Action Alert!

Help Our Parks Get the Resources They Need – Contact Your Senator Today

Last month, we cheered the new Healey-Driscol Administration’s strong commitment to parks, demonstrated by their $107.6 million dollar allocation to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) operations in its budget request (H.1).

Unfortunately, the Senate Ways and Means’ recently released budget set DCR’s operations allocation at $2.75 million less than the Administration’s allocation (to $104.9 million).

Senator Mike Rush, chair of the Legislative Parks Caucus, and Senator Becca Rausch, chair of the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, have filed amendments 76 and 37, respectively, to increase the Senate Ways and Means’ proposed budget by $2.75 million, which would restore DCR’s operations allocation to the amount proposed by the Administration.

Not sure who your local representatives are? Find out here.
Virginia Wood. Photo by Mike Ryan.

TAKE ACTION: Please contact your state senator today and encourage them to sign on as a co-sponsor of amendments 76 and 37 and support the amendments on the Senate floor. The Senate will start its debate on Tuesday, May 23, so we encourage you to take action now. 

Not sure who your local representatives are? Find out here.

Also, please take a moment to thank Senator Rush and Senator Rausch for filing these amendments, which are critical to ensuring our state parks, including the Middlesex Fells, are properly resourced.

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We’re excited to re-launch our Volunteer Spotlight series! We could not do what we do without the incredible work of our devoted volunteers.

Learn more about one of our wonderful volunteers, Al, below!

Name: Al Coons

Town: Winchester, MA

Originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Al Coons has spent most of his life in New England, specifically Massachusetts. He spent 43 years as a high school math and statistics teacher and coach of seven sports, many involving outdoor education. Al knew he wanted to be a teacher since high school. He found his passion in experiential education, which involves classroom and outdoor learning by engaging students through hands-on experiences rather than lectures.

Al enjoys sea kayaking, mountain climbing, hiking, and camping whenever and wherever he can, but he especially enjoys being in the Fells, which is only a few doors down from where he resides in Winchester.

Since January 2023, Al has been volunteering with Friends of the Fells as an active Trail Adopter. Before discovering the Trail Adopter program, Al would pick up trash and work to keep trails clean and clear whenever he was out in the Fells or at Horn Pond in Woburn, another area that he visits frequently. When he found the Trail Adopter program, he signed up to help give back to the Fells in a more structured and communal way.

In addition to giving back to the Fells, Al enjoys exploring new areas of the park through his work as a Trail Adopter. He has found a new favorite spot on the eastern Fells, which is by the MWRA reservoir. His current favorite memory of the Fells is when he and a deer met face-to-face on the Rock Circuit trail and found a compromise so she could continue snacking nearby.

Al likes to say that at times the Fells is “just like New England!” In other words, even an urban reservation just miles from Boston can feel like a secluded area of New Hampshire or Vermont.

If you are interested in volunteering, Al recommends finding what you are excited about and taking advantage of all the opportunities and events that are available.

You can visit our website and learn more about getting involved or reach out to Maddie Morgan at maddie.morgan@fells.org.
First Day Hike at the Fells with the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Photo by Gillian Lay.

Ask your local Massachusetts representatives to support the proposed $107.6 million for state parks.

Next year’s Massachusetts state budget (H.1) proposes investing $107.6 million investment in our state parks. These funds will go to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for protection and improvement of our public parks, forests, campgrounds, beaches, and trails.

Help us remind the Legislature about the value of our shared outdoor spaces as the House and Senate respond to the Administration’s budget proposal and develop their own budget recommendations. Ask your local representative in both the House and Senate to retain or improve upon H.1’s $107.6 million for the 2810-0100 account.

Not sure who your local representatives are? Find out here.
Gray fox found struggling from effects of consuming rodenticides is released back into the Fells.

Urge your representatives to prohibit the rodenticides that kill wildlife

As people attempt to fight the increase of rats in our neighborhoods, the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) threatens pets and wildlife. These types of poisons unintentionally kill animals that eat rats, including a Bald Eagle last month in Arlington.

Help us save Bald Eagles, wildlife, and pets by speaking out against these poisons. Contact your representatives and encourage them to introduce laws to regulate the use of SGARs like “An Act relative to pesticides” (H.825 and S.487).

Not sure who your local representatives are? Find out here.

This Action Alert was written by FOF volunteer, Amanda Treat.

Want to stay up to date on Fells Advocacy updates?

Subscribe to our Action Alert newsletter here!

Winchester High School Fells Club

Formed three years ago, the Winchester High School Fells Club gets students outside and exploring the Fells. Members can learn more about Fells ecology, meet new friends, volunteer, and spend valuable time in their local environment. With over seventy members on their email list, the Club gives students a chance to be involved at whatever level they would like.

