Friends of Alewife Reservation (FAR)
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October FAR Newsletter: list of walks, book announcement, volunteer opportunities, discoveries, Alewife garden opens |
October 4, 1:00 - 3:00
Botanical Alewife Walk
with Walter Kittredge
Meet: Acorn Park Drive Alewife Reservation lot
1:00-3:00 Environmental education and work project
617 415-1884 for more details.
This summer and fall, the Reservation has not been absent of improvement efforts by FAR. The Mayor's Program with Leigh Mounier, and Matt Wilson, who supervised the effort, removed some invasive species. This fall, we will try to continue to prevent these noxious invaders from taking over the 3 acres of miraculous open meadow growth, generously planted by those Bulfinch engineers designated to clear the area after the acres of asphalt from the old ADL parking area were removed. Whoever chose the seeds to replant the open space which may be Cambridge's largest meadow, was very generous with the diversity of New England native flowers and grasses, and which has now been assessed to be over 384 species by botanist Walter Kittredge. We are most pleased with this assessment: http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x606644109/COLUMN-From-parking-lot-to-green-meadow.
Special thanks to Matt Wilson and Tariq Mansour for their tireless maintenance of the North Trail this summer which you can comfortably follow down 1 linear mile to Little Pond now that the pathway is passable. See Anne Marie's description for deer sightings along the pathway. These acts are from FAR volunteers and will continue. We hope all have used our Virtual Tour web site for taking the tour, but of course, there is no substitute for walking the North Trail yourself. http://friendsofalewifereservation.org/2013_Archive/2013-01-13-virtual-tour.pdf
However, we may not win this invasive defensive battle unless volunteers come forward for a few hours now and through mid October. There is a grant which will provide $8 an hour, and we will need quite a few of you to prevent the army from advancing. But the endeavor will be worth it says Walter and others.
Please see our web for some of the plants in photo discovered this summer with record-breaking rain and sun. www.friendsofalewifereservation.org
Two weeks ago, Walter showed us a wetland area adjacent to the Alewife T ramp coming from the west which was filled with cinnamon, ostrich and sensitive ferns. Deer tracks were everywhere. We saw a large praying mantis and many many honey bees, which I did not see in Vt. The goldenrod is bringing them. See the summer plant assessment.
Saturday, October 19 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Autumn Amble at DCR Alewife Brook Reservation
Maggi Brown- Interpretive Ranger
Calling all Leaf Peepers! Celebrate autumn on an easy 2 mile ramble through Alewife Brook Reservation. We’ll enjoy a relaxing stroll and soak up the seasonal splendor. Enjoy a dazzling display of color along Alewife Brook.
Meet at the Alewife Brook parking lot at Cambridge Discovery Park at 100 Acorn Park Drive in Cambridge. http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-boston/alewife-brook-reservation.html
October 12 10:00 am Little RIver Walk
Anne Marie Lambert of the Belmont Citizens Forum
My next walk will be Saturday October 12 at 10:00 a.m. It will have a history focus, and I may be joined by a member of the Belmont Historical Society. Ann Marie can be reached at: 617 817-1095. FAR office: 617 415-1884 for more information and updates.
Come join us for a beautiful nature walk along Little River in Cambridge and Belmont. We will stop along the way to learn about the history (October) and future plans for this area (November). We will travel along the river, meadow, and forest habitat which is home to wildlife such as red fox, coyote, river otter, mink, cottontail rabbit, voles, snapper turtles, and over 40 residential birds such as wild turkey, blue heron, cat birds,woodpeckers, hummingbirds, and goldfinches.
Where: Acorn Park Drive parking lot
Who: Anne-Marie Lambert is a Belmont Citizens Forum board member who has been leading walks along Little River and writing articles about nearby developments.
Walking Directions from Alewife T station, take a right, cross the bridge over Little River, a left onto DCR’s “Alewife Park Greenway”, stop at the end (10 minutes from Alewife)
Driving directions from Belmont: take a right at the end of Cross St onto Lake St, 1st right onto the Route 2 access road, 1st right onto Acorn Park Drive (before Route 2), stop at the end
We will make our way past cattail marshes, tributaries, and maples to an idyllic view of Little Pond in Belmont. Bring sturdy shoes and, optionally, a walking stick. The walk will take place rain or shine. If it’s wet, don’t forget your wellies.
