Wildlands Says Goodbye to Rachel Calderara

By President & Executive Director Karen Grey

We sadly share with our members the news that our beloved outreach and education manager, Rachel Calderara, has left Wildlands for a new opportunity. On October 31, 2020, after learning of Rachel’s plans, Wildlands’ president, Karen Grey, sent the following letter to the board and staff:

Dear Wildlands Board & Staff—

I learned yesterday that Rachel Calderara will be leaving Wildlands Trust to take a position working with students at Brockton High School. Rachel is, hands-down, one of the best employees I have ever managed and she will be missed very much.

As the leader of our youth work and public programming over the past four years, Rachel’s impact at Wildlands has been enormous. Having come to us as an Americorp Member in 2015, Rachel instantly stood out with her congenial personality, enthusiasm for our mission, and a professional skill set not usually seen in a 25-year old. During her 11-month Americorp term, she led programs and helped to establish the Brockton High School Envirothon Team, which has become our flagship youth program and a model in the State for other land trusts looking to develop youth programming in environmental justice communities.  Rachel went on to pursue a fellowship in environmental education at the end of her Americorp term, but I knew I wanted to hire her when the opportunity arose. That occasion came in 2016 when Wildlands relocated to the Davis-Douglas Farm and I invited Rachel to come back to develop, launch and run our first ever outreach initiative at Wildlands. In just four short years, she has built a program that is a cornerstone to our membership and fundraising growth. 

Working with youth is first and foremost her calling and she will undoubtedly take Brockton High School by storm. Her energy, creativity, camaraderie and penchant for hard work will be greatly missed at Wildlands Trust. Please join me is wishing Rachel well in her next chapter.

Colby-Phillips Boardwalk in Hanover Repaired

By Stewardship Manager Erik Boyer

Last month, in late November, Wildlands Trust partnered with the open space committee for the town of Hanover to restore a 300-foot boardwalk at Colby-Phillips Preserve. The original boardwalk at the town-owned preserve had been constructed almost 20 years ago and much of the old decking had begun to show its age, structurally.

With the help of 20 volunteers, many of whom are neighbors of the property, the workload was split up into four sessions over the course of two days. Throughout those days, 600 original boards were removed, and new decking boards were installed to ensure safe access for all visitors of the property. A special thanks goes out to the volunteers who helped in completing this project. We’ll be back at Colby-Phillips this month (December) to start more rehabilitation work on an overlook platform on Cushing Brook Marsh.

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New Compost Units Built for Community Garden

In October 2020, Plymouth Eagle Scout candidate Zach Lyons constructed two, new compost holding units for Wildlands’ community garden at Davis-Douglas Farm. Prior to Zach’s help, there was a single-cylinder compost bin at the garden that was only accessible from above, making it difficult to turn. The new containers, built using lumber and wire mesh, are able to be accessed from the top and side of the unit, making it easier to work the compost. Each unit is also made up of two bays, allowing for the compost to be divided by how far along in composition it is.

We look forward to putting these structures to good use during the 2021 gardening season, and having a more productive composting system in place for our community gardeners. Thank you to Lowes in Wareham for donating the lumber used, and to Zach for his hard work! 

New Trail Configuration at Pudding Hill

By Stewardship Manager Erik Boyer

Mike Arsenault assists stewardship staff with raking debris from the trail.

This past September, with the help of nine Adopt-a-Preserve (AAP) volunteers, a new .4-mile trail was created at Pudding Hill Reservation in Marshfield. This project was the vision of AAP volunteer Dodie Frank who has been a steward at Pudding Hill for the past two years.

I met Dodie out at the preserve on a muggy, July morning to bushwhack and flag a new trail from the neighborhood trail entrance off Old Ocean Street to a dead-end trail on the west side of the property.  We chose a route that consisted of rolling hills, old stone walls and thick stands of white pine saplings.  This new connector turns the .5-mile cross-shaped trail into a 1.1-mile loop with varied topography. Over the course of three days in September, we cut through thick brush, established a rough trail tread, and then regraded sections of the trail to make for easier hiking. We then blazed the path and ensured it was ready for the first guided hike held at the property in mid-October.

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Now, thanks to the hard work of many, a visit to Pudding Hill provides for a challenging, wooded, 30-minute hike on the north side of the property and a leisurely, short stroll through a meadow to an overlook spot on Chandlers Pond. I would like to give a special shout out to Dodie for her efforts and to Mike Arsenault, Stephen Connolly, Rob MacDonald, Janine Anderson, Bill Vickstrom, Roger Janson, Marilynn Atterbury and Kevin Walsh for helping out.

New Garden in the Old Foundation

By Outreach and Education Manager Rachel Calderara

If you have ever visited Wildlands’ headquarters at Davis-Douglas Farm (DDF) in Plymouth, you have likely wondered about the old granite foundation in the middle of the field. These blocks of granite are what remains of the 1890s barn that stood for about 100 years before collapsing. Since Wildlands acquired Davis-Douglas Farm in 2011, we have made a number of transformations to turn this land into our new headquarters, including restoring the old farm house to make a unique office building and erecting the Community Conservation Barn for community gatherings, which is complete with a three bay garage and woodshop for our stewardship needs. The foundation remained a relic of interest for staff and visitors alike, a beautiful granite structure in the middle of our headquarters that was unused and unsafe to enter.

For years we brainstormed ways to use this foundation, which would complete phase four of the Davis-Douglas Farm transformation. Finally, we found the answer when landscape designer Love Albrecht Howard came to us with the idea to build a demonstration garden with plants native to New England. We worked once more with Jerry Richmond, who has been a great partner throughout the DDF transformation. To prepare for its transition to a garden, Jerry and his team filled the foundation, removed a section of granite to create additional handicap parking, and repurposed this granite to build a beautiful staircase entrance from the lower field. The upper entrance was modified so a wheelchair can enter without difficulty and traverse the pathway that leads to a wide semi-circle seating area with granite benches.

On November 2 and 3, volunteers gathered to bring the garden to life under Love’s direction. We want to thank volunteers Caroline Chapin, Sarah Geer, Nina Pollock, Marilynn Atterbury, Charlotte Russel, Margi Delafield, Elaine Lackey, Lois Post, Lucy Hutchinson and Susan Wolfe for their help with planting, and to those who helped water the garden regularly in the following weeks. And of course, we want to thank Love Albrecht Howard, whose vision, hard work, and dedication to wild spaces was the driving force behind this project.

We encourage you to check out this new demonstration garden on your next visit to Davis-Douglas Farm. The garden is designed for there to be new plants of interest in bloom throughout the year. The plants did well establishing their new home this fall and we are looking forward to watching the garden blossom next year!