FALL NEWSLETTER THEWREN October 2010 Linden Street Land in Boylston Enlarges Important Habitat Area By Nancy Hallen, SVT Office Manager Sudbury Valley Trustees works as a regional land trust in 36 stone amidst a cluster of existing conservation lands. It shares a towns in the Metrowest area. Open space in this scenic and common boundary with two SVT properties: to the southwest, sought-after area is valuable and scarce. In this setting, we often it abuts corners with SVT’s Keisling Reservation; to the east, a creatively join with other committed environmentalists who share perennial stream, and its associated wetlands, divides the Linden a common vision of the value of protected landscapes for the natu- Street land from SVT’s Wrack Meadow and forms the headwa- ral, ecological and quality of life benefits they provide. Often such ters of North Brook. Other conservation lands nearby include collaborative efforts include governmental entities or local land SVT’s Mile Hill Woods and the Mount Pisgah Conservation trusts, but sometimes we have the opportunity to work with an Area, a complex of protected lands in Berlin and Northborough. individual conservation buyer — a person who wants to acquire Wachusett Reservoir, New England Forestry Foundation’s Falby land with the intent to preserve it. Now due to efforts of Shalin Memorial Forest, and several undeveloped properties owned by Liu, a 43-acre property off Linden Street in Boylston that was the town of Boylston are also in close proximity. slated for development will instead remain a prime habitat area The Linden Street land is a forested parcel with its habitat for wildlife. value greatly enhanced by the other forested properties sur- Just south of Linden Street in Boylston, near the Berlin town rounding it. It is largely a second growth white pine-oak forest, line, lies a 43-acre, with black and yel- wooded parcel. Not low birch common so long ago, this as well. American land was to be devel- Rick Findlay chestnut saplings oped as Jameson’s are numerous in the Ridge, a 32-lot sub- understory. The land division. Now it has is primarily upland, a future as a wildlife with a few small sanctuary. but diverse wetland depressions. The SVT has always topography rises as believed that from you approach the an environmental southern portion of perspective, the the land, with a pair development of of small parallel hill- Jameson’s Ridge tops highlighting the would forever com- interior of the forest, promise a region of near Wrack Meadow. significant ecological Boulders and dead value; this land, pris- wood provide wildlife tine and scenic in its habitat throughout own right, is a key- Numerous boulders, also referred to as “glacial erratics,” are scattered throughout the property (continued on page 4) Board of Directors Stephen Winthrop, Wayland, President NOTES FROM RON Colin Anderson, Sudbury, Vice President Bruce Osterling, Sudbury, Treasurer Pam Resor, Acton, Clerk Jamie Bemis, Concord Twenty years have elapsed since SVT published The Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet Brian Clew, Framingham Rivers. This golden opportunity for first-time authorship came to me because Allen Richard Dinjian, Shrewsbury Morgan, SVT’s founding executive director, asked what I did for a living. My response Marylynn Gentry, Wayland included the coda,“But I’d like to do more writing.” “A writer! I need a writer,” replied Lucille Hicks, Wayland Chris Jenny, Wayland Allen, who later said of the canoe guide project that “I have to get this thing off my Richard Johnson, Concord desk.” He was desperate, so the lucky chance fell to me. Robert Kamen, Sudbury Next we had to find a publisher. A regional publisher dismissed the project as too Deirdre Menoyo, Sudbury Arthur Milliken, Concord local. When a fellow named Steve Clouter wrote to Allen that he wanted to publish David Moore, Framingham outdoor books, Allen forwarded his letter to me, with the inscription, “Shall we call Iryna Priester, Wayland this guy’s bluff?” Allen was a master of forceful expression. A deal was struck, a dead- Stephen Richmond, Sudbury line was announced, and I went to work. I did not start from scratch because Dick STAFF Walton had laid the groundwork for the Sudbury and Concord Rivers, identifying access points and species of plants and animals associated with these rivers. I was to add Ron McAdow the Assabet River and bring the project into publishable form. I covered a wall with Executive Director topographical maps, divided the river into segments, and launched a campaign of pad- Ellen Byrne dling, with the goal of seeing first hand every place I would be sending others. Most of Business Manager these paddles I did with Al Sanborn or Jon Klein, although one memorable outing was Christa Hawryluk Collins with Allen Morgan himself. Director of Land Protection Susan J. Crane When the first draft was finished, it was followed by the humbling process of receiv- Land Protection Specialist ing and digesting feedback. I learned