For more information, please email FAR at info@friendsofalewifereservation.org or call the office at 617 415 1884.
Contact Anne-Marie through Belmont Citizens Forum Program Director at bcfprogramdirector@gmail.com
Materials about the history and background of the Reservation have been investigated and chronicled over the years by Friends of Alewife Reservation, and its professional assessors, who stood up at the DEP Adjudicatory Hearings, and we are delighted that much of the information, now known to many of you, has been used by touring friends and their understanding of the hundreds of reports, maps, much original work on wildlife- all at Alewife. Interpretations vary, but what the heck. History is replete with prodigious perceptions, and political bias, but we are all in unison for preserving this rare urban wild Reservation. That is why we at FAR use original information, or report what other professionals have investigated. We encourage everyone to cite his or her sources primary and secondary sources so that volunteer work and research is properly credited. One can ask.
We're grateful that the value of the land and early native and colonial history is beginning to spread by educators and the original reports are available to you on the FAR website. Use our Search engine.
City Tour of Storm Water Project - Mid October
By Catherine Woodbury
FAR to announce soon. Thanks for your patience
October will be a full tour of the Alewife storm water/wetlands restoration project by the city and you will all be invited (anyone interested). Let us know.
At present, the pathway is open so that bikers, strollers, commuters, employees, and of course, environmental observers can use it. We hope to attract the Menotomy Birders. And FAR will be providing walks throughout the fall and winter.
Please let us know if the traffic is disturbing and folks are riding too fast, or if proper etiquette is being used on the pathway for pedestrian warnings. This is the only way we will know about walking/riding problems on the new asphalt multi-purpose pathway from Belmont's Blanchard Road to the Alewife T stop. Stay tuned to October walk date.
New England Garden open for your enjoyment
FAR will soon hire a Coordinator who can help with highly needed volunteer projects , so that we can continue our grant-gathering to eventually pay for regular maintenance (assisting DCR). If you are interested in volunteering or being this coordinator, please e-mail us at info@friendsofalewifereservation.org.
Mystic River Watershed Association volunteers needed also. FAR is most pleased to have MyRWA choose Little River/Alewife Brook as a source for evaluating water quality and looking for source pollution as the city and state complete their project
CURRENT WORK OF MYRWA CLEAN WATER PROJECT
Mystic River Watershed Association- Volunteers needed- from MyRWA newsletter
For the first wave of the Mystic River Clean Water Campaign, the Alewife Brook sub-watershed is the focus. The Alewife area is in need of considerable improvements. Alewife Brook impairments include consistently poor water quality, habitat deterioration, development pressures, flooding issues, sediment and flow concerns and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). Meanwhile, it is also an area with good work underway – the City of Cambridge and MWRA are undertaking considerable renovations to the sewer system (more info here), there are active community groups advocating for environmental concerns, and the Alewife Brook Greenway was recently completed.
The Mystic River Watershed received a grade of "D" for water quality conditions for the calendar year 2012 as part of the US EPA's annual Mystic River Report Card. The grade is based on bacterial contamination as measured by data collected by MyRWA’s Baseline Monitoring Program. This grade indicates that water quality met swimming standards 47 percent of the time, while boating standards were met 75 percent of the time.
Read more at US EPA ANNOUNCES MYSTIC RIVER REPORT CARD
Attend MYRWA's 2013 Annual Meeting October 24th
From Mystic River Watershed Association Newsletter:
Julie Wormser, The Boston Harbor AssociationJoin MyRWA along the Aberjona River at Winchester Town Hall, Maurer Auditorium, 71 Mount Vernon Street, Winchester, MA for the 2013 Mystic River Watershed Association Annual Meeting! We will hear from keynote speaker Julie Wormser, Executive Director of The Boston Harbor Association, who will speak about climate change in the Boston area. The event is set for Thursday, Oct. 24th at 6:00PM. Free and open to the public!
