Well what a day!. We have been getting ready to start work with all the new people who have signed up. The day started with George and I clearing the five feet (really) of illegal dumping at BB Wright to make a trail to the worksite. We will be installing a new trail and a 100 foot boardwalk Keep an eye here for the start date of this project.

Click here for Photos

Jim caught up with us at Red Wing Farm and we started work on restoring the old apple orchard. This project is also has a lot more work and we are looking for people on this.
Click here for Photos

After this we all headed over to Thanksgiving and installed some posts to stop people driving trucks into the woods. (God know why they started doing this but we put an end to it.)
Click here for Photos

To end the day we caught up with Dave at Deep Brook and it is now added to our list of supported sites. Look for photos and news on this location in the next few weeks.

All the Photos can be found here. Click here for all photos

Happenings in Chelmsford by Cynthia McLain

On a cold Saturday in January, Phil Stanway of the Chelmsford Open Space Land Stewards met with a group of Chelmsford BFRT supporters, including members of the Chelmsford Land Conservation Trust and the Middlesex Canal
Association. We toured several conservation areas along the old railroad ROW in Chelmsford. During the tour, we discussed some of the new trails the Land Stewards are putting in as well as how those trails might access the BFRT. We will be looking into how to build more trails between conservation lands and the
BFRT over the coming months.

The Friends are planning to have a booth at the Chelmsford July 4th Country Fair. Last year’s booth, shared with the Middlesex Canal Association, was wildly successful. To those who dropped by last year’s booth: Thank-you! We hope tha
everyone will stop by this year and say hello. Although wildly successful, last year’s booth was woefully understaffed. If you can spare 1 or 2 hours during the evening of July 3rd or morning of July 4th, we could really use some help. I’ll try to avoid getting the spot downstream from the dunk tank again this year!

For information or to volunteer, please contact Cynthia McLain at cynthia.mclain@comcast.net or 781-981-394

Well I was back at the Quarry today and dug out the entrance so you can get in the parking lot. I also broke trail on the blue loop. So all trails are open and if you have 4 wheel drive you can get in the parking lot.

The lots at the Quarry and BB Wright have not been cleared so I parked on Bridge Street and entered the Quarry by the back way. I broke in the whole snow shoe trail and let me tell it I must have lost 5 lbs!. It was a great walk and one of the best work outs I have had in quite a whil. Hopefull the lots will be open by Sunday so if you want to snow show now is your chance!

Now that the water level on Mill Pond at Thanksgiving Forest is low for the winter, we received a tip that bundles, of what looked like undelivered newspapers, were dumped a short distance from the canoe launch at Thanksgiving Forest.

Phil, Jim & I sprang into action - we went there this morning with the intent of cleaning up the mess, finding out what publication it was, who was supposed to deliver them and a phone number to call to give someone an earful.

Well, we did sledge hammer in the frozen mud, dug most of the bundles out and only sunk three of our six boots into the muddy pond bank. As we carried them to the bank, letting some of the bundles thaw in the morning sunlight, a clue came into focus......

You know those flyers that get hung from your mailbox in the little plastic bags? Yep, advertisements. But wait, do we see a date? Yep, February 23, 1986! Grossman's was having a great sale on lumber, insulation and doorknobs. 21 year old bundles of advertisments. So much for the phone call to chew someone out. We figure now archaeology could be added to the list of wonderful things that Stewards do.

Well I have spent the day sorting out all the photos in the gallery. They all make sense and much easier to find.

Click here for all the maps and photos and everything!

Tim Forrest presented his Eagle Scout Project to the full conservation commission last night. The presentation like the project was excellent. If you want to see the photos of the construction of the Switchback at Crooked Springs click the link below. His full documentation will also be posted on the site to act as a template for other Scouts interested in working to improve Chelmsford’s Open Spaces.

Click here for photos of Scout project from start to finish

Its was a hard working weekend. First off we welcome out new Steward at large John Bain from Chelmsford who will be based most of the time at the Quarry. Jack is an avid rock climber and will be helping to monitor the Quarry to make sure it is safer. This week end we cleared the back end of the major pit of all the downed trees and junk and started to haul all the downed trees out of the second Quarry pit. It gave us a good idea of how hard people worked a couple of hundred years ago in these pits as we where just hauling downed trees and we where exhausted by the end of the day. If you are looking for the Geo-Cache in the second pit please take extra care as we have not removed all the wood and it is located in this area.

George, Jim and I also cleared the tree falls blocking the stream in two locations then cleared the new switch back to replace the steep hill and cleared the last few downed trees blocking the Green trail so it is now clear except the for the bridge that will be installed soon.

Please welcome Mike Jennings as our new Steward at Large at Thanksgiving Forest. Mike met Phil at the Chelmsford Library event the other night and wanted to help out. Mike brings diverse experiences to the program. Mike is familiar with Thanksgiving as he frequents those trails on his mountain bike. Welcome aboard, Mike!!!

