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Updated Tuesday, May 7, 2013

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Sections on this page:
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Wildlife and Water News - Office - Bulfinch Marsh Restoration - Reservation improvement - Belmont Uplands: Forest Development and Developer
Cambridge Storm Water Basin - New England Restoration Model - News about FAR
Development News - Resources from FAR
Image Collections - Development Information - Current FAR projects - Of Special Significance - About FAR - Get Involved




News

FAR office
FAR's office is located conveniently in the Fresh Pond Mall at
186 Alewife Brook Parkway, Suite 304, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617 415-1884
Viewing/borrowing materials

 
Wildlife and Water News
Buzz and Ruby- Better News- Kids are Alright - added to website May 5, 2013

Storm water/ wetlands restoration tour May 13 - Sponsored by Friends of Alewife Reservation - PDF - Word file
added to website May 5, 2013

Buzz and Ruby - Difficult news to share - added to website May 3, 2013

The children arrive - by Paul Roberts - added to website April 29, 2013

Botanical Findings on Walk at Alewife - First Friday of the month - Photos by A. Richard Miller of Natick, Mass. - April 26, 2013

Sustainablity at Alewife - High standards of Bioengineering Group of Salem - added to website April 22, 2013

Buzz and Ruby at Nest..... Waiting well-wishers - added to website April 15, 2013

Mystic River front page article from Boston Globe - Water Quality Scrutiny and Interview with MyRWA - February 18, 2013

Stop bee killers - added to website February 7, 2013

Peregrine and Red Tails Continue Territorial Dispute at Alewife Fresh Pond - added to website January 31, 2013


Bulfinch Central Marsh: Muskrat Marsh Restoration Project
Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Priority Project at Alewife Central Marsh — Active Participants:
USDA – Conservation Preservation Resources Services: Massachusetts Community Assistance Partnerships — Coastal Zone Management: Wetlands Restoration Program — Bulfinch Company Inc. — BSC Engineering Inc. — Friends of Alewife Reservation — Mystic River Watershed Association — Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership — Lesley University: Natural Sciences Program — Cambridge Conservation Commission — Arlington Conservation Commission — Belmont Conservation Commission

FAR seeks help to map plant communities in the Bulfinch Muskrat marsh in the restoration area. Contact David Morimoto: Morimoto@lesley.edu

FAR Ecology Camp 2008 plans to restore a section of Muskrat Marsh (PDF)- April 23, 2008 - added to website May 12, 2008

Ecological overview - Belmont Uplands and Alewife Reservation - an important report, prepared for FAR, for use by the town of Belmont and other groups replying to the 40 B filing - Feb. 2006

Belmont Conservation Commission letter to Muskrat Marsh team, January 18, 2006

Muskrat Marsh study - preliminary drafts (maps) - added December 2005

Muskrat Marsh Meeting - July 12, 2005

Muskrat Marsh Restoration Team project — Concrete Description from Wetlands Restoration Program

Muskrat Marsh Restoration Project Team requests Belmont Uplands Advisory Committee wait for any plans while study is being made of the area — Letter of request for consideration

Stream Flow Conference - notes

Spring Progress and Planning for the Restoration Project at the Bulfinch marsh 40B Application: by AP Cambridge Partners (O'Neill Properties) for a 40B development on the Belmont Uplands site - April 2004 - link to a large (4.9 MB) Adobe Acrobat file on Town of Belmont website.
Adobe Acrobat reader is available free at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Bulfinch Gets Praise from City Council — Unanimous Council resolution

FAR seeks help with restoration project
Link to article in Cambridge Chronicle, Thursday, January 27, 2005 (article is "archived or expired off the site")
"Friends of Alewife Reservation's 10-acre marsh restoration proposal has been put on the Massachusetts Wetlands Restoration Program's priority list for improving the area's largest wetlands . . ."
Catherine Woodbury is the Project Manager of Alewife city stormwater program, Engineering Division - Department of Public Works, City of Cambridge.

FAR Priority status Wetlands Restoration Project (WRP) nomination form with invited Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (CWRP) Partners: Bulfinch Co, regional conservation commissions, Mystic River Watershed Association, Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, and more.
Actual CZM Proposal

FAR Wins Priority Status with State Wetland Restoration Program (WRP) of Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management (CZM) for 10 Acre Central Marsh Restoration in Cambridge and Belmont.
Description of purpose and intent of proposal
"FAR is seeking conservation-minded partners who will work with non-profits, state agencies and the Bulfinch Company affiliate BHX to restore a large invasive dominated marsh of 10 acres at the heart of the Alewife Reservation"

Reservation Improvement Plans Move Forward in Cambridge
FAR Completion of Muskrat Marsh Pilot Project. - November 21, 2009

Alewife cleanup stirs hope - Others begin to speak out - July 23, 2009

Bridge Work in Belmont Rock Meadow - Model for North Trail at Alewife Reservation - photos - added December 10, 2008

Pathway surfacing in the Alewife Reservation, letter to Jennifer Wright, Executive Director- Cambridge Conservation Commission (Microsoft Word file) - added November 15, 2008

Alewife Reservation Bike Path disputed by Friends of Alewife Reservation - November 12, 2008

Maintaining Alewife Reservation trails - North Side Trail

Alewife wetlands model in the making

Alewife Mural - Photos of October 22 dedication (added photos of Jason Weeks and Daniel Kertzner) and link to Massachusetts Cultural Council profile about the mural.

