Trail Updates: Willow Brook Farm & Beyond

Harry and Mary Todd Trail at Willow Brook Farm in Pembroke. Photo by Rob MacDonald.

It’s been almost a year since we started our revitalization project at Willow Brook Farm in Pembroke. Thanks to your support of our summer fundraising campaign, we’ve already made major strides toward our goal of keeping Willow Brook healthy and safe for future generations of people and wildlife. While there’s much left to do, we wanted to keep you apprised of the latest on our efforts.

In early February, Wildlands staff and volunteers spent a VolunTuesday completing the replacement of the first boardwalk on the Harry and Mary Todd Trail. That means, after a couple months out of service, the Todd Trail is back open! The trail will close again at some point in the spring so our stewardship team can repair the second boardwalk. So enjoy it while you can!

Earlier this winter, we also cleared a new trail along the perimeter of Willow Brook’s central field. Known as the Pasture Loop, the path affords visitors a close-up view of the freshly restored stone wall, and a glimpse into the preserve’s agricultural past. Learn more about the human history of Willow Brook Farm here.

Pasture Loop at Willow Brook Farm in Pembroke. Photo by Rob MacDonald.

If it’s been a while since you’ve visited Willow Brook Farm, you’ll notice an even more dramatic change to the landscape, with trees and other vegetation cleared back from much of the entrance trail and field. That’s because Wildlands has embarked on an ambitious restoration of the preserve’s grassland habitat.

True to its name, Willow Brook Farm was an agricultural site for over 300 years. Diverse wildlife made itself home in the grasslands spanning most of the property. Since then, forests have reclaimed much of the land, save for the central field that Wildlands mows annually to preserve this critical habitat. Unfortunately, invasive plants and woody growth continue to encroach on the field from the forest edges, threatening the grassland’s suitability for native birds, insects, and other wildlife. Removing this aggressive vegetation is the first step to restoring the field’s beauty and diversity.

Grassland restoration is a multi-year process, so we appreciate your patience.

Willow Brook Farm in Pembroke. Photo by Rob MacDonald.

Up next at Willow Brook Farm: refurbishing the parking lot, improving trail signage, and building covered picnic tables. Stay tuned!

In other trails news:

Thanks to our VolunTuesday crew, a new trail at Emery Preserve in Plymouth offers visitors a more varied route to the iconic Beech Tree Clearing. The trail is now a loop, connecting to existing trails on the other side of Ship Pond Road.

See the green loop in the southeast corner of this trail map:

Davis-Douglas Conservation Area trail map. Click the map to download a PDF version.

At Sylvester Field Conservation Area in Hanover, the boardwalk on the southeast portion of the trail loop is closed for the winter as Wildlands staff works to lower its incline. The rest of the trail remains open.

See you on the trails!

Eagle Scout Candidate Builds Bird and Bat Boxes at Sylvester Field

By Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator

Hanover Boy Scouts Troop 38 at Sylvester Field.

Earlier this month, Hanover Boy Scout Jacob DeMong completed a multifaceted conservation project at Wildlands Trust’s Sylvester Field, putting him one step closer to the prestigious title of Eagle Scout. 

“Environmentally beneficial projects are extremely important,” Jacob, 17, wrote to Wildlands stewardship staff Tess Goldmann and Owen Grey, who provided him with mentorship and support throughout the project. "I was overjoyed to get this opportunity.” 

Jacob led Boy Scout Troop 38 from Hanover in installing eight Eastern Bluebird boxes and one bat box along the trail at Sylvester Field, a grassland parcel acquired by Wildlands Trust in 2021. The troop also cleared invasive vines and plants from the trees lining Washington Street, as well as cut back overgrowth from the woodland section of the trail. 

New bird boxes at Sylvester Field.

