Brockton High School Competes at Massachusetts Envirothon

By Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator

Brockton High School Envirothon team at the 2023 Massachusetts Envirothon.

On Thursday, May 25, nine Brockton High School students put their natural resources knowledge to the (hands-on, collaborative) test at the 2023 Massachusetts Envirothon. Congratulations to all the students for making their Brockton and Wildlands Trust communities proud! 

Twenty-five teams representing 18 high schools across the state converged on Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park in Uxbridge for this year’s competition. Each team was tested in five environmental areas: Forest, Wildlife, Water, Soil, and Current Issue. This year’s current issue, Climate Change in our Community, called on each team to present about the climate stressors facing their own neighborhoods, and potential ways to reduce and adapt to them. Across two teams, the Brockton students proposed interdisciplinary solutions to rival the multifaceted climate impacts in their city. One team highlighted the potential for green roofs to address flooding risk, food insecurity, and even human conflicts with Canada Geese. The other focused on improving the gateway city’s access to local, sustainably sourced food.  

Brockton High School students present about local climate impacts and solutions at the Envirothon.

Prior to the day’s events, two key figures in the Massachusetts natural resources sector addressed the students in attendance. “You are the next generation of leaders in our community,” said Brian Arrigo, commissioner of the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation. Rebecca Tepper, secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, added, “The one thing you can do [about climate change] is work in this field.” 

Wildlands Trust has coached and sponsored the Brockton High School Envirothon team since 2015. Rachel Bruce, Wildlands’ Director of Special Projects, coaches the team alongside Brockton High School biology teacher Melissa Kelly and Manomet education manager Clare Cunningham.  

Wildlands was particularly well represented at this year’s competition, as our president, Karen Grey, also served as a judge! 

Congratulations again to the Brockton High School students on an impressive showing, including a fifth-place finish in Forestry! Additional kudos to the graduating seniors, who can now proudly say they measured water quality, estimated tree height, tested soil in a five-foot hole, and identified insect species—all on the day of their senior prom! 

To learn more about Wildlands Trust’s Brockton High School Envirothon initiative, visit wildlandstrust.org/envirothon. 

Click through the slideshow below to see more photos from the 2023 competition.

Crystal Spring Preserve is Open!

By Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator

Crystal Spring Preserve in Plainville.

Crystal Spring Preserve, our first property in Plainville, is officially OPEN! 

Wildlands Trust’s acquisition of this special place came in late 2022 after a 20-year partnership with the land’s previous caretakers, the Crystal Spring Center for Ecology, Spirituality, and Earth Education. Learn more about the preserve’s rich human and natural history at our property webpage here. 

TRAIL MAP AND PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: CLICK HERE 

Crystal Spring Preserve.

Preparing the property for public access took the sustained effort of our extended stewardship team, including staff and faithful volunteers. Between February and May, three volunteer workdays moved the preserve incrementally closer to its current accessible state. Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to help us take this huge step in expanding our regional land conservation portfolio! 

As is the case for many of our properties, “stewardship” at Crystal Spring Preserve goes far beyond clearing trails and removing debris. In addition, we are entrusted with less tangible, though equally critical, resources—a story we hope to carry on, and a vision we strive to sustain. Sister Barbara Harrington, Sister Chris Loughlin, and the entire Crystal Spring Center team saw the property as a place for both children and adults to get in touch with their spiritual connection to nature. Evidence of this philosophy can be found throughout the preserve, as well as in the passionate words of all who engaged with the Crystal Spring Center. Preserving these stories is paramount to our effective stewardship of the land. 

Volunteers at our April workday explore the Meditation Circle, a former education site of the Crystal Spring Center for Ecology, Spirituality, and Earth Education.

“[The Crystal Spring Center] invited Wildlands Trust into a dream,” said Sister Barbara. “It became a mutually enhancing relationship. We then became part of your dream, too. And something new and really quite wonderful has ensued.” (Watch Sister Barbara and Kathy McGrath speak about Crystal Spring Preserve for our 50 Years, 50 People series here.) 

During our April volunteer day, the stewardship team came across several trail signs from the property’s Crystal Spring Center era. After sitting on the forest floor for years, these painted wooden planks and stumps had seen better days. But the care and devotion that had been spent on their production were instantly clear. “Insects have searched for sacred spaces on Earth for 395 million years,” reads one sign adorned with ants, bees, and butterflies. The Wildlands team brought these signs back to our Plymouth headquarters to restore them to their former glory before returning them to the Crystal Spring trails. 

Sister Barbara Harrington (fourth from right) and the Wildlands stewardship team display well-worn trail signs at Crystal Spring Preserve.

