Eagle Scouts Make a Difference!

Read Time: 3 min

Along with our other volunteer opportunities, Wildlands Trust often works with scouts looking to complete their Eagle Scout service projects. An Eagle Scout service project provides scouts with planning, fundraising, and managing experience. Past Eagle Scout projects you may have seen include the Little Free Library at Willow Brook Farm in Pembroke, and the interpretative signage at the Indian Head River Trail in Pembroke/Hanson/Hanover. This summer we had two scouts complete their projects at our properties! 

For his Eagle project, Eagle Scout candidate Noah Sherman installed 15 new signs at Halfway Pond East Conservation Area in Plymouth. The trail system on the east side of this preserve can be confusing at times, so reworking the signage was a really helpful project for Noah to take on! The new signs are easy to read and make navigation much easier for preserve visitors, and we are very delighted that Noah was able to install them this summer. Between the new signage on the east side and the brand-new Leona’s Loop on the west, Halfway Pond has plenty of great new reasons to visit!  

In addition, Eagle Scout candidate Max Cunniff built a 20-foot-long bridge across the Drinkwater River at town-owned Melzar Hatch Preserve in Hanover. Max made sure that the bridge was high enough for vegetation flowing down the river to pass under it. He also took great care to make the ramps onto and off the bridge flush to the ground. He and his friends enjoy biking on the trails and the previous bridge was very difficult to bike over. This new bridge is already much more accessible for all and has received high praise from members of the Hanover community. Wildlands Trust is thrilled that Max made this exceptional bridge for our preserve! You can see and the new bridge at Melzar Hatch. We expect it to be there for a very long time though, so there’s no rush! 

We have some other Eagle Scout projects in the works, including Chickadee boxes at Great River Preserve in Bridgewater, and Blue Bird boxes at Sylvester Field in Hanover. If you are interested in completing your Eagle Scout Project with Wildlands Trust, contact our Stewardship Coordinator Zoë Smiarowski at zsmiarowski@wildlandstrust.org. 

Thank you again to Noah for the signage and to Max for the bridge! 

Eagle Scout candidate Noah Sherman installing new signs at Halfway Pond East Conservation Area in Plymouth.

Eagle Scout candidate Max Cunniff standing on the newly completed 20-foot-long bridge across the Drinkwater River at town-owned Melzar Hatch Preserve in Hanover.

Wildlands' Trail Updates

By Erik Boyer, Director of Field Operations

Wildlands’ Stewardship Staff and volunteers have been hard at work this fall! A couple highlights include the new trail constructed at our Halfway Pond Conservation Area, and new access to Sylvester Field in Hanover.

Halfway Pond Conservation Area, Plymouth

This past August, we began construction on 1.7 miles of new trail at Halfway Pond. Many thanks to a volunteer group from the Sierra Club, who worked alongside Wildlands staff and volunteers to begin this project. We completed the trail this fall with the help of volunteers from REI Hingham. The new trail, “Leona’s Loop,” is named after one of the founding members of Wildlands Trust, Leona Asker. Leona’s Loop connects to Gramp’s Loop and essentially creates a figure eight, providing hikers the opportunity to hike a nearly 4-mile loop. The trail, best accessed from the southeast corner of Gramp’s Loop, begins with a series of switchbacks to the top of a hill. Then, the trail follows a ridgeline running south, providing beautiful views of Halfway Pond from up high. The trail then jaunts west, traveling through pitch pine barren habitat reminiscent of many portions of Gramp’s Loop. Leona’s Loop then links back up with Gramp’s Loop as it heads north. With this new trail, there is now over 6 miles of single-track trail at Halfway Pond, making the preserve a great stop for those looking to add on the miles!

Sylvester Field, Hanover

Sylvester Field in Hanover is now home to a new three-car parking lot, constructed by Richie Ohlund from Ohlund Landscape & Masonry Design. Wildlands staff installed a new preserve sign and trailhead kiosk. The kiosk highlights the agricultural past of the land, as well as the ecological importance of its location on the Third Herring Brook (a tributary of the North River). Sylvester Field did not previously have a parking area, so this construction gives a new audience access to the preserve. There is a 0.3-mile trail that hugs the outside of the field down to a scenic spot on the Third Herring Brook.

Seasonal Staff Success in Summer 2022

Read Time: 2 min

By Rachel Calderara, Director of Special Projects

Summers are for growth; not just for the local flora, but also for our staff! With 10,000 acres to protect in 52 towns, Wildlands’ stewardship staff have their work cut out for them during the growing season. That’s why each summer we hire a handful of seasonal staff to help us tackle the busiest time of year. Not only do they help keep our trails clear and free of obstructions, but our seasonal staff also engage with volunteers, help lead youth projects, and collaborate with partner organizations. As summer winds down, we’d like to take a moment to appreciate everything our stewardship staff accomplished this season in service to the environment and our communities.  

Three new staff joined us this summer, doubling the size of the stewardship department. Tess Goldmann, who was first introduced to Wildlands Trust as a high school Green Team member in 2017 and 2018, joined Wildlands as a Seasonal Land Steward after earning a dual degree in Biological Science and Computer Science at Smith College. Lucky for us, she’ll be staying on to help with a variety of projects through the end of the year. Tyler Williams was with Wildlands from May to August and has returned to UMass Boston to complete his senior year as an Environmental Science major. Nico Johnston joined us all the way from Texas for a second summer and returned home in August for his senior year of high school.  

The long list of accomplishments that wouldn’t have been possible without Tess, Tyler, and Nico includes: 

• Constructing two miles of new trails at Halfway Pond Conservation Area. 

• Installing new roadside signage at Showcase Preserves. 

• Repairing benches and picnic tables with the Brockton Green Team at D.W. Field Park. 

• Constructing a half-mile connector trail that links the IHRT loop with the trails at Chapman’s Landing in Hanover. 

• Installing bog boards at Mark’s Cove Conservation Area with Buzzards Bay Coalition and Wareham Land Trust. 

Caring for our conservation lands is both challenging and rewarding, and we are grateful to Tess, Tyler, and Nico for their hard work this summer! We hope you find the time to get out on the trails and enjoy the fruits of their labor this fall.  

Does this sound like the kind of work YOU would like to be doing? We’re HIRING a full-time Stewardship Coordinator! Learn more here. 

Photo by Rob MacDonald