Marblehead Conservancy Inc.

“What is it?” App Needed

Feb 212012

In 2011 the Marblehead Conservancy web pages (www.marbleheadconservancy.org) were reformatted
to allow access and site roaming to anyone with a smart phone or computer tablet. As a part of this change, a Google map was added to help users locate Marblehead’s conservation areas.

What’s next? We would like to locate or develop and offer an app that could give users a means of identifying the many trees and shrubs found in the town’s conservation areas. So far we have found no
app sufficiently specific to New England, let alone Massachusetts or Marblehead. We may be missing
something. If anyone has an idea, please let us know. Our web site has contact information in the upper
right corner of the home page, or email us here. We would be most appreciative!

We’d Love Some Feedback…

Conservancy News No Responses »

Dec 012011

An important update of the Marblehead Conservancy web site went on line in October. Those who wish to access the site using smart phones or electronic tablets are now able to fully navigate through the menu listings.

While we were at it we made other changes. A special viewer-enlargeable map of Marblehead has been added to help locate open space trail entrances. The News section provides the means for readers to send comments on individual articles as well as sending notes to the information address on the home page..

Finally, banner photos have been changed to give some emphasis to Marblehead’s
beautiful open spaces. Improving public access to information concerning the Town’s open spaces is part of our mission. We will continue working to that end and welcome your ideas, criticisms, and thoughts.

October Event a Great Success!

Conservancy News, Marblehead Events No Responses »

Dec 012011

We are more than pleased with the turnout for the October events at the Abbot Public Library, sponsored through the collaboration of the Library and the Conservancy. We feel inspired to do another in 2012!
In spite of a short but serious rainstorm that caused the entire lower floor of the Abbot Public Library to flood on the very day our October events were to open, fast action by Patti Rogers, Library Director, got everything started as planned. Water seeping up at the entrance to the meeting room was mopped up by Trustees Dick Marcy, Sandi Peaslee, and Doug Perkins during the event.

In the adjoining Gallery, the exhibit of artisticworks of nature by photographer Dennis Curtin and biologist Erika Sonder were a hit, and both artists enjoyed talking with visitors. More than one hundred people attended that evening to hear Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home give reasons for emphasizing native plantings, even in our home gardens.

In a related afterthought, we should note that protected conservation areas in Marblehead account for fewer than one hundred and fifty acres. So the effort to give emphasis to native plantings has to come from homeowners.

School Begins…

MC in the Community No Responses »

Dec 012011

This year’s Tower School sixth grade class has been busy. All of the shrubs that last year’s class had started growing in the School tree farm have been planted in the woods.

In turn, students have re-planted the school tree farm with more shrub and tree seedlings for next year. When it is time for these plants to leaf out in the spring, we will know how well our newly learned planting skills worked.

The class has also experimented with the process of using tree rings to determine the age of a plant, telling us when its seed first took root.

Recovering a Trail

Local Trails No Responses »

Dec 012011

Work on the trail begins

Few people know that in the area bounded by Maverick and Village Streets, a curved section of former rail bed connects the two branches – one that goes to Salem and one that goes to Swampscott. The reason that few know of it is that it had become badly overgrown and was often quite wet.

An Eagle Scout project led by Ethan Levine began the long process of restoring the trail’s usefulness. This project cleared a ten-foot-wide path along the old rail bed to help the area dry out. The Scouts also planted some native shrubs and trees in place of the overgrowth of invasives.

Complete restoration of the trail will require more work, including adding fill, but this beginning removed decades of overgrowth, allowing a first view of the trail’s potential.

Scouting The Backside of Seaside Park

Local Trails No Responses »

Dec 012011

A second Eagle Scout project, this one led by Chris Pedersen, has repaired a heavily used section of a main trail at Seaside Park. The trail loop from the ball field all the way out to the harbor overlook is used frequently by hikers, dog walkers, and cross country track teams. Two sections of the loop, however, have been particularly difficult to use, one because of mud and another due to a rock outcrop.

These trail sections are drainage areas for adjoining slopes. As such, they either turn to mud quickly when it rains and stay muddy for long periods of time or become slippery. At the muddy trail site the Scout project has put in water bars to confine and deflect drainage and added gravel fill to provide firm footing. At a second site, the Scouts moved a trail section to go around a rock slope and filled in an area that collected runoff water.

Notice of Trail Closure

Local Trails No Responses »

Dec 012011

The long-awaited rehabilitation of the Town landfill started with the work needed to remove long-buried hazardous waste around the end of Stonybrook Road. Material removed will be used to fill an area within the existing landfill and will eventually be covered and sealed with a cap.

To begin, a haul road has been built from the end of Stonybrook road to the fill site in the landfill. This haul road cuts across Gamble’s Trail, a trail that starts
at a corner of Blueberry Road and goes to a wooden bridge across Babbling Brook. Once the trail was cut, barriers had to be put up, as the photo shows.

These will remain until a later phase of the overall project when the finished work
will determine any relocation of the trail.

Harbor Glade

Local Trails, Trail Projects No Responses »

Dec 012011

Following a branch of the old rail bed out of Marblehead center toward Salem brings you to a point where this right of way takes a sweeping turn toward the left to follow the shore of Salem Harbor. Glance to the right as youstart into the turn and you will see a glade with only a light fringe of trees and shrubs masking the harbor waters.
This is Harbor Glade. For some years the Conservancy’s Trail Crew has worked to clear this area of invasive plants. Helping to keep it open, the Light Department has kindly been mowing the area whenever their crews have been clearing the sides of the utility right of way.
We think it is time for planning the future of this lovely area. As we consider ways to make it a pleasant area for resting and viewing the harbor, we would appreciate hearing from others. Please let us know your thoughts.

Authors’ Grove Update

Local Trails, Trail Projects No Responses »

Oct 032011

Maureen Ashley moving wood chips for the new trail

The trail entrance to the Forest River conservation area just beyond the town line when entering Marblehead by way of Lafayette Street has been the subject of significant work this summer. Six native tupelo trees and a collection of native shrubs have been added. Two rotting poles connected by a ground-hugging cable have been removed, and two stones, one for sitting, help to bring back a natural look. The entrance trail has been relocated off private land and marked with wood chips. Finally, the faded entrance sign has been replaced and turned ninety degrees so that it can be seen from the road.

The result of these changes is an area to be known as Authors’ Grove, planted by the Conservancy to honor the principal authors of and other contributors to the book, Discovering Marblehead A Guide to Open
Spaces and Historic Places. This much loved and used book was generously donated to the Conservancy by the authors to fund the Conservancy’s early years. In this year, the tenth anniversary of the Conservancy’s founding as a nonprofit, we work to provide a lasting tribute to those who helped sponsor our beginning. Its location
at a gateway to Marblehead is most fitting.

Ethan Levin Eagle Scout Project

Trail Projects No Responses »

Oct 032011

Another piece of the old railroad bed is getting attention this year, thanks to Boy Scout Ethan Levin. Not many people are familiar with a short arc of a trail that connects the old railroad beds that went from Marblehead to Salem and, separately, to Swampscott. This short segment is located just behind the Marblehead Light and Power sub-station off Village Street. Its original purpose was to allow trains to turn around after they reached the Marblehead station, replacing an older and more awkward turntable at the Marblehead station. Today the arc-shaped path is badly overgrown and quite wet much of the year. With approval from the Town, this will change. As a project to accomplish toward becoming an Eagle Scout, Ethan Levin will be managing a one hundred manhour project to clear the overgrowth and replant with native trees and shrubs. Ethan is required to organize the work and a work force for the project – one that is being done in two steps separated by a few weeks.

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