New webpage for CRs on The Trustees website!

Interested in learning more about the Conservation Restriction work at The Trustees, including a list of resources for landowners and managers? Check out our brand new webpage at http://www.thetrustees.org/what-we-care-about/land/conservation-restrictions.html.

Volunteer Spotlight: CR Fish Inventory by UMass Student Matthew Cembrola

With over 360 Conservation Restriction properties in over 70 Massachusetts communities, volunteers are an integral piece of the puzzle to ensure that The Trustees of Reservations are able to monitor every single such property on an annual basis.  At last count, eighteen volunteers generously assist us with CR monitoring, from MetroWest to the South and North Shores, to the western MA hilltowns and southern Berkshires.  A couple within that number apply their unique knowledge to help conduct field studies for the CR Program!     

One such volunteer is Matthew Cembrola.  A graduate student at UMass Amherst finishing a master's degree in Environmental Conservation, with a research focus on fish genetics, Matthew conducted a preliminary ecological inventory of fish in a stream that passes through a CR property in central Massachusetts.  His classmate Sarah Martinez also helped out for the day. This was a great opportunity for Matthew and Sarah to apply their knowledge in the field, helping both The Trustees and a grateful CR landowner (and avid fisherman!) understand more about the species found on the protected property.

Matthew and Sarah survey spots for minnow traps in the beaver pond.

Sampling a distance of just over 500 feet of the stream, we found six species of fish - many blacknose and longnose dace, white suckerfish, several fallfish, a chain pickerel, and one pumpkinseed sunfish.  Matt and Sarah examined each and every fish to record species count and measurement data - the largest of which was a 24 cm white suckerfish!  Other species observed in the process included abundant crayfish, two common salamander species, and some startled green and pickerel frogs. 

Matthew and Sarah with Trustees' staff, preparing to ID and measure the fish!

This was just a preliminary assessment, but since we observed no trout, it seems likely that the stream may not support a trout population beyond the stocking season.  Beyond the study itself, it was nice to spend a monitoring and field study visit in rich woodlands with a soundtrack of running water and a curious song sparrow watching over us, surrounded by April wildflowers - check out all the trillium nodding above the banks!

Matthew is our first CR Field Study Volunteer, but we are looking for several more!  If you want to help us and CR landowners better understand their protected property, and you have applicable knowledge in an area of ecology or natural resources to share by conducting a short study, we have a unique volunteer opportunity with the CR Program!  Click here to check out the position description and we will help to set up a study on a suitable Conservation Restriction property in your neck of the woods.  A big shout out and thanks to Matt and Sarah for a great contribution to our CR property documentation! 

The story behind the trail named "Two Rod Road"

You can explore the conserved areas of Estabrook Woods in Carlisle along many public hiking trails, but one path name is quite different from most -- "Two Rod Road."  This road dates from 1774 and was originally named for its width -- with two rods, or 33 feet, separating the stonewalls bordering much of the trail.

You can see these stone walls as you hike the Two Rod Road trail and enjoy this area protected with numerous CRs. Start from The Trustees of Reservations Malcolm Preserve managed with the Carlisle Conservation Foundation, and check out the trail maps from the Town trails committee.

Memorial Day Canoe Trip -- near Bart's Cobble and CRs along the Housatonic

If you sign up for the canoe trip along the winding Housatonic this Memorial Day weekend (clicker HERE to learn more and register), you will enjoy the beauty of this meandering river as it passes through agricultural fields and floodplain forests, some of which are protected with conservation restrictions held by The Trustees. As is the case with many of our reservations, the landscape surrounding Bartholomew's Cobble is protected by restrictions with the property owned and cared for by private farmers and landowners.

On this tour, you'll learn about the river's history and what is happening to restore some of its most precious habitats and species from its upper reaches in Pittsfield, through Massachusetts and into Connecticut. Paddles, life preservers, and boats are provided. Please pre-register.

Protected farm along the Housantonic River

Answer to mystery structure found on monitoring visit...

Stumped? Well, here is a more elaborate version of the same structure we found on the conservation restriction land, this one having been built and filmed for a tv commercial ...(click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c84C6YZirzE if you don't see the video below)

Can you identify this structure?

Occasionally, we come across something on land protected by a conservation restriction (CR) held by The Trustees that we have never seen before. It's part of what makes monitoring CRs so interesting. What we discovered this week left us scratching our heads....can you tell what it is? Stumped? Check in next week for the answer ...

Lady's Slippers

Visiting conservation restrictions in the spring often yields welcome surprises like these Pink Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium acaule) found growing beneath a stand of pine trees on conserved land in Greater Boston. This species of orchid, also known as Stemless Lady's-slipper, or Moccasin Flower,  is not listed as an endangered or threatened species likes its relatives the Showy Lady's Slipper and Rams Head Lady Slipper, but nevertheless is a beautiful addition to the woodland landscape.