Our Mission
“…the protection and harmonious use of the Fells; promoting awareness, policies and programs to honor and preserve the ecological, historical and recreational resources on this urban forest reservation.”
“The Middlesex Fells Reservation. A precious island of tranquility and serenity amid a sea of suburbia. What beauty abounds there–sometimes sun-drenched, sometimes “mist” ical!” –R. Weggel
In 1894, when the Fells Reservation was established and became “a great natural park”, Medford’s George Davenport said, “For here we have a succession of well clad rocky hills, rising and falling like the billows of a great sea, within whose hollow troughs lie hidden pleasant vales, ponds, cascades, ferny brooks, sylvan retreats, wild swamps and fragrant groves.”
One hundred and twenty-five years later, we are keeping that beauty intact.
With your help, biodiversity in the Fells will continue to surpass that of other parks in eastern Massachusetts. The Friends’ former Board chair Bryan Hamlin and his team documented nearly a thousand species of flowering plants, which flourish among butterflies, amphibians, birds, and mammals.
We—and the Fells inhabitants noted above—desperately need such places of refuge, even more than in 1892, when landscape architect Charles Eliot wrote, “The life history of humanity has proved nothing more clearly than that crowded populations, if they would live in health and happiness, must have space for air, for light, for exercise, for rest, and for the enjoyment of that peaceful beauty of nature…”
The Fells Needs YOU.
This year, we have hired a new Executive Director, brought on additional staff, and expanded the Forest Kindergarten program. We have also partnered with Professor Stein of the Tufts Environmental Studies Program to develop an online user survey of the Fells, and we are currently supporting a moss and lichen survey to expand on Bryan Hamlin and Walter Kittredge’s illustrious study of the vascular plants in the Fells.
Every Dollar Becomes Three!
A generous donor is triple-matching every dollar you donate to this campaign, so please consider making a donation to support the Friends of the Middlesex Fells!
Click the fox button below to make your tax-deductible contribution today to help us protect and promote the Middlesex Fells Reservation:
Or, if you prefer, mail your donation to:
Friends of the Fells
235 W Foster Street
Melrose, MA 02176
Please write Summer Appeal on the front of your check.
Thank you for your ongoing support!
Sincerely,
Ron Morin
Executive Director, Friends of the Fells