This project and others will help us uphold our obligation to holistically preserve the land—trees, ponds, stories, and signs alike. Stay tuned for updates. 

See you on the trails! 

Leadership Council Honored at New Stewardship Training Center

By Kyla Isakson, Membership and Digital Media Coordinator 

Leadership Council members gather around the Stewardship Training Center front gardens to listen to remarks by Board Chair Sam Chapin and President Karen Grey.

On Thursday, June 8, Wildlands Trust welcomed over 60 Leadership Council members to explore our recent 30-acre acquisition on Halfway Pond in Plymouth. The reception honored those who have contributed major gifts this year. We were so happy to host this wonderful group and show them our deep appreciation for their generous support. 

After a hearty breakfast in our new Stewardship Training Center (STC), guests were ushered out to the blooming front gardens to hear from Board Chair Sam Chapin and President Karen Grey. Sam shared some wonderful knowledge about the property and the area surrounding beautiful Halfway Pond. Karen followed to detail the immense growth that Wildlands has experienced over the last 50 years, and how much more there is to look forward to, starting with establishing the STC to improve the skills, knowledge, and capacity of the land stewardship community in Massachusetts. Following these uplifting speeches, Leadership Council members had the opportunity to intermingle, take a short tour around the property led by our stewardship staff, and explore the impressive 12,000-square-foot Center, from the woodshop and learning area in the basement all the way to the bedrooms and attic. We were proud to show off our newest undertaking, and although there is still much to do, we are excited to see how this project will take shape and help advance land conservation through skill-building for volunteers and continuing education for professionals. 

Stewardship Coordinator Zoë Smiarowski shows Leadership Council members around Wildlands’ new 30-acre parcel on Halfway Pond.

Leadership Council gifts are the foundation of Wildlands' annual giving, making it possible for us to continue to grow and meet the conservation needs of Southeastern Massachusetts. Our region benefits greatly from the generosity of this special group of donors, including through cleaner air and water, protected habitats for diverse wildlife, and abundant open space for all to enjoy.  

To show our appreciation for the Leadership Council, Wildlands hosts a celebration in the Conservation Barn at Davis-Douglas Farm each fall and offers a Preserve Tour at a different Wildlands property each June. Leadership Council members are also recognized on a plaque that hangs in the Davis-Douglas Farmhouse at our headquarters. 

Do you, too, want to provide vital support for Wildlands’ efforts to preserve the natural heritage of Southeastern Massachusetts? Join our Leadership Council today and secure your spot at our next special event this fall! 

Click through the slideshow below to see more photos from the Preserve Tour.

Corporations for Conservation: Wildlands Trust Gets South Shore Businesses Outdoors

Creative cross-sector partnerships a win-win-win for ecosystems, communities, team morale

By Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator

REI Hingham and Wildlands Trust staff pose outside of the Stewardship Training Center in Plymouth.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Plymouth, MA — On April 19, Wildlands Trust welcomed REI Hingham staff to its new Stewardship Training Center (STC) in Plymouth for a volunteer workday. Wildlands Trust is eager to engage more corporate partners in conservation and community service as the STC embarks on its first year serving land stewardship volunteers and professionals from across the state.

The April workday marked REI’s fourth volunteer engagement with Wildlands Trust, including its third at the STC. Paul Vicino, softgoods lead at REI Hingham, began organizing the staff outings when similar company-led events were phased out.

“I was already a volunteer with [Wildlands Trust], so I thought I could get some people to help with the new trails,” Vicino said. “We also wanted to celebrate Earth Day while giving back to our community.”

Among other tasks, the REI staff completed gardening projects around the STC and helped build new walking steps between two trails.

“It’s a good team-building and community-building activity,” added Debbie Hill, operations lead at REI Hingham. “The staff that participates feels connected, and we talk while we’re doing it and get to know each other a little better. All of us who work at REI know how important it is to help be good stewards of our environment.”

REI Hingham and Wildlands Trust staff complete gardening projects at the Stewardship Training Center.

The STC, acquired by Wildlands Trust in 2022, sits within a 460-acre conservation area surrounding Halfway Pond in South Plymouth. Wildlands Trust aims to work with town, state, nonprofit, and corporate partners at the STC to advance skill development and address land stewardship needs throughout Massachusetts. To learn more about the STC, visit wildlandstrust.org/training.

“I appreciate the enthusiasm you all bring to our trails,” Vicino concluded. “Not to mention lunch. We’ll do something again with Wildlands, for sure.”

