What’s New at Wildlands
Plymouth Town Meeting Approves Two Open Space Acquisitions
At this past Saturday’s Spring Annual Town Meeting, Plymouth Town Meeting members approved two open space acquisitions funded entirely or in part by Community Preservation Act funds.
Both of these acquisitions help protect one of Plymouth’s most vital natural resources, the Plymouth-Carver Sole Source Aquifer. The pollution-sensitive aquifer encompasses 199 square miles, and in addition to Plymouth serves seven other communities with drinking water.
One project will protect 43 acres of diverse upland, wetland, and riparian habitat along the Eel River in Chiltonville. This property is closely proximate to two Wildlands Trust preserves, including the 58-acre Eel River Fields property, and is one of the largest remaining unprotected parcels along the lower Eel River corridor. It includes rare species habitat and 1,300 feet of river frontage.
The Town has qualified for Commonwealth of Massachusetts “LAND” Grant Program funding that will help defray the cost of acquiring the property. The LAND Grant Program provides partial funding for open space acquisition projects to qualifying municipalities, and allows them to make more efficient use of local resources, particularly Community Preservation Act funds.
The second project will protect 10.2 acres of wooded upland near the terminus of Russell Mills Road. This property connects with town-owned parcels directly abutting to the west and east, thereby creating an expanded area of contiguous open space.
In keeping with our longstanding partnership with the Town, and to ensure compliance with Community Preservation Act requirements, Wildlands Trust will hold permanent Conservation Restrictions on both properties.
These projects are the latest in a long series of open space acquisitions enabled by the Community Preservation Act in Plymouth, and provide further affirmation of how the CPA continues to benefit town residents. Congratulations to the Community Preservation Committee and the Town’s Environmental Management staff for advancing these outstanding land preservation projects!
Wildlands Trailrunners
You may have noticed a ragtag pack of fleet footed harriers on Saturday mornings on Morgan Rd. and various locations around Halfway Pond. Last October Wildlands Trust started hosting monthly trail runs from Douglas-Davis Farm in an effort to connect with the local running community. These runs, which started smaller in the first few months, are now drawing over twenty runners, even during some of the rougher stretches of weather that we had this past February.
Erik Boyer, Wildlands Trust Property Manager, leads trail runs at Halfway Pond every month.
The group is mostly made up of runners from Mayflower Runners, a running club based out of Plymouth, and Running Around Plymouth, a Facebook page devoted to providing runners an outlet to connect with others in the local running community. On any given month, we have groups of runners that span across a range of skill ability levels joining us. Our typical 6 mile route traverses the Halfway Pond loop, which utilizes parts of our Halfway Pond Conservation Area and Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife trails, but there is also a 3 mile option available.
Trailrunners gather at Davis-Douglas Farm on a chilly Saturday morning in January.
"It’s been great to see friendships develop every week and familiar faces each run," says Erik Boyer, the Wildlands Trust Property Manager who leads these monthly trail runs. As we approach the beginning of spring and some more welcoming weather, it’s a good time to lace up those shoes and get out of the trails! Trail runs and other outdoor programs are posted regularly on our events page.
If you’re ever around Douglas-Davis Farm during the week feel free to stop in and learn about some of the nearby trails that you can access right from our office. We hope to be starting a weeknight run with warmer weather and more daylight this spring so stay tuned!
Summer Green Team 2017
We’re looking for middle and high school aged students to apply for Green Team this summer. Green Team Crewmembers get a summer experience like no other! This fun, hands-on, interactive opportunity offers a wide variety of activities that will help students to better understand conservation and agricultural lands, wildlife, and water resources. Have fun outdoors this summer while acquiring new skills and knowledge!
Green Team 2015 Crewmembers learn about shell fish propagation in Plymouth Harbor
Students ages 12 – 14 are welcome to apply to Green Team I, scheduled for July 11 – 13, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9:00 am – 1:30 pm. Green Team I will focus on trail maintenance, organic agriculture, and wildlife conservation. Crewmembers will be trained to safely use and handle hand tools to complete projects. A certificate is earned upon completion.
Students ages 15 – 18 are welcome to apply to Green Team II, scheduled for July 18 – 27, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. Green Team II will focus on trail building and maintenance, carpentry, organic agriculture, wildlife conservation, water quality monitoring, and even camping skills. Crewmembers will be trained to safely use and handle hand tools and certain power tools to complete projects. Green Team II is complete with an overnight campout to practice essential camping skills, experience a night hike, and more! A certificate and small stipend are earned upon completion.
