Friends of the Fells

Last year, we featured five Black conservationalists, environmentalists, and outdoor leaders for Black History Month. This year, we’re excited to feature more influential Black outdoors folks in addition to authors and organizations who impact the environmental and conservation spaces.

Robinson showing reading to kids from his book. Photo credit to John C. Robinson.

Corina Newsome is a wildlife biologist with a specific focus on avian conservation. She helped organize the first Black Birders Week in 2020 and has a passion for connecting environmental justice and conservation.

John C. Robinson is a professional ornithologist focusing on making birding and other environmental-related activities more accessible for minorities. Robinson published a book called Birding is for Everyone, which explores why so few minorities are in the birding space and how that can change.

Dudley Edmondson is a professional photographer, author, and filmmaker with a special focus on nature and people in the outdoors. He wrote Black & Brown Faces in America’s Wild Places, a book that interviews African American park rangers, biologists, and more.

Photo by Tim Johnson from NPR article on Nelson.

Alexis Nikole Nelson, aka @blackforager on Instagram, is a full-time forager and environmental educator. She has a massive following online and teaches people how to forage in their own backyards and cook delicious meals with what they find.

Carl Anthony founded the organization, Urban Habitat, in 1989 to address environmental injustices in the Bay Area and build advocacy and empowerment among low-income communities. He wrote his memoir, The Earth, the City, and the Hidden Narrative of Race, in 2017 about his childhood, issues of race, and environmental injustice.

This week’s weather makes for some perfect indoor-reading time! Cozy up with a blanket and some tea and check out some of the books listed below:

National Wildlife Federation has a beautiful list of books written by Black authors, which you can view here.
Green Learning also compiled a list of 25 books that you can view here.
California Naturalist has a list of books of all kinds here.

Edmonson bird watches. Photo by Nancy Edmonson and shared in The Nature Conservancy article.

Want to learn more about organizations that are encouraging more Black representation in the outdoor and environmental spaces? Check out the list below:

Follow the work of these organizations and the folks listed above and learn more about Black History Month here!

by Niti Seereeram

Winter is in full swing! The Fells landscape may be draped in snow, but there is still lots to explore on the trails. Read on to learn about what’s happening in the Fells this season.

In winter conditions, it is important to take proper precautions and stay inside if you feel unsafe. Winter storms can cause hazards on the trails such as slippery ice, fallen trees, low visibility, and freezing temperatures. When planning an expedition in the Fells, please check the local weather for heavy precipitation, ice, and storm conditions. We suggest wearing lots of warm layers, durable hiking boots with traction, and micro-spikes for snow and ice-covered trails. Hiking poles are also helpful in providing extra support and grip.

Once you’re properly equipped for the winter weather, it’s time to go out and explore! Tracks in the snow provide excellent insights into the activity of our local wildlife, including white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, and coyotes.

Photo courtesy of mass.gov/masswildlife.

When tracking in the field, it’s useful to carry a field guide to identify tracks, a ruler to measure track size, a note-taking device, and a camera to take pictures of your observations.

Track patterns are often classified as hoppers, zig-zaggers, waddlers, and bounders. “Hoppers” include animals that move in short jumps with their back feet landing in front of their front feet, such as mice, squirrels, rabbits, and chipmunks. “Bounders”, which include otters, fishers, and minks, move in larger leaps that leave two tracks alongside each other. Animals including woodchucks, beavers, and bears are “waddlers”, creating lopsided tracks as they move one side of their body at a time. Finally, “zig-zaggers” walk carefully, with their rear feet landing exactly where their front feet landed. Animals that display this track pattern include deer, foxes, coyotes, moose, and bobcats and are also called “perfect walkers.”

One of our frequent hikers, Circe, loves the Fells!

