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PLACES Special -M- FOR MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS SPRING 2006 VOLUME 14 NO. | I In Search of Massachusetts THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS Weareover 100,000peoplelikeyouwhowant toprotecttheplacestheyloveorwhosimply liketobeoutdoors. Togetherwithourneighbors,weprotectthe distinctcharacterofourcommunitiesandinspire acommitmentto special placesacrossthe Commonwealth.Ourpassionistosharewith everyone,the irreplaceablelandscapesand landmarksthatwecarefor-asweknowhow valuabletheyaretooureverydaylives. AndyKendall ChrisKennedy President Islands RegionalDirector Tom Foster VicePresident SteveMcMahon FieldOperations Western RegionalDirector MelanieIngalls VicePresident WayneMitton Education&Outreach Northeast RegionalDirector At 2,978 feet, Monument Mountain is less passport to thebest ofthe Massachusetts Richard Ryan VicePresident DickO'Brien about size than it is about standpoint. Each landscape.And with 10-20 new properties Finance& Central Administration,CFO RegionalDirector year, people scramble up its slopes in search in the pipeline, that passport continues to KateSaunders SteveSloan offresh air and fresh perspective. It was secure quality oflife in newcommunities VicePresident Southeast alreadya destination when itwas given to across the state.As we talkabout smart AdIvnasnticteutmieonnatl RegionalDirector TheTrustees a centuryago. Todaya hike to growth and the future ofour state, it is WesWard Squaw Peak is an annual rite for more than important to remember that our preserved VicePresident LandConservation 20,000 people. landscapes don'tjust happen: theyexist KateWollensak When I joined The Trustees in 2000, because friends and neighbors came CreativeDirector we had 87 reservations and I set out to see together, actively,to protect them. MelanieIngalls GNriacpohliecPDoelsililginoer all ofthem within the firstyear. It was a Caring for irreplaceable landscapes manic endeavor: I won't say I knowthem and landmarks - forever- takes resources. all,but I've seenthem.At the other end of Afterten yearswe are implementinga Weinviteyourarticles,photographs,letters, the spectrum is a friend who goes again modest increase in membership dues to help andsuggestions.Pleasesendthemto: and again to Noanet Woodlands, each visit fund our land protection work.We are SpecialPlaces MooseHillFarm made in anticipation ofthe changes a grateful for the partyou play in helping 396MooseHillStreet day or week can bring. protect the qualityoflifewe all treasure. Sharon.MA02067 tel 781.784.0567 Where do you go when you are in search Now more than ever, we hope we can count fax 781.784.4796 ofMassachusetts? When you visit ourweb- on your support. emailmingalls@ttororg site,www.thetrustees.org, look for the trip Forinformationaboutbecomingamember report on your favorite property's page and pleasecontactusat978.921.1944x1858,email send us a note.Wewould love to knowhow [email protected],orvisitourwebsite atwww.thetrustees.org. theworld looks to you from Chesterfield Andy Kendall Gorge or Elliott Laurel or Questing. PRESIDENT Whetheryou explore one reservation or SpecialPlaces,February2006.Volume 14.Issue Number I.Spec/a/Places(ISSN 1087-5026) is all 96, membership in The Trustees isyour publishedquarterlyanddistributedtomembers anddonorsofTheTrusteesofReservations. Copyright©2006,Allrightsreserved.Printed onrecycledpaper ONTHE COVER: MonumentMountain, GreatBarrington,in 1899,theyearitwas giventoTheTrusteesbyMissHelen C.Butler. - .' • i': .. pc in: ©TRUSTEESARCHIVES I COVER STORY In Search of Massachusetts Whether you're seeking a brisk walk, history or heritage, the view from the top ofthe Berkshires and the bottomlands of Medfield adds up to common wealth. 10 LAND CONSERVATION Cormier Woods: A Seamless Transaction James Cormier lived his own version ofthe American dream, and quietly left it to all ofus, in Uxbridge. 12 SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN Keeping 'Em Down on the Farm At Weir River Farm in Hingham, families and farm chores are meant for one another. ANNALS OF NATURE Doing What Comes Naturally When you're programmed to stop rushing water, felling a tree means saving the world, beaver-style. 