Overview | Program Description | Restoration Results | Volunteering | Invasive Plants | Links
Nira Rock Urban Wild
EarthWorks' restoration of the urban wilds follows the Boston Urban Wilds and Natural Areas Management Plan, a comprehensive strategy to restore and manage each of the remaining city-owned natural areas, most of which are urban woodlots. A broad contingent of biologists and land managers had input into the plan, which was the culmination of a process dating from 1976 when the Boston Redevelopment Authority first inventoried city-owned natural areas and called for their preservation. The plan seeks to preserve, enhance, and restore the natural ecological functions of the sites while facilitating public access, understanding, and appreciation.
Project Need
The purpose of the project is to correct some of the worst problems in the city-owned urban wilds. Sites are beset by a range of urban problems such as vandalism, illegal dumping, fires, the introduction and spread of exotic invasives, changes to hydrology, soil erosion and compaction. In addition, larger regional problems that impact forests throughout New England also affect the urban wilds: invasive plant and animal species, insect infestations, excessive nitrogen deposition, and climate change. Urban Wilds Restoration mitigates many these problems and restores ecological functions and value to sites.
In 1999 and 2000, EarthWorks began its partnership with the Parks Department in a successful pilot restoration project in the McLaughlin Urban Wild on Mission Hill. The project tested methods for removing exotic invasive plants from urban wilds and restoring native trees and shrubs beneficial to wildlife. EarthWorks founder Bill Taylor worked with former Parks Department Urban Wilds Manager Tim Smith to select native trees and shrubs well suited to the soil, drainage, and sunlight availability at the site. During the summer EarthWorks worked with Alison and Dennis Pultinas, neighborhood caretakers of McLaughlin Park, to remove invasive Norway maples, common buckthorn, and other exotic invasive plants from an area in the McLaughlin Woodland Urban Wild. We then replaced these harmful plants with the natives that Taylor and Smith selected, and seeded the ground with a native herbaceous mix. We planted the trees with compost, watered thoroughly, and mulched to help ensure their survival.
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Volunteers and staff transporting water for trees planted at McLaughlin Woodland on Mission Hill |
From 2000 through fall of 2001, EarthWorks and the Parks Department monitored the site to see how the experiment faired, checking for invasives and caring for the newly planted native trees. We observed no signs of re-invasion throughout the year and a high survival rate among the trees and shrubs. The methods tested in this project later became the basis for the Urban Wilds Restoration Program, launched in 2001.
The US Forest Service and AES New Energy provided us with grants in the spring of 2001 to start the urban wilds restoration. That summer, a high school work crew began removing trash and invasives at six sites. For the fall, we recruited volunteers from a diverse range of groups to help remove the most destructive exotic invasive plants and replant with a diverse mix of native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. During the projects first year we expanded the work at McLaughlin Woodland and began work at nine other urban wilds: Sherrin Street Woods in Hyde Park, Back of the Hill and Iroquois Woods on Mission Hill, Warren Gardens in Roxbury, Eldon Street in Dorchester, The Rockies in East Boston, Gladeside and Willowwood in Mattapan, and Allandale Woods in Roslindale. In addition to removing trash and invasives, we planted over 1,000 native trees and shrubs.
In addition to restoring native plant communities, EarthWorks staff and volunteers improve the appearance, cleanliness, and access at the sites. Many urban wilds were neglected areas before we began our program in 2001. Trash from decades of ltter and illegal dumping were piled along the edges and in some interior areas of the sites. The program has volunteer days year-round that work to clean up the wilds, collecting and hauling away trash and recyclable materials. For example, one group of thirteen incoming Boston College Freshman and EarthWorks staff filled twenty-five 55-gallon bags of trash weighing approximately 1500 pounds at Boundary Urban Wild in Hyde Park. This is a typical haul at many of these sites.