To schedule a corporate workday at the STC or a different Wildlands Trust preserve, contact Stewardship Coordinator Zoë Smiarowski at zsmiarowski@wildlandstrust.org or 774-343-5121 x109.

About Wildlands Trust: Wildlands Trust is one of the largest and oldest regional land trusts in Massachusetts. Since 1973, the Plymouth-based nonprofit has helped protect nearly 14,000 acres of natural and agricultural land across Southeastern Massachusetts, keeping local communities healthy and connected to the natural world. Visit wildlandstrust.org for more details.

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Spring 2023 Land Acquisitions Update

By Scott MacFaden, Director of Land Protection

The Lake Street CR includes frontage on Jones River Brook, a tributary of the Jones River (pictured). Photo by Jimmy Powell of Jones River Landing.

Thus far in 2023, we’ve completed several projects that protect a diverse array of habitats and conservation values, and in one case further strengthen a long-standing collaboration with one of our municipal partners. 

Lake Street CR, Plympton 

In January, we completed a 31-acre Conservation Restriction in northeast Plympton near the Kingston line. The CR area is part of a larger privately owned property that will include a solar energy installation. Because the proposed project site is within mapped habitat for the Eastern Box Turtle, a species of “Special Concern” as identified by the Commonwealth’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP), the project proponents were required to grant the CR. 

The CR protects land identified by NHESP as containing significant wildlife habitat, including “Priority Habitat of Rare Species” and “Estimated Habitats of Rare Wildlife.”  The CR land includes frontage on Jones River Brook, a tributary of the Jones River.   

As solar projects continue to proliferate across Southeastern Massachusetts, those that are proposed within areas subject to NHESP’s regulatory purview typically require the granting of a CR. We are actively evaluating several other solar project-associated CR’s across the region, and expect we will be offered more projects of this type in the future.   

McCarthy Farm Conservation Area CR, Rockland 

In March, we secured a Conservation Restriction (CR) on 36 acres in southwest Rockland. The Town of Rockland acquired the parcel in late 2021 using Community Preservation Act and other state funds. To learn more about the history and natural profile of the property, click here. 

Sleeper Conservation Area CR, Hanson 

The Bay Circuit Trail, a 200-mile hiking path that lies near the Sleeper Conservation Area in Hanson. By John Phelan, CC BY 3.0

In April, we completed a 12-acre Community Preservation Act (CPA) CR on the Town of Hanson’s Sleeper Conservation Area. Acquired by the Town in 2022 with a combination of CPA funds and a Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity (LAND) grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Sleeper Conservation Area primarily comprises forested upland, punctuated by several isolated pockets of wooded deciduous wetland. 

The Sleeper Conservation Area’s position within the broader landscape bolsters its conservation impact. It directly abuts the Town of Hanson’s Camp Kiwanee, a long-cherished community asset on Maquan Pond, as well as the Town’s Alton J. Smith Preserve and the neighboring Town of Pembroke’s Town Forest. The preservation of the Sleeper Conservation Area thus strengthens the landscape connectivity between these two municipally owned open space assemblages. 

A section of the Bay Circuit Trail, the premier long-distance hiking trail in Eastern Massachusetts, runs just to the west of the conservation area. Preserving this parcel helps protect the scenic integrity of the trail’s corridor and maintain the recreational value of this regionally and historically significant footpath, a chronological contemporary of the Appalachian Trail.   

In addition to its favorable landscape context, significance for wildlife corridor connectivity, and proximity to the Bay Circuit Trail, the Sleeper Conservation Area also contributes to water resources protection. The parcel lies within multiple areas identified by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection as significant for drinking water and aquifer protection, and sits near Great Sandy Bottom Pond, which provides drinking water for the neighboring towns of Rockland and Abington.   

The LAND grant award was critical to obtaining the support of Hanson Town Meeting voters for the project. The award provided almost two-thirds of the project’s funding, with CPA funds providing the balance. As part of our ongoing partnership with the Town of Hanson, Wildlands staff helped prepare the LAND grant application and provided additional assistance as needed. Many thanks to Hanson Conservation Commission Chair Phil Clemons, whose indefatigable efforts ensured the project’s success. Phil has served as our primary contact person in Hanson for decades, and is a true champion of all things conservation. 

Upcoming Projects 

We’re working to close more acquisitions over the next several months, including projects in Middleboro, Bridgewater, and Rehoboth. Stay tuned! 

Get Involved

Hoping to protect your property’s natural and cultural heritage for generations to come? Learn about Conservation Restrictions, Deed Restrictions, land donations, and more on our Conserve Your Land page.