5 SAVING THE IRREPLACEABLE The 'Smart' in Smart Growth That's an easy one: quality oflife. CALENDAR OF EVENTS 16 24 FIND YOUR PLACE Monument Mountain already boasted a storied past when The Trustees of Reservations acquired the Great Barrington peak in A 899. source of inspiration for generations of writers and artists, I the mountain's most chronicled literary association came in 850, 1 when two quintessential American authors - Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne - met and formed a fast friendship there. Caught in a thunderstorm with other members of a small climbing group, the writers took refuge in a cave where Hawthorne, who had recently published The Scarlet Letter, passed along innovative ideas that would greatly influence the writing of Melville's 85 1 I classic, Moby-Dick. THETRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS www.thetrustees.org I 1 Aquesttodiscoverdetails ofthe route thetwo men tookin 1850 inspiredGreatBarringtonjournalist Bernard Drewtoscourthearea on morethan 400hikes overaperiod ofsevenyears(see page 9). Fascinatedwith thesingle 503-acreTrustees'property,Drew is amongthousandsofvisitorswho returnto Monument Mountain- orotherfavoriteTrustees'reservations-timeaftertime,yearafteryear. Attheotherendofthespectrum arepeoplewhodecidethat, ratherthan adoptingoneTrustees'propertytovisiteachyear, they'll aspireto seethemall.Whilethe firstapproach providesan intimateconnection to andappreciation ofonespecial cornerof Massachusetts,thesecondaffordsaborder-to-bordersurveyofwhat somedescribeasmanylittle"states"within thestate. Forthem,what emerges isa pictureofMassachusettsasa mosaicofrivers,fields, forests,pastures,and historic landmarksprotectedin perpetuity. In September, Boston resident JamieHudson becametheonly Trusteesvolunteerknown to haveexplored everysingle reservation. ATrustees membersince 1994, Hudson setouttoexperienceeach propertyafterbeingnamed to theBoardofCorporateTrusteesin 2000.TheformerConnecticut resident quickly rackedup moreof Massachusetts'scenicseascapes,rugged hills,and remoteforestjewels than most BayState nativeseversee.Thelast notchinhisbelt-a tripto Martha'sVineyard's Long PointWildlifeRefuge-tookplace September 1, 2005. "There's nothinglikeseeingand feelingand doingto reallyget a senseofthings,"Hudson says ofhis95-reservation tour. Plus,he adds,"It'sfun!" Unlikesomewho havehopscotchedthestatethroughThe *. .what emerges is a . Trustees'reservations,Hudson said no single propertyemerged asa favorite. Instead, he foundawealth ofbeautiful places,rangingfrom picture of Massachusetts quiet pondsand hillsides in theBerkshiresto oceanvistasalongthe Atlantic. It'sthediversityofMassachusettslandscapes,mirrored in Trustees'lands, thatstrikesthosewhohavevisitedall ormostofthe as a mosaic of rivers, reservations-which nownumber96 andcover23,813 acresin more than 70 communities. fields, forests, pastures, "It's likea museum collection ofquakingbogsand mountains andbeaches,"saysTrustees'Creative Director KateWollensak,who and landmarks historic joined thestafftenyearsago fromtheartworld.Wollensakandher colleagues embarkedona"whirlwind propertiestour"ofmorethan 80 sitesoverthecourseoflessthantwo months.Thefall of200 protected in perpetuity. odysseywaspromptedbya desiretogetabetterfeel fortheplaces depicted in TheTrustees'trailguides,newslettersandbrochures. THETRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS www.thetrustees.org I "It wasamazingdiscoveringall the propertieswe'redesigning about,"shesays."Therewereplaceswhere I didn't even think I was in Massachusetts. Itwassovast." TheTrustees'reservationssee hundredsofthousandsofvisitors each year,with mostpeople flockingto popularvenuessuchas CraneBeach in Ipswich (400,000 visitorsannually);World's End in Hingham (over30,000); Cape Poge,Wasque,and LongPoint on Martha'sVineyard,and Nantucket'sCoskata-CoatueWildlife Refuge. Fewholdbraggingrightstothesecluded,hard-to-reach spotswhere Hudson stepped foot. "Themost difficult to getto is Medfield Meadow Lots,"Hudson recalls."It'saswamp.There is noland." Hudson'sdescription doesn'texaggerate. Medfield MeadowLots' entire 16 acresresideintheCharles Riverfloodplain,comprising threefreshwatermarshes.Therearenotrails. "I hadtogotherelastwinterwhen therewasadeep freeze,just to sayI'dbeen there. It was frozenandsnowcovered,but itwas smooshyin somespots,"hesays. Alsosaved fornearlylastwasawintertriptosimilarlytrail-free Bridge Island Meadows in Millis,an 80-acreareaofdensevegetation mm P. 151 a P 9 engulfedbywetlands.TheTrustees'websitedescribesaccessas "extremelydifficult,"as Hudson can attest. His determination to exploreeach