Green Team 2016 Crewmembers after a day of harvesting a processing garlic at Bay End Farm
Come talk to us about Green Team at the upcoming Healthy Plymouth Fairs: Plymouth North High School - March 2, 2017, 2:00 - 4:00 pm Plymouth South High School - March 14, 2017, 2:00 - 4:00 pm http://www.healthyplymouth.org/youth-engagement/healthy-plymouth-opportunities-program
Find out more about Green Team and apply:
Local Landowners Donate 273 Acres on Great South Pond, Plymouth
We are pleased to announce today that Wildlands Trust has received a donation of 273 acres of land in Plymouth, the largest single land acquisition for Wildlands Trust in our 44 year history. This magnificent property contains about one mile of frontage on Great South Pond, a unique Coastal Plain Pond. Jerry and Maureen Sheehan donated the Property to Wildlands Trust so that this fragile habitat remain protected and cared for in perpetuity.
“This area has held a special meaning for generations of our family, and many other families in the area. We acquired various parcels of this land over 50 years from several local landowners who used the land for deer and duck hunting, fishing and wildlife observation. We are pleased the land will be preserved for future generations and that the extraordinary biodiversity there will be able to thrive. Mrs. Sheehan and I are proud to give back to our community by conserving a special part of the Town’s landscape and heritage,” said Jerry Sheehan.
View of Great South Pond along the newly acquired pond frontage.
The property is a part of a globally rare ecosystem known as the Pine Barrens and is home to several types of rare plants and animals. The land is in the proposed “Great Thicket” National Wildlife Refuge, a project of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service intended to help address wildlife decline in the Northeast U.S.
The property directly abuts other significant conservation lands in the area, including Wildlands' 23-acre Domero Cortelli Preserve, acquired with the support of the Sheehan Family Foundation in the early 2000’s, the Plymouth Town Forest, and the Myles Standish State Forest.
Together, these conservation lands total 15,000 acres of greenspace -- an area that is unequaled in Southeastern Massachusetts for its scale, concentrations of rare species, and opportunities for passive recreation.
The protected land contains a wonderfully diverse mosaic of Pine-Scrub Oak and Pine Oak woodlands, coastal plain pond habitat, diverse topography, and retired cranberry bogs. It serves as a buffer zone around Great South Pond, helping to preserve water quality. It will also help protect the federally designated Plymouth-Carver Sole Source Aquifer, a 199-square mile aquifer serving eight towns that is highly vulnerable to pollution. In addition to donating the land, Mr. and Mrs. Sheehan established a stewardship endowment at Wildlands Trust to fund the oversight and protection of the property.
“On behalf of our Board of Directors, staff, and members, we wish to express our deepest gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Sheehan for entrusting this unique property to Wildlands Trust," said Karen Grey, the Trust’s Executive Director. “The Great South Pond property is the largest parcel that Wildlands Trust has obtained in our 44-year history, but even more importantly, it is one of the most ecologically significant in the region. It provides habitat for multiple rare species, including several globally rare species, and helps to protect Great South Pond’s water quality. We look forward to continuing the Sheehans’ exemplary stewardship of this important piece of land.”
“The Great South Pond land donation is the latest in a long-running series of conservation projects the Sheehan family has enabled," said Grey. “Without their consistent support for the conservation work that we and others do, Southeastern Massachusetts would be a much lesser place - less green, less healthy, and with a diminished quality of life.”
Wildlands Trust intends to establish public access over a trail corridor linking the Plymouth Town Forest with Myles Standish State Forest.
Great South Pond, Plymouth
Creating a Community
By Karen Grey, President
On December 31st, the Trust hosted another well-attended community event, this being the third to draw over 100 people since we opened the Community Conservation Barn doors in November. In six weeks, we have hosted over 550 people for programs ranging from hikes and wreath making to community potluck dinners and open space meetings.
At dawn on New Year’s Eve Day, a hearty group gathered at the behest of Plymouth journalist, Frank Mand, to celebrate the beauty of Plymouth in the last sunrise of the year. It was also an opportunity for Mand to introduce his ambitious “Walking Home,” project in which he will spend a year trekking from California back to Plymouth. Fair to say, this was predominately a Fans of Frank affair, but the gathering, held at our new Community Conservation Barn, also underscored our vision of providing a venue for building community through environmental awareness.
The diversity and creativity of our programming is allowing us to reach many new people. We look forward to seeing you soon to introduce you to the Wildlands Trust and our beloved Davis-Douglas Farm.
For upcoming programs, go to "What's Happening", then "Events", or wildlandstrust.org/calendar.