Read more at MYRWA Annual Meeting
New Mystic River Guide Available
From MyRWA Newsletter:
The MyRWA member and Suffolk professor’s new book, The Mystic River: A Natural & Human History, is now available for purchase on amazon.com! The book includes detailed historical and recreational information for the towns of Winchester, Arlington, Cambridge, Medford, Malden, Somerville, Everett, Charlestown and Chelsea. Please join MyRWA for a book sale, signing and free presentation by Arlington author Rick Beinecke on Monday, October 7th at 7:00pm at the Robbins Library. For more information about this event click here.
Visit the site of The Mystic River: A Natural & Human History.
Silver Maple Forest Court Case Continues by Ellen Mass
Coalition to Preserve Belmont Uplands and Friends of Alewife Reservation, two plaintiffs in the case, continue to struggle very hard to win the silver maple forest case against AP Cambridge Partners LLC II (Company of J.Brian O'Neill of Pennsylvania). A three judge panel did not approve of legal costs from the Coalition being awarded to the defendant at John Adams courthouse. This allows us to concentrate more on the underlying case, which attorneys have been working on. Supreme Court may be the next phase of the battle to preserve this rare floodplain forest. Look for a campaign build up on the web.
FAR and others will soon begin a campaign to raise money for the Coalition to Preserve Belmont Uplands' legal fees, which continue to require much time and money, with support coming largely from the town residents.
Please plan to write letters. (All of the needed information is on website.) Pass town resolutions in Arlington, Belmont, and Somerville, and consider acting (asking) about getting attention to the Belmont /Cambridge/Arlington border staging area of the DCR (Frontage Road equipment and dirt dump area). Our state agency should not allow the proponent the ability to stage equipment at that site, and use fill there, although we have no idea if the request to use the area has been made to date.
Requests in this update:
*Attend free walks by excellent tour guides
*Volunteer for FAR's invasive species work
*Act and donate to preserve the Belmont Uplands silver maple forest
*Join MyRWA's clean water initiative
*Visit our public community native garden at the T
Botanical Alewife Walk
with Walter Kittredge
Meet: Acorn Park Drive Alewife Reservation lot
1:00-3:00 Environmental education and work project
617 415-1884 for more details.
This summer and fall, the Reservation has not been absent of improvement efforts by FAR. The Mayor's Program with Leigh Mounier, and Matt Wilson, who supervised the effort, removed some invasive species. This fall, we will try to continue to prevent these noxious invaders from taking over the 3 acres of miraculous open meadow growth, generously planted by those Bulfinch engineers designated to clear the area after the acres of asphalt from the old ADL parking area were removed. Whoever chose the seeds to replant the open space which may be Cambridge's largest meadow, was very generous with the diversity of New England native flowers and grasses, and which has now been assessed to be over 384 species by botanist Walter Kittredge. We are most pleased with this assessment: http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x606644109/COLUMN-From-parking-lot-to-green-meadow.
Special thanks to Matt Wilson and Tariq Mansour for their tireless maintenance of the North Trail this summer which you can comfortably follow down 1 linear mile to Little Pond now that the pathway is passable. See Anne Marie's description for deer sightings along the pathway. These acts are from FAR volunteers and will continue. We hope all have used our Virtual Tour web site for taking the tour, but of course, there is no substitute for walking the North Trail yourself. http://friendsofalewifereservation.org/2013_Archive/2013-01-13-virtual-tour.pdf
However, we may not win this invasive defensive battle unless volunteers come forward for a few hours now and through mid October. There is a grant which will provide $8 an hour, and we will need quite a few of you to prevent the army from advancing. But the endeavor will be worth it says Walter and others.
Please see our web for some of the plants in photo discovered this summer with record-breaking rain and sun. www.friendsofalewifereservation.org
Two weeks ago, Walter showed us a wetland area adjacent to the Alewife T ramp coming from the west which was filled with cinnamon, ostrich and sensitive ferns. Deer tracks were everywhere. We saw a large praying mantis and many many honey bees, which I did not see in Vt. The goldenrod is bringing them. See the summer plant assessment.