FAR Takes a Hard Line for Soft Pavement on Cambridge-Belmont Bike Path - pervious pavement options

Alewife Reservation's meadows mowed for restorative measures to enhance native vegetation and diminish invasive species - with photos

Disappearance of Alewives - Research Proposals - possible Improvements - preliminary analysis by Stewart Sanders and Ralph Chang

Belmont Uplands: Forest Development and Developer
DEP File #: 123-0180, Notice of Intent (NOI);
EOEA #13312 Environmental Notification Form (ENF)

Cambridge Storm Water Basin - New England Restoration Model
Cambridge and regional storm water basin makes progress - added to website January 31, 2012


Major Progress in Alewife Reservation Stormwater Wetland Construction - December 19, 2011

FAR Wins Financial Support from State for Education at the New Wetland-Stormwater Restoration Project - updated January 25 with Department Of Fish And Game Riverways Program scope document.

A Major Wetlands Restoration/Storm Water Management Model Project, and Environmental Learning Center for Cambridge and the Massachusetts metropolitan western corridor, covering 8 to 10 acres, by City of Cambridge, Bioengineering Group, MWH Inc., Mass Water Resources Authority and SEA construction and Friends of Alewife Reservation.
List of the 22 project pages (with link to the 7MB Adobe Acrobat file, which takes about 22 minutes to download with a 56K dial-up modem - compared to about 15 to 30 seconds for each project page)
New on January 6:
Planting details page available as easy-to-read-and-print Microsoft Word file and text Adobe Acrobat file.
Letter plus number designations from the drawings added to page-number list for easier reference.
.

Restoration Plans Move Forward for Wildlife and Communities of Cambridge, Arlington, Belmont, Somerville and Metropolitan Boston


News about FAR
Town, City and FAR
Win Major Temporary Victory

FAR continues to promote environmental considerations over residential concerns. Watershed continues to need water for river and stream flow, restored wetlands, and marshes — for its health and safety for wildlife and people.

Conservation Commissions of 3 communities agree: "Uplands are an Environmentally sensitive Area" "Should not be developed" says town meeting of Arlington and Belmont. 3 Conservation Commissions also agree: Cambridge, Belmont, Arlington.
Communities agree on Uplands site — article on Belmont Citizen Herald website

Links to all the news
  FAR wins Mass Cultural Council Goldstar Award for Alewife Arts Mural Project
The Mural was 1 of 13 projects (out of 7,000) to win this February. Cambridge Arts Council granted nearly $3,000 to the FAR for this project. The mural is slated for hanging at the MBTA Alewife transit station this summer.



American Women Conservationists — Twelve Profiles (2004 book by Madelyn Holmes). FAR is in this book.

Links to all the news

Development News
  • Bulfinch Consultants respond to Conservation Commission and other organizational and individual comment letters and reports.
    For more comments about the environment and how to improve it, please send to FAR. Also respond on the forum page.
  • Belmont Citizen Forum responds on Bulfinch — Traffic and flood emphasis — letter to MEPA
  • Letter in Boston Globe: "Alewife proposal good for city, environment", from Ellen Mass of FAR.
  • Boston Sierra Club asks for careful consideration in development planning at the Alewife Reservation
  • Letters on Notice of Intent to Cambridge Conservation Commission from Ellen Mass (cover letter - Friends of Alewife Reservation organizational response) and Mary L. White of FAR and information from Stewart Sanders
  • Letter on Environmental Notification Form to MEPA from Elsie C. Fiore
  • Letter to Executive Office of Environmental Affairs / MEPA Office, from Mystic River Watershed Association
Links to all the news

Resources from FAR
Biodiversity in the Alewife Reservation Area: Species, Habitat and Ecosystem — Available from FAR for $10. Describes Reservation and its wildlife and locations and access.
A major assessment: 120 pages of maps, charts, illustrations and details of the Reservation topography; habits of the wildlife.
Storm water brochure developed by Friends of Alewife Reservation and City of Cambridge for local businesses and neighbors as a watershed Pilot Project, implemented and organized by local Scout troop.   Stream Team materials page
(updated October 5, 2004)

Image collections — slide shows
Silver Maples In the Urban Wild
art of Sarah Leon
4 paintings
See also the text at
Silver Maples In the Urban Wild - art of Sarah Leon, which includes a link to artist's website

North Trail Maintenance Improvement Project Improved Pathway for conservationists, hikers, birders and class rooms, fishermen.
Partners: Student Conservation Americorps, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Friends of Alewife Reservation
67 photos/slides, taken March 2006

Walk, January 7, 2006
15 photos/slides by Janet Malenfant
  Urban Wilds Past-Present-Future
The Alewife Reservation's wildlife, wetlands, meadows, and woodlands. A Friends of Alewife Reservation presentation by Michael Arnott, with 67 slides.