reservationwastestedthere,aswell as morethan 100 mileswest ofMillis,wherehehikeda mileandahalfacrossa frozen laketo reach the northernshoreofGoose Pond,a 112-acre Appalachianwildernessreservation in Lee.Nopublic roads approach GoosePondreservation-no trailseither. Alwayspreparedwith mapsanda"plan B,"Hudsonsaidhesuffered onlyonescareduringhisstatewidecircuit,when hebrieflylost his wayat JacobsHill in Royalston,north oftheQuabbin Reservoir. Jacobs Hill offerstrailsandold loggingroads,but thetrailleadingto theedgeofthearea's LongPond"isbasicallya cliff,"Hudson says. Nonetheless,hegamelydescended,thenlostthetrailalongthelakeand had to retracehisstepsandscalethesteep path-barelyreachinghis carbeforenightfallenrobedthebeechand mapleforestindarkness. Itwas"theclosestthingto an adventure,"Hudsonsaid,enriching hisexperienceofprobingthelittle-known reachesofTrustees'lands. WhileHudsonwon't namea favorite reservation,Wollensak doesn't hesitate. It [McLennan Reservation] IS not a very well visited property. magical. It's The quiet and mossy greenness of it all envelops you. You expect really fairies ' to greet you! ' THETRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS www.thetrustees.org I Rocky Narrows,Sherborn p < s "Theonethatreallyhitmethe mostwasMcLennan Reservation," shesays,rememberinga"gorgeous"hikeinthe594-acrepropertythat straddlesthe BerkshireCountytownsofOtis andTyringham."It is notaverywellvisitedproperty. It'smagical.Thequietand mossy greennessofit allenvelopsyou.Youreallyexpect fairiestogreetyou!" MiseryIslands in Salem SoundandtheCraneEstate-whereshe met herhusband-roundoutWollensak'slistofpetproperties. "What'smostimportantisthereisaspecialplaceforeveryoneinevery community,"shesays."Andthoseplaceswill alwaysbethere.After workingherefortenyears, I realizehowtheseplacestouchso many livesandaresuch abigpartofmemories. That'swhat isamazing." WollensaksaysherappreciationofTheTrustees'workgrowsdaily asshedrives fromherhome in Sterlingto herofficeatMooseHill Farm in Sharon. Duringthecommute,shepassesan orchardthat is up forsaleandhasdrawntheinterestofdevelopers.Thevulnerability SpecialPLACES SPRING 2006 I ofWollensak'sbeloved orchard echoesa scenario increasingly And the rostercontinuestogrow. Since Hudson returnedfrom common acrosstheCommonwealth,saysTrustees'Vice President his95th reservation tourlastSeptember,TheTrusteeshaveacquired ofLandConservationWesWard. two moreproperties.Thelatest isCormierWoods(see page 10),a "There isdefinitelya feelingoftransition happening in theland- 175-acrebequestin Uxbridgethat includesan 18th-centurygambrel- scape.Throughout Massachusetts,except inveryremoteareas,we roofed farmhouse.Wardsaidthat propertywillopen to thepublic in seescattered random buildingalongourroadsides.As a result,the twoyears.Alsoslated to open then istheTrustees'96thdesignated visual qualityofoureverydayenvironment isbeing fragmented and reservation,SignalHill inCanton.ThegiftofGeorgeandNancyBates, degraded,and access to thebackcountryisbecomingmuch more itcovers 117acresadjacenttothestate-ownedBlueHillsReservation, difficult,"saysWard,who hasvisited nearlyall oftheorganization's and includesoveramileoffrontage on the Neponset River. reservations."ThisisonewayTheTrustees'properties provide relief With the inkstill freshonTheTrustees'announcementofSignal to millionsofpeople.Weare offeringsomethingeverydaythat is Hill last fall, Hudson iseagerto addthe newpropertyto his becoming rarerand rarerthroughout Massachusetts." repertoire."The nexttime I'm in Canton,I'm goingtohikeit," Through purchases,bequests,andconservation restrictions,The hepromises,"whetherthere'sa trailthereor not." Trusteeshavebeen savingMassachusetts'special placesforwellover Lisa Caponewritesabouttheenvironmentandconservation issues a century (theoldest reservations,RockyNarrows in Sherborn and fromMelrose,Massachusetts. Mt.Ann Park in Gloucester,wereacquired in 1897). Duringhis 25-yeartenure,Ward hasseen the list ofreservationsgrowfrom65 in 1981 to 96today.These reservations,aswellas privateproperty DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE DESTINATION? protectedthrough conservation restrictions,and landsconserved Let us know by filling out a trip report on the property with assistance from TheTrustees comprise nearly55,000acres pages at www.thetrustees.org.See you on the trails! statewide-doubletheamountconserved in 1981,Wardsays. THETRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS www.thetrustees.org I