Saturday, October 19 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Autumn Amble at DCR Alewife Brook Reservation
Maggi Brown- Interpretive Ranger
Calling all Leaf Peepers! Celebrate autumn on an easy 2 mile ramble through Alewife Brook Reservation. We’ll enjoy a relaxing stroll and soak up the seasonal splendor. Enjoy a dazzling display of color along Alewife Brook.
Meet at the Alewife Brook parking lot at Cambridge Discovery Park at 100 Acorn Park Drive in Cambridge. http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-boston/alewife-brook-reservation.html
October 12 10:00 am Little RIver Walk
Anne Marie Lambert of the Belmont Citizens Forum
My next walk will be Saturday October 12 at 10:00 a.m. It will have a history focus, and I may be joined by a member of the Belmont Historical Society. Ann Marie can be reached at: 617 817-1095. FAR office: 617 415-1884 for more information and updates.
Come join us for a beautiful nature walk along Little River in Cambridge and Belmont. We will stop along the way to learn about the history (October) and future plans for this area (November). We will travel along the river, meadow, and forest habitat which is home to wildlife such as red fox, coyote, river otter, mink, cottontail rabbit, voles, snapper turtles, and over 40 residential birds such as wild turkey, blue heron, cat birds,woodpeckers, hummingbirds, and goldfinches.
Where: Acorn Park Drive parking lot
Who: Anne-Marie Lambert is a Belmont Citizens Forum board member who has been leading walks along Little River and writing articles about nearby developments.
Walking Directions from Alewife T station, take a right, cross the bridge over Little River, a left onto DCR’s “Alewife Park Greenway”, stop at the end (10 minutes from Alewife)
Driving directions from Belmont: take a right at the end of Cross St onto Lake St, 1st right onto the Route 2 access road, 1st right onto Acorn Park Drive (before Route 2), stop at the end
We will make our way past cattail marshes, tributaries, and maples to an idyllic view of Little Pond in Belmont. Bring sturdy shoes and, optionally, a walking stick. The walk will take place rain or shine. If it’s wet, don’t forget your wellies.
For more information, please email FAR at info@friendsofalewifereservation.org or call the office at 617 415 1884.
Contact Anne-Marie through Belmont Citizens Forum Program Director at bcfprogramdirector@gmail.com
Materials about the history and background of the Reservation have been investigated and chronicled over the years by Friends of Alewife Reservation, and its professional assessors, who stood up at the DEP Adjudicatory Hearings, and we are delighted that much of the information, now known to many of you, has been used by touring friends and their understanding of the hundreds of reports, maps, much original work on wildlife- all at Alewife. Interpretations vary, but what the heck. History is replete with prodigious perceptions, and political bias, but we are all in unison for preserving this rare urban wild Reservation. That is why we at FAR use original information, or report what other professionals have investigated. We encourage everyone to cite his or her sources primary and secondary sources so that volunteer work and research is properly credited. One can ask.
We're grateful that the value of the land and early native and colonial history is beginning to spread by educators and the original reports are available to you on the FAR website. Use our Search engine.
City Tour of Storm Water Project - Mid October
By Catherine Woodbury
FAR to announce soon. Thanks for your patience
October will be a full tour of the Alewife storm water/wetlands restoration project by the city and you will all be invited (anyone interested). Let us know.
At present, the pathway is open so that bikers, strollers, commuters, employees, and of course, environmental observers can use it. We hope to attract the Menotomy Birders. And FAR will be providing walks throughout the fall and winter.
Please let us know if the traffic is disturbing and folks are riding too fast, or if proper etiquette is being used on the pathway for pedestrian warnings. This is the only way we will know about walking/riding problems on the new asphalt multi-purpose pathway from Belmont's Blanchard Road to the Alewife T stop. Stay tuned to October walk date.