While on the search for wildlife tracks, you’re likely to encounter some that belong to a more familiar domestic species – dogs! While we love exploring the Fells with our furry friends, we must also acknowledge that all organisms make an impact on the land on which they are treading. The Middlesex Fells Reservation is a vital resource for local plants, animals, and people. While recreating in the Fells, it is important to properly dispose of dog poop and other “biopollution,” or biological pollution, that can leach harmful chemicals or parasites into the ecosystem if left in the park. To learn more about the impact of human recreation and biopollution on the environment, check out this map of dog poop bags in the Fells created by our partner organization Earthwise Aware (EwA).

There are many ways humans can sustainably recreate in the Fells. In 2024, we launched the Be Kind! Campaign with the Department of Conservation and Recreation and local town partners to provide all trail users with simple and meaningful ways to protect the Middlesex Fells:

Stay on official Fells roads and trails: Avoid user-made “rogue trails” that disrupt sensitive habitats, soils, and hundreds of plant and animal species in the Fells, that can be easily disrupted by straying off the trail. Need a map with the official trails? Email us at friends@fells.org!
Pack It In/Pack It Out: By packing out all trash and belongings, you’re allowing the environment around you to flourish and delight you on your next visit.
Dogs should be leashed while on the trail to prevent disruption to wildlife and enable all guests to share the trails, including people who may be fearful of an unknown dog approaching them (outside of designated off-leash areas).

While the snow and ice can seem daunting, there are many fantastic ways to have fun in the Fells this winter! In addition to hiking, cross-country skiing is permitted on the trails. One popular winter activity in the Fells is ice climbing at the Cascade in Melrose. Just be sure to have a safety harness, rope, and climbing partner. Ice-climbing is done at the climber’s own risk.

Do you have a favorite winter activity in the Fells that you would like to share? Friends of the Fells accepts photography donations via this form.

Banner and icon image by Mary H. New.

Article Resources:

Volunteers remove Glossy buckthorn from along Spot Pond.

While winter is technically a “slower” season, our volunteers showed no signs of slowing down. Since October, 164 volunteers donated 346 hours to remove ten piles of bittersweet, buckthorn, and multiflora rose and conduct trail maintenance over by the Medford end of the Cross Fells trail. They also removed two bags of trash from Straw Point.

Volunteers close rogue trails in the Whip Hill area of the Fells.

We trained 18 new Trail Adopters to help us monitor the trails and keep them clear and safe for all to use. On December 13th, nine volunteers helped us close three rogue trails in the Whip Hill area of Greenwood Park. These pilot closures will help us learn how to best tackle future trail closure projects in the Fells. Trail Adopters will continue to monitor these closures to ensure they remain closed. Please help us by staying on marked trails only!

What are “rogue” trails and why are we closing them? Great question!

Rogue trails (also known as unauthorized or unofficial trails) are unmarked trails that are often user-created and not sanctioned by the DCR. They can lead to visitors getting lost, and they create additional erosion issues, fragment habitat, and decrease the size of undisturbed areas where wildlife can live.

We are closing these trails to reduce our impact on the Fells and to restore sensitive habitats for our plant and wildlife species. Learn more about rogue trails and our work here.

Volunteers remove buckthorn from along Spot Pond.

We’d like to thank the following groups who have joined us since October and have made a big impact in helping us remove invasive plants, pick up trash, and work on trails:

Bevi
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School
Cambridge Running Club
Gay for Good

Interested in assisting these efforts? Apply to volunteer here!

Want to volunteer with your group, company, school, or team? Learn more about our group volunteering opportunities here.

Reach out to friends@fells.org if you have any questions or if you’d like to get more involved in these efforts.

Scroll to see photos of this year’s volunteers and their hard work!

Our volunteers are the bee’s knees!

Our volunteers continued to exceed our expectations this year. Over 650 volunteers participated in our Trail Adopter program, led hikes, removed invasive species, picked up trash, collected data, conducted trail maintenance, assisted in communications efforts, and helped with community outreach. We also worked with 24 generous businesses, schools, and organizations on a variety of projects throughout the Fells (you can see them listed below!).

In total, volunteers donated over 1,700 hours of their time to support the Friends and the Fells. In Massachusetts, that’s over $69,649 in dedicated work at the Fells. We cannot thank our volunteers enough for all their hard work and dedication to keeping our Fells beautiful, ecologically sustainable, and safe for years to come!