If you would like to see the project for yourself, you’re in luck! Just this week, the Wildlands stewardship team began installing a boardwalk that will complete a 0.5-mile loop trail around the entire field. This addition will allow visitors to admire all of Jacob’s great work—and perhaps some winged creatures that he has already attracted to the property! Eastern Bluebirds nest from March to August, while bats rely on warm, clean, and secure places to rest, hibernate, and raise young year-round. On Tuesday, a Tree Swallow was spotted inside one of Jacob’s boxes! Be on the lookout for an official trail opening announcement in the coming weeks. 

“We were really impressed with Jacob’s organization skills, as well as by the hard work of the Hanover Boy Scouts,” Tess said. “We are excited to see the boxes in use this season!” 

Congratulations, Jacob, on this huge achievement! Thank you for making our community a place for people, birds, bats, and trees to thrive. 

Jacob’s Eagle Scout project is one of several that Wildlands Trust has recently supported. If you are interested in completing your Eagle Scout project with us, contact our Stewardship Coordinator Zoë Smiarowski at zsmiarowski@wildlandstrust.org.  

Tree Swallow inside a bird box at Sylvester Field.

Funding Secured for Sylvester Field Boardwalk

We are pleased to announce that the boardwalk at Sylvester Field will be installed this spring!

Those of you who have visited Sylvester Field have probably noticed that our trail map shows a trail on the eastern property boundary that does not currently exist. We have been waiting to build the missing trail because it requires a 100-foot section of boardwalk through an especially soggy section of wet meadow.

Well, thanks to a generous donation from the Torrey Family of Hingham, we are now able to build the boardwalk and open the trail. The existing trail is a 0.3-mile out and back trail. The construction of this new trail and boardwalk will provide hikers with a 0.5-mile loop to enjoy. Be on the lookout for construction updates!

A drone's view of Sylvster Field and the Indian Head River in Hanover, Massachusetts.

A drone's view of Sylvster Field and the Indian Head River in Hanover, Massachusetts.

Sunset at Sylvester Field in Hanover, Massachusetts.

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.

Late Summer Land Acquisitions Update

By Scott MacFaden, Director of Land Protection

Thus far in 2022, we’ve completed a variety of projects across our coverage area that protect a diverse array of habitats and conservation values, including properties on two of the region’s major rivers.

In February, we completed the first two phases of a long-contemplated project that will create our first preserve in Plainville. These first two steps involved adding another two acres to the 33.5-acre Conservation Restriction (CR) we’ve held on lands of the Crystal Spring Center for Ecology, Spirituality, and Earth Education Inc., since 2008, and then assigning the expanded CR to another qualified nonprofit conservation organization—the Attleboro Land Trust. With those steps concluded, the third and final step will transfer the “fee simple,” or outright ownership of the property, from Crystal Spring to Wildlands Trust. We expect that final transfer to occur before year’s end.

A drone's view of Sylvester Field and the Indian Head River in Hanover. Photo by Jerry Monkman.

In June, we acquired five acres in Norwell along the North River that protects important habitat for marsh wrens. Donated by the Estate of Clayton Robinson, the parcel represents the culmination of the Sylvester Field Preservation Project, through which we previously protected 20 contiguous acres along the Third Herring Brook in nearby Hanover.

In late July, we purchased 30 acres on Halfway Pond in Plymouth that was the largest remaining unprotected parcel on the pond’s west shore, and consequently one of our longest-standing preservation priorities. The property includes pockets of Pine Barrens, a globally rare natural community, and directly abuts and expands our Halfway Pond Conservation Area, now over 460 acres in extent and one of the crown jewels of our protected lands portfolio.

Most recently, in the waning days of August we protected 11.7 acres in Lakeville along the upper Nemasket River through the combination of a deed restriction and a two-acre land donation. This hybrid project protects over 900 feet of linear frontage along the Nemasket, a major tributary of the federally designated Wild and Scenic Taunton River.

Morning fog on Halfway Pond in Plymouth. Photo by Jerry Monkman.

We’re working to close more projects by year’s end, including the third and final phase of the Plainville project, and projects in Bridgewater, Scituate, Rockland, and Hanson.   

Watch this space!