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Parks Dept. truck loaded with scrap metal from Sherrin Street Woods in Hyde Park. EarthWorks, the Parks Dept., and volunteers recycled about 8 tons of scrap from urban wilds during winter 2002-03. Right Photo: Unloading at a scrap recycling collection facility in Hyde Park |
Access is another problem at many wilds. Several sites have multiple entry points and criss-crossing paths that cause considerable disturbance and erosion. Alternately, some sites are forbidding because the edges are thick with invasive growth and there are no clear entry points and paths. We are working to define pathways, both to invite passive recreation at the sites and steer foot traffic away from sensitive areas.
We seek to balance problems of access with considerations such as the appearance of the site, the amount of use that it endures, and accommodations for the residents who enjoy using the site. For example, right outside our office in Roxbury, neighbors enjoy the ½ acre Cedar Street Urban Wild for its striking puddingstone outcropping, tall oaks, and sunny slope. Its single path often serves as a convenient cut-through between parallel streets. However, the path was beginning to erode, causing significant runoff in its steeper section. To correct the problem, EarthWorks installed signs and temporary fencing in the summer of 2003 to encourage walkers to use a switchback. We then planted a raspberry patch as a natural barrier to prevent walking on steeper parts of the slope. The raspberries have established themselves on the slope along with a mix of herbaceous growth including wildflowers like the New England aster, which quickly carpeted and stabilized the soil. The raspberries also provide food for both humans and birds.
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Logs from felled invasive Norway maples define a path at Gladeside Urban Wild in Mattapan |
Partners, Collaborators, and Constituents
In addition to the work on the ground, we conduct outreach to raise public awareness about the urban wilds and support for our restoration work. EarthWorks organizes and conducts community meetings for neighbors near the restoration sites. We also network with neighborhood groups and present at their meetings. Through these meetings, we discuss the goals, methodology, and tasks of the project with neighbors who, in turn, express their concerns and needs. Work plans are changed to incorporate neighborhood input. We also place signs that describe the project and list contact information. In addition, the project brings local residents into the wilds and provides environmental education through the nature walks and birdathons that we conduct.
EarthWorks' staff works closely with the Boston Parks Department's Urban Wilds Manager to guarantee that all work follows the management plan. The Parks Department has helped organize and publicize some of the community meetings and provides its equipment and personnel on an ad hoc basis. The Boston Public Works Department has hauled away trash taken out of the wilds.
In collaboration with local organizations, businesses, and colleges, EarthWorks has mobilized hundreds of volunteers who provide about 2000 hours of service each year. At each work session there is an educational component about the wilds and the restoration project.
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BYCC planting native trees at Sherrin Street Woods in Hyde Park |
Through the Boston Youth Conservation Corps (BYCC), teenagers are hired by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department to help each summer with the restoration work. During July and August, these youth learn horticultural skills; and they and their supervisors do such tasks as watering and mulching recently planted trees, removing invasive species, and picking up trash. EarthWorks staff meets daily with the youth and their supervisors and works alongside them to insure the tasks are done properly.
A major objective of the project is to involve nearby residents in the local wild, with the ultimate goal of having a committed constituency and possible caretaker group. Urban residents are sometimes afraid to venture into the wilds; and, as a result, these public lands do not begin to meet their potential to improve environmental awareness among city dwellers nor to allow residents to enjoy the beauty of the sites and a neighborhood connection to nature.
From fall 2001 through 2003, we removed the worst invasive species from approximately twenty acres and have planted over 2,600 native trees and shrubs. An estimated 20 tons of trash and recyclable materials were removed. Volunteer organizations and individuals performed over 5,000 documented hours of service. During the summers, high school work crews contributed 2,297 hours to the program, watering and mulching trees, removing invasives, and picking up trash. Results include a dramatic reduction in the presence of the most harmful invasive plants, which has improved wildlife habitat and biodiversity. We have remediated erosion at several sites through trail improvements and plantings. Stabilizing soils and increasing plant cover is helping to reduce runoff from the sites.
Take a look at our photo series to see some of the results of our restoration efforts. For individual site descriptions of the 39 wilds, click here and scroll down to -Chose One-.
34 Linwood Street
Roxbury, MA 02119
Ph: 617.442.1059