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

Trail volunteers work to repair an eroded trail.

Our Trail Adopters and volunteers from Earthwise Aware (EwA) recorded over 3,660 items of note to keep the trails looking sharp. They contributed over 520 hours to clearing trails, removing and reporting downed tree limbs, picking up trash, clearing culverts, and other special projects. They removed over 200 pieces of trash, cleared 89 culverts and water bars, and addressed issues with trail blazes and rogue trails. Multiple volunteers from the Boy and Girl Scouts helped paint dozens of new trail blazes to keep the trails well-marked.

Interested in becoming a Trail Adopter? Complete the application here!

Jeff Adams leads a walk discussing Fells plants in the fall.

Our volunteer hike leaders offered a wide variety of guided routes throughout the Fells. There were a total of 106 social and educational hikes, over 50 Babes in the Woods hikes, and seven Hike ‘n’ Seeks. More than 775 people attended FOF community hikes this year.

Want to join a hike? Check out our calendar here! Want to lead a hike? Let us know by contacting Community Engagement Manager, Maddie Morgan, at maddie.morgan@fells.org

Thank you DCR and EwA!

A huge shoutout and thank you go to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Earthwise Aware (EwA) teams.

We could not do these volunteer events without the generous support, guidance, time, and tools of the DCR Fells team.

EwA developed the mobile applications that our volunteers use to collect data on trails, submit reports, and determine the health of the Fells. EwA consultants and volunteers also analyze the data collected to help guide our future conservation efforts and projects.

Join us in thanking the DCR Fells and Earthwise Aware teams for keeping our park safe, sustainable, conserved, and enjoyable for years to come!

Community volunteers help repair a trail and boardwalk.

Friends of the Fells offered 17 open volunteer days in 2024 and our dedicated volunteers showed up ready to make a difference. We worked with 220 volunteers to remove 50 bags and 19 piles of invasives from the Fells. We tackled black swallowwort, bittersweet, garlic mustard, multiflora rose, Japanese knotweed, buckthorn, and porcelain berry. Volunteers also removed 29 bags of trash at these events.

2024 was an incredible year thanks to the hard work of our wonderful volunteers. We exceeded the number of projects, volunteers, and hours in 2023. We look forward to working with you all again in 2025 and continuing to grow those numbers!

Volunteer with us!

If your company, school, or organization is interested in partnering with Friends of the Fells in 2025, please contact Maddie Morgan at maddie.morgan@fells.org.

Thank you to our 2024 partners and volunteers!

Appalachian Mountain Club
Baldwin Wallace
Bevi
Braskem
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School
Cambridge Running Club
Earthwise Aware (EwA)
Gay for Good
GoogleServe
Idle Hands Craft Ales
Intellia Therapeutics
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)
Keep Stoneham Beautiful
Live Blue – New England Aquarium Service Corps
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Medford Boy Scouts Troop 416
Medford Girl Scouts
New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA)
Paddle Boston
Patagonia
Roberts Elementary School
Tufts FOCUS
Tufts Leonard Carmichael Society
Tufts Mountain Club
Verizon
Washington University Boston Alumni Network
Winchester Girl Scouts

Want to volunteer with your group? Learn more about our group volunteering opportunities here.

Photo by Colgan Johnson.

by Darren Josey

Outdoor recreation is for everyone, yet not everyone recreates outside. According to the 2024 Outdoor Industry Association Participation Report, 57% of Americans recreated outside one or more days last year, while 43% did not. When you look at the data, many groups are missing: ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and lower-income folks. So, why should people who already recreate outside care? How can we expect almost half the country to care or take action on solving climate change if they’ve never experienced the positive benefits outdoor recreation provides? To make it more personal, how would your life be different if you didn’t get outside for a hike, ride, or run in the Fells last year? What if you spent a lifetime without ever knowing it existed? For far too many people living in Malden, this is their reality.