The five Fells Club officers, Emma, Claire, Gaby, Penelope, and Maggie, have been with the Club since the beginning. Currently, the Club focuses on promoting environmental awareness in the Fells and around the town of Winchester. They work to protect the environment through invasive species removals, trash pick-ups, and local bottle collections.

The Club has consistently volunteered with Friends of the Fells (FOF) to complete a variety of projects. Club members removed the invasive garlic mustard in May 2022 and attended our open volunteer days to assist with additional invasive removal projects. At the Open House, students ran activity tables with arts and crafts, natural objects found in the Fells, and helped sell merchandise and inform guests about the variety of ways they can support the Fells. The Club continues to be involved with volunteer efforts and is planning to participate in invasive species removals and other Fells work days throughout the spring of this year.

Meet the officers!

Emma, the club’s president, hikes every weekend with her dad and enjoys the Rock Circuit Trail. Claire, the club’s social media chair and manager, has loved being in nature since she was in middle school when her parents took her on hikes to Wright’s Tower. Gaby, the initial founder of the Club and Fells Forest Camp counselor, is now learning about plant identification. Maggie, also a Fells Forest Camp counselor, has enjoyed being outdoors since she was a kid and now enjoys spending time out in the Fells with other members of the Club.

Emma
Maggie
Gaby
Penelope
Mia
Claire

Thank you to the Winchester High School Fells Club for all that you do for your community and the Middlesex Fells! Check them out on Instagram to learn more.

If you are interested in volunteering with Friends of the Fells, visit our website and learn more.

The Friends of the Fells is very excited to announce the establishment of a new Fells Forest Camp Scholarship Fund that will provide financial assistance to qualified families starting this summer! We believe every child deserves the opportunity to experience the joys of learning and playing in nature, and look forward to expanding our community of camp families and spreading our love for the Fells.

Fells Forest Camp provides children an opportunity to learn, grow, and be successful in ways that a typical school year doesn’t leave room for. With the forest as a backdrop, children learn to care for and connect to the natural world. They are encouraged to discover hidden talents, assess risk, and develop lifelong social skills and friendships. A week at Fells Forest Camp keeps kids physically active and provides an opportunity to unplug from the frenetic, often distracting world of technology, and in its absence, awaken a sense of peace and calm that can only be felt in nature.

The Fund is supported through donations, and awards are determined based on household size and income level. Funds are limited and are awarded on a first come, first served basis.

Please share the program with any friends or families who may be interested! Details on the scholarship program are provided here.

Questions? Reach out at forestcamp@fells.org.

You’re the best!

This was an impressive year for volunteering in the Fells! Over 175 volunteers participated in our Trail Adopter program, led hikes, removed invasive species, picked up trash, collected data, and helped with community outreach. Our volunteers donated 737 hours of their time to support and engage with the Fells. We cannot thank our volunteers enough for all their hard work and dedication to keeping our Fells beautiful and safe for years to come!

Read more about the amazing work our volunteers have done below:

Boot Boutwell leads one of his famous hikes around Long Pond.

Our 34 Trail Adopters were busy out on the trails this year. They covered more than 72 miles of trails and contributed 134 hours to clearing trails, removing and reporting downed tree limbs, picking up trash, clearing culverts, and other special projects.

Our hike leaders lept into action this year to lead free public hikes for the community. There were a total of 183 social and educational hikes, 40 Babes in the Woods hikes, and seven Hike ‘n’ Seeks. Altogether, hike leaders donated 365 hours to lead hikes and build community in the Fells. A total of 1,111 people attended the community hikes this year.
The Cambridge Running Club helped us remove three bags of trash from around Spot Pond and Flynn Rink.

Friends of the Fells offered 11 open volunteer days in 2022 and our dedicated volunteers showed up ready to make a difference. 113 volunteers donated 245 hours of their time to participate in trash clean-ups, invasive species removals, and community outreach events.

We held three trash clean-ups at Sheepfold Dog Park and Flynn Rink. 50 volunteers came out to the Fells to pick up trash and help keep the forest clean and healthy.
Medford Boy Scout Troop 416 helped us remove two massive piles of multiflora rose and bittersweet.

Volunteers also tackled Asiatic bittersweet, multiflora rose, Japanese knotweed, black swallowwort, and garlic mustard at Crystal Springs, Virginia Wood, Medford High School, and the Botume House. The hard work that the 53 volunteers put into removing these invasive plants has a visible and tangible impact on the Fells ecosystem.

We attended the Stoneham Fair, Melrose Victorian Fair, Medford Farmers Market, Tufts University Community Day, and Malden Summer Festival in 2022 and had seven wonderful volunteers table with us to offer a friendly face and provide information about the Fells and FOF to community members.

This year was an exceptional year for volunteering, and we look forward to more fun volunteer events and hikes in the Fells in 2023!
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