A gentlemen, Stephen, that I work with recently moved to Medford, MA and had been out hiking at the nearby Middlesex Fells Reservation. Conversations we had at work about the Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship got Stephen interested in helping out at the Fells. He went to the Fells website and signed up to volunteer to help keep the reservation beautiful. The Fells Reservation is 2500 acres of natural and historic resources surrounded by the towns of Malden, Medford, Stoneham, Melrose, and Winchester. For more information check out the Fells website: www.fells.org

Reading the river’s future By Andy Metzger/Correspondent
Wednesday, February 28, 2007 - Updated: 11:19 AM EST

Phil Stanway might not be too concerned with global warming or the shaky future of the Alleghany wood rat. He’s no environmentalist, he said, but Stanway is a nature lover. That’s why he spends so much time fixing up trails around town. This Thursday night, Stanway will be speaking with water conservationist Michelle Tremblay at the Chelmsford Public Library.
Unfortunately, it will be too dark for Stanway to take people to the waterfall, which he said is just a short walk from the library. But he does plan to get people involved the next day, helping him maintain the trails, build and restore bridges and pick up trash.
“I’m looking for people who want to use a chainsaw,” Stanway said.
Stanway moved to Chelmsford, from Manchester, England, as a seventh-grader. After moving away, Stanway returned to Chelmsford with his wife about eight years ago, and said he likes it here, otherwise he “wouldn’t pay the incredibly high taxes.”
Convenience is a running theme for Stanway. He said the reason he takes the time to design, build and maintain trails around Chelmsford is that gas prices are too high for him to make the trek up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, where he enjoys to hike.
Though Stanway may act disinterested in it all, he spends an awful lot of time making the town’s nature trails more pleasant and trash-free. This Thursday he’ll try to convince people to join him.
“The point is to get people to go out there and find these places and walk them,” said Stanway.

This appeared in the paper: Just a quick note that you have to understand my Brit sense of humor. Yes I am not an environmentalist because that requires years of training and understanding of how nature works. The Stewards are guided by some of the best environmentalist around and they are the Conservation Commission. As for “I’m looking for people who want to use a chainsaw,” yes and rakes and shovels. We are looking for people who do not people who talk about doing things.

And Yes we are looking for a few people who are good with chainsaws. With over 700 aches of woods we are allways clearing downed trees that block streams and trails. We alos need people who are good with shovels, hammers and rakes!. Our goal is if a tree falls and blocks a trail it is gone within 24 hours.

Andy has confirmed that we should be getting our first truck load of wood chips to upgrade the trail at BB Wright. This must be done before we install the board walk. How will we do this? Easy with wheel barrows and shovels and rakes. If you are interested in joining us ‘Dips’ just e-mail Scott or Phil he will let you know the dates. This should be a lot of fun and most likely be done over a weekend in about two weeks.

Tim has finished the map for BB Wright. We have a new document storage system that allows us to store large files on line. the links below connect with the Adobe PDF editions of the Maps so you can blow them shrink them down Ect.

Click here for PDF copy of Wright Map

Click here for PDF copy of Lime Quarry

This should make it quicker and easier for people to use.

The Great Marsh Symposium: Discover a Coastal Treasure in Our Backyard
In Massachusetts, the North Shore's Great Marsh is the largest continuous stretch of Salt Marsh in New England, extending from Cape Ann to New Hampshire. The unique complex of natural systems add ecological, economic, recreational, and cultural value to our daily lives both on the coast and inland where land is connected by river and stream networks. Here’s an opportunity for all who love the Great Marsh to jump-start their own fair weather explorations of the area. Join an outstanding roster of experts for short presentations on a variety of Great Marsh topics ranging from Sea Level Rise to Bird Banding on Plum Island to Poets and Painters of the Marsh, circa 1900. Hosted by the Great Marsh Coalition with support from EBSCO; $12 registration fee; pre-registration required.

WHEN & WHERE: Saturday, March 10, 8:30 am-2:30 pm; Parker River National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, Newbury, MA
FOR MORE INFO: www.greatmarsh.org; Kathy Leahy, 978.927.1122 x2700, kleahy@massaudubon.org


Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference
Come to a full day of informative workshops and inspiring conversations with conservationists from across the Commonwealth. Some of the 32 workshops offered include include: Land Conservation 101: The Tools, Programs & Jargon Demystified… Insights from Foundation Funders…Building Relationships with Landowners…Land Conservation, Agriculture & Massachusetts’ Immigrant & Refuge Communities… Protecting Trail Lands…Effective Citizen Participation in Issues Related to ATV Use on Conservation Lands. Co-sponsored by The Trustees of Reservation-Putnam Conservation Institute & the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition. Pre-registration is required; $35 registration fee if you sign up by March 9, $50 afterwards.
WHEN & WHERE: Saturday, March 24, Bancroft School, Worcester, MA
FOR MORE INFO: www.thetrustees.org/PutnamConservationInstitute.cfm; Angel Vega; 978.840.4446 x1934; avega@ttor.org

Hi,
Last year we were optimistic that construction on the Bruce N. Freeman Memorial Bike Path would begin in the Spring of this year (2007). Unfortunately, MassHighway ended 2006 with a funding shortfall.
Consequently, advertising for construction bids on this project has been delayed and construction of this and many other MassHighway projects is contingent upon funding through passage of a transportation bond bill by the Massachusetts state legislature.

We are putting together a document that coverseverything we are doing and all our plans for 2007. If you want to have a look at it you can download if from the link below. It's 3M and its in word format.

Click here to download document