New England Garden open for your enjoyment
FAR will soon hire a Coordinator who can help with highly needed volunteer projects , so that we can continue our grant-gathering to eventually pay for regular maintenance (assisting DCR). If you are interested in volunteering or being this coordinator, please e-mail us at info@friendsofalewifereservation.org.
Mystic River Watershed Association volunteers needed also. FAR is most pleased to have MyRWA choose Little River/Alewife Brook as a source for evaluating water quality and looking for source pollution as the city and state complete their project
CURRENT WORK OF MYRWA CLEAN WATER PROJECT
Mystic River Watershed Association- Volunteers needed- from MyRWA newsletter
For the first wave of the Mystic River Clean Water Campaign, the Alewife Brook sub-watershed is the focus. The Alewife area is in need of considerable improvements. Alewife Brook impairments include consistently poor water quality, habitat deterioration, development pressures, flooding issues, sediment and flow concerns and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). Meanwhile, it is also an area with good work underway – the City of Cambridge and MWRA are undertaking considerable renovations to the sewer system (more info here), there are active community groups advocating for environmental concerns, and the Alewife Brook Greenway was recently completed.
The Mystic River Watershed received a grade of "D" for water quality conditions for the calendar year 2012 as part of the US EPA's annual Mystic River Report Card. The grade is based on bacterial contamination as measured by data collected by MyRWA’s Baseline Monitoring Program. This grade indicates that water quality met swimming standards 47 percent of the time, while boating standards were met 75 percent of the time.
Read more at US EPA ANNOUNCES MYSTIC RIVER REPORT CARD
Attend MYRWA's 2013 Annual Meeting October 24th
From Mystic River Watershed Association Newsletter:
Julie Wormser, The Boston Harbor AssociationJoin MyRWA along the Aberjona River at Winchester Town Hall, Maurer Auditorium, 71 Mount Vernon Street, Winchester, MA for the 2013 Mystic River Watershed Association Annual Meeting! We will hear from keynote speaker Julie Wormser, Executive Director of The Boston Harbor Association, who will speak about climate change in the Boston area. The event is set for Thursday, Oct. 24th at 6:00PM. Free and open to the public!
Read more at MYRWA Annual Meeting
New Mystic River Guide Available
From MyRWA Newsletter:
The MyRWA member and Suffolk professor’s new book, The Mystic River: A Natural & Human History, is now available for purchase on amazon.com! The book includes detailed historical and recreational information for the towns of Winchester, Arlington, Cambridge, Medford, Malden, Somerville, Everett, Charlestown and Chelsea. Please join MyRWA for a book sale, signing and free presentation by Arlington author Rick Beinecke on Monday, October 7th at 7:00pm at the Robbins Library. For more information about this event click here.
Visit the site of The Mystic River: A Natural & Human History.
Silver Maple Forest Court Case Continues by Ellen Mass
Coalition to Preserve Belmont Uplands and Friends of Alewife Reservation, two plaintiffs in the case, continue to struggle very hard to win the silver maple forest case against AP Cambridge Partners LLC II (Company of J.Brian O'Neill of Pennsylvania). A three judge panel did not approve of legal costs from the Coalition being awarded to the defendant at John Adams courthouse. This allows us to concentrate more on the underlying case, which attorneys have been working on. Supreme Court may be the next phase of the battle to preserve this rare floodplain forest. Look for a campaign build up on the web.
FAR and others will soon begin a campaign to raise money for the Coalition to Preserve Belmont Uplands' legal fees, which continue to require much time and money, with support coming largely from the town residents.
Please plan to write letters. (All of the needed information is on website.) Pass town resolutions in Arlington, Belmont, and Somerville, and consider acting (asking) about getting attention to the Belmont /Cambridge/Arlington border staging area of the DCR (Frontage Road equipment and dirt dump area). Our state agency should not allow the proponent the ability to stage equipment at that site, and use fill there, although we have no idea if the request to use the area has been made to date.
Requests in this update:
*Attend free walks by excellent tour guides
*Volunteer for FAR's invasive species work
*Act and donate to preserve the Belmont Uplands silver maple forest
*Join MyRWA's clean water initiative
*Visit our public community native garden at the T