a lot in a hurry. Readers pointed out (and saved Nancy Hallen me from publishing) errors such as my use of “sojourn” as synonymous with “short trip.” Office Manager Another reader questioned the term “heron rookery” because a rookery is a nest colony Ellie Johnson of rooks, not herons. I discovered that 1) every reader caught some goof that no other Office Assistant reader did, and 2) that every place a reader flagged, it was worth the effort to improve. Laura Mattei Before its release, the book was serialized by the MetroWest Daily News. It was fea- Director of Stewardship tured on the front page of the then-new “Globe West,” and it became the subject of Michael Sanders a Chronicle TV show—I recall with admiration the grace with which Mary Richards Director of Membership boarded my canoe at the Little Farms Road landing in Framingham to begin a video- Dan Stimson taped paddle on the Sudbury. Assistant Director of Stewardship Chris Wilson Imagine how much fun this all was for me, who had always loved both books and Caretaker canoes. All these years later, The Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet Rivers is still on sale at SVT and at the Concord Bookshop, and I still savor the pleasures of both the process The Wren and the product. Nancy Hallen, Editor Joyce Dwyer & Gordon Morrison, Illustrators Jason Fairchild, The Truesdale Group, Designer Ron McAdow, Executive Director Sudbury Valley Trustees 18 Wolbach Road Sudbury, MA 01776 Sudbury Valley Trustees 5FMt'BY is a regional land trust, E-mail: [email protected] founded in 1953. For over 50 years, SVT has been dedicated to Website: www.svtweb.org conserving land and protecting wildlife habitat of the Concord, Assabet, Sudbury river basin. This is one of the most scenic, cultur- ally rich, and historically significant regions in the United States. Guided by a well thought-out strategic plan, SVT carries out its mission for the benefit of present and future generations. 2 / SUDBURY VALLEY TRUSTEES / FALL 2010 Land Conservation in Landscape Context By Laura Mattei, SVT Director of Stewardship hat land is worth protecting? How do you identify the Large expanses of forest provide many ecosystem lands with the greatest biodiversity value? These are benefits. Wide-ranging, forest-inhabiting Wquestions that SVT has evaluated for our watershed. mammals such as bobcat, coyote, and gray We apply fundamental principles of biodiversity conservation fox will frequent these areas. With less and landscape ecology to determine our best strategy for land fragmentation, invasive plant species are protection. less likely to encroach and degrade the forest habitat. Smaller mammals, The Boylston property being protected by Shalin Liu (page 1) reptiles, amphibians and is a great example of land conservation in landscape context. In some insects have higher 2000, Frances Clark, in her Suasco Biodiversity Protection Plan, survivability in larger identified the Wrack Meadow area (which contains the Linden tracts of uninterrupted Street property) as a biodiversity priority because it contained forest and natural “large unfragmented tracts of forest, stream headwaters and vernal habitat due to pools.” The site is on a watershed divide and adjacent to another reduced road kill large tract of forested lands, known as Mt. Pisgah. mortality and higher The site contains habitat quality. The mixed oak forest natural hydrology - water infiltration and flow - remain intact, on glacial till. The thereby maintaining high quality wetlands and waterways. terrain is uneven Natural disturbances, such as windblown trees from large storm with small wetlands events, and fire may occur at a more ecologically balanced and vernal level; in smaller forests, such disturbances are either lacking or pools in the catastrophic. In general, larger expanses of uninterrupted habitats depressions. are more resilient to change. This type of In light of the rapid pace of development and especially in natural community this time of an economic slump, it is critically important for is very common in our SVT to pursue the protection of these large, intact natural areas watershed, but what makes this site important is before they become irreparably fragmented. There are many the lack of development – houses, commercial buildings and roads opportunities within our western watershed to protect such – fragmenting a larger forest. lands, which like the Linden Street property, not only enrich Certain species of wildlife will only thrive in such large tracts habitats within confined boundaries but also provide benefits of forests. Ornithologist Simon Perkins visited the Linden Street which far exceed their values as isolated properties. property site this past spring. He noted that “the avian diversity Drawings by Gordon Morrison is somewhat low due to the limited habitat diversity, but as a forested site, its value to birds is greatly enhanced by its SAVE THE DATE proximity to the large forested parcels that are contiguous to it.