My name is Darren Josey and I go by DJ, and I’m the person who created The Great Malden Outdoors with my company First Seed Sown. I spent a 15-year career working for outdoor and athletic brands being paid to play outside; however, as a Black and Puerto Rican kid who grew up in Medford, I didn’t see many people who looked like me in these outdoor playgrounds. In 2023 I made it my mission to start a company with the goal of building and maintaining equitable access to outdoor recreation for everyone while fostering existing participants’ recreational pursuits. If we are going to slow, stop, and someday reverse the negative effects of climate change, then we’re going to need everyone to have a personal connection to nature.

Malden, MA is the perfect starting point for a campaign like this. It has the unique combination of being the fourth most diverse city in the state and home to a wide array of some of the most accessible outdoor recreation spaces in the country. You can rock climb at several outdoor crags, view migrating birds at an official Hawk Watch Count Site at Pinnacle Rock, paddle along the Malden River, enter through multiple trailheads into the Fells, and enjoy some of the most diverse food in a single city.

This campaign has delivered a multilingual advertising campaign, a step-by-step outdoor recreation website guide, and dozens of outdoor programming and events for residents and visitors this year. A big thanks to the Friends of the Fells (FOF) team and volunteers for supporting this ambitious project.

This past summer, we partnered with FOF to offer an adaptive hike during Disability Pride month with over 30 participants. We are also working with FOF to expand their after-school programming through a Massachusetts Office of Outdoor Recreation grant. Finally, we’ve partnered with FOF and municipal leaders to promote the Be Kind! Campaign, which encourages stewardship of our green spaces and respect for our fellow park users.

We are excited to continue to partner with groups like FOF to increase accessibility at the Fells, and I look forward to expanding upon the good work we’ve done in year one for many more people in the years to come.

To learn more about The Great Malden Outdoors, please visit (www.TheGreatMaldenOutdoors.com) and sign up for our newsletter to receive information on future events.

All photos in this blog post are by Colgan Johnson.

Initials carved into a birch tree. Just below, it’s stripped of a line of bark.

By Claire O’Neill

Claire O’Neill, President of Earthwise Aware (EwA), shares an important reminder about the need to protect our native trees. In the Fells, you may notice initials carved into the smooth bark of beech trees or birch trees with peeling bark stripped away. These actions can severely harm the trees, compromising their health and resilience.

Key ecological impacts of carving into thin-barked trees like birch and beech include:

Disease pathways: The incision creates a gateway for pathogens such as bacteria, and some harmful fungi, which can invade the tree’s vascular system causing decay and stunting its growth.
Insect damage: Open wounds can also attract pest insects, which may lay eggs and burrow beneath the bark, further compromising nutrient and water transport within the tree.
Reduced photosynthesis: Damage to the bark can hinder the tree’s ability to photosynthesize effectively, diminishing its growth and overall health.
Impact on wildlife: Birch and beech trees are critical to local wildlife. They offer food and shelter. Damage to these trees can disrupt the habitats of many animals.
Aesthetic damage: Carving into a tree can significantly detract from the natural beauty of the tree and its environment. It also sets a poor example for others, encouraging the spread of a damaging trend.

There are many ways to positively interact with our trees without damaging them and threatening their livelihoods. Each tree is a living entity, vital to the intricate tapestry of life. Trees are the lungs of our planet, harnessing sunlight and nurturing countless beings. Silent teachers, they offer lessons in resilience and interconnectedness. By caring for these natural gems, we ensure their survival and support the health of the entire ecosystem. Committing to leave no trace is a meaningful first step in preserving these steadfast guardians for generations to come.

For more information and resources about this, please see below:

Additional resources

Simard, S. (2021). Finding the mother tree: discovering the wisdom of the forest (First edition). Alfred A. Knopf.

Wohlleben, P., Flannery, T. F., Simard, S., & Billinghurst, J. (2016). The hidden life of trees: what they feel, how they communicate: discoveries from a secret world. David Suzuki Institute ; Greystone Books Ltd.