Somerville Garden Club

February 14, 2011
by Head Gardener
Comments Off on Meeting – March 9, 7-9pm

Meeting – March 9, 7-9pm

De-Paving Somerville

Several members of Somerville Climate Action will give a presentation on de-paving Somerville. Removing an asphalt or cement driveway/backyard and replacing it with plants or vegetables is a great way of contributing to the environment, the watershed, and the greening of Somerville.

All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and open to the public. Meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at the Tufts Administration Building, (TAB), 167 Holland Street, second floor, wheelchair accessible. Parking is available, and the building is a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop.

February 14, 2011
by Head Gardener
Comments Off on Public Workshops – Management of The Fells

Public Workshops – Management of The Fells

From the Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation:

Fells Reservation Resource Management Plan Public Workshop Series

‘The Fells should always be a place where our spirits and minds are fed, as we wander, and wonder, quietly and observantly, through the natural beauty which is the Fells. That is also a recreation to be preserved.’ (Bryan Hamlin, Ph,D. Chairman, Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation)

With over two thousand five hundred acres of forests, craggy hilltops, lakes, ponds, streams and trails the Fells Reservation has served generations of young and old alike as a place of natural beauty, a destination for finding refuge from the busy urban world.

But over time nature has not been well protected or managed in the Fells. Presence of Reservation rangers has dwindled, and for decades there has been negligible enforcement of regulations in the Fells.

A ‘culture of non-compliance’ has diminished the wildness of plant and animal life. Visitor concerns about threats to Fells resources and lessening of public safety have gone unanswered, and now proposals which would increase bike riding on footpaths throughout the Reservation are being urged.

Fells Resource Management Plan process

In response to visitor concerns, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has now initiated the Fells Reservation Resource Management Plan (RMP) process. At the January 31st public meeting in Medford, DCR Planning Director Joe Orfant stated that the agency aimed to fully address management challenges in the Fells, in alignment with the DCR mission, To protect, promote and enhance our commonwealth of natural, cultural and recreational resources.

Mr. Orfant stated that the first goal of the RMP team is to make sure the agency fully understands the property it is managing. To help DCR gather background information a series of public workshops on the status of natural, cultural and recreational resources in the Fells Reservation is now under way.

The complete schedule of Resource Management Plan workshops provided by DCR is listed here.

Wetlands and Water Resources Workshop
Co-hosted by Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and Environmental League of Massachusetts
Thursday, February 17, 2011
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Botume House, 4 Woodland Road, Stoneham
Speakers include David Gilmartin (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority), Matthew Burne (Vernal Pool Association), Ken Pruitt (Environmental League of Massachusetts), and Steve Swymer (Town of Winchester Water Department).
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