vertical complexity" of the reservation, varying from very tall tree canopy to dense undergrowth, providing habitat for varied wildlife that live in each of these levels. Along the recently maintained path, deer tracks were found along with the single print of an Eastern coyote. Brown pointed out the long list of wild animals which are regularly found in the reservation, ranging from foxes and fishers to beavers and otters, along with over a hundred species of birds, prevalent in one season or another.

All participants appreciated the environmental value of Alewife Reservation as an "urban wild," where the citizens of the surrounding towns can come to experience nature without traveling to distant areas. Brown also pointed out that the proposed housing development in the heart of the Greater Alewife ecosystem and silver maple forest will result in the severe loss of this educational and recreational resource and floodplain retention area for many communities on the Mystic River watershed.