Urban Wild (Alewife Reservation)
Paintings by Vicki Paret, a page with 3 images.

Summer 2004 Alewife Reservation Photos
Unseen and Unknown Areas and Wildlife
Spectacular photos by Michael Arnott, FAR Steering Board, AMC naturalist, with 10 slides

Friends of Alewife Reservation images — maps, plans, photos (Silver Maple Forest, fauna, flora, water, and people — many categorized by season), with 135 slides .

Development Information
Alewife Master Plan - Complete contents of June 2003 MDC CD, with maps.   Alewife Master Plan - assessment
(Summary of strong and weak points of MDC Master Plan — not a FAR final assessment.)
Floodplain Map from FEMA of GIS - Belmont Uplands DEIR / proposed land-swap area   Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to put bulletin board / sign up at Blair Pond (part of Master Plan)

Current FAR projects    
Nesting box map; getting to and working with the boxes.   Nesting boxes
Herring monitoring: who does what, when, and why   Draft herring monitoring plan
Invasive species — updated. Directed by Peter Alden.   Invasive species

Of Special Significance    
Silver Maple Forest building — architect's renderings   Aerial view 1 of building    Aerial view 2 of building
Little Pond — headwaters in proper perspective   Aerial view of Little Pond
Boston Basin ecoregion, Cambridge land use,
Vernal pools (including potential pools near Little Pond)
  Maps
MDC Master Plan Nov. 20, 2002 presentation
— Ellen Mass' description
  MDC Master Plan — Ellen Mass' description
MDC Master Plan Nov. 20, 2002 presentation
— Russ Cohen's comments
  MDC Master Plan — Russ Cohen's comments
370+ flora & fauna (with more flora, from Betty Wright)   Biodiversity lists for Cambridge
Forest, shrub, wetland, marsh, waterways — Ellen Mass   Greater Alewife ecosystem
Environmental Notification Form comments   Frontage Road Office/R&D
Maps: forests and proposed soccer field   Forests and soccer field
Alewife Wildlife Inventory - David Brown's initial findings   Alewife Wildlife Inventory (edited version)
Presentation to MDC and design firms   Plans for Alewife Reservation
     
About FAR   Get involved
FAR is a multileveled stewarding and advocacy group that desires to protect the public Reservation land owned by the MDC and to preserve it for wildlife and for future generations, providing a highly accessible area in limited wilderness areas for passive recreationists. The group is run by a board of overseers that oversee activity and help advocate for Reservation needs.

Statement of Purpose
  If you'd like to be on our mailing list for updates and events, and quarterly newsletter, join our email list.

We welcome you to join FAR for $20 a year. Our address for sending dues is 186 Alewife Brook Parkway, Suite 304, Cambridge, MA 02138.

The naturalist, William Brewster, wrote in 1906 about the "Great Swamp" area, now known as the Alewife Reservation. Quote follows from his book, Birds of the Cambridge Region:
This fine, large meadow, upwards of one hundred acres in extent, has changed but little, either in character or surroundings, within the past thirty or forty years. It lies partly in Belmont and Waltham, but chiefly in the southeastern corner of Lexington, near the source of Beaver Brook. Although for the most part open and grassy, it contains many swampy thickets, several tracts of low-lying maple woods and a few wooded ridges and 'marsh islands.' The Concord Turnpike crosses it from east to west on an ancient causeway bordered by pollarded willows. Through the long and alluring vista formed by the trunks and overarching branches of these fine old trees one may walk or drive in cool and unbroken shade during the hottest June day, listening to the songs of Bobolinks, Red-winged Blackbirds, Swamp Sparrows, Yellow Warblers, Maryland Yellow-throats, Catbirds and other marsh- or thicket-loving birds . . . As the meadow is also bordered on every side by sparsely populated country, abounding in woods, thickets, cedar pastures and grassy fields, it offers to the bird lover one of the most attractive and interesting resorts to be found anywhere, at the present time, within easy reach of Cambridge.



Blair Pond in Cambridge,
on Blanchard Road, fills in with
mud flats from sediment. Summer.

South Belmont forest. The forest is open grasslands and wetlands.
Important transitions are between forest scrubland and river. Summer.