Chicatawbut Road Closes for Water Tank Construction

Chicatawbut Road will be closed between Monday, November 3 through Friday, November 21 for construction of two 10-million-gallon water tanks in the Blue Hills Reservoir. This project will permanently destroy over 8 acres of wetlands, giving it the dubious honor of generating the largest net loss of wetlands of any project in Massachusetts in over twenty years.

Visit our website for more information about the water tank construction project.

See the DCR press release for information about the road closing.

Annual Meeting this Saturday

The Canton Journal included the below article this week. Hope to see you this Saturday!

Local horticulturalists to Speak Oct. 18 in Canton
By Candace Hall

Canton Journal Thu Oct 16, 2008
Canton

They are often attractive, and sometimes people like to plant them in their back yards. But invasive species are anything but harmless, and the Friends of Blue Hills group is gathering both research and volunteers to try to control them.

This Saturday, the organization is hosting a talk with horticultural expert Carol Stocker, a newspaper reporter who has been writing about horticulture and the environment for the Boston Globe since 1979. Stocker will be talking to people about invasive species and how to get rid of them.

Stocker says there are a group of about 100 invasive species that threaten our native plants. Many are attractive, such as Purple Loosestrife, Burning Bush, and Oriental Bittersweet, but they take over habitats, killing everything around them. Other invasive plans include Swollow Wart, Mile-a-minute, Japanese Knotweed, Buckthorn, Multiflora Rose, Pragmites, Buckthorn, Garlic Mustard, Chervil and Spotted Knapweed.

Judy Lehrer Josephs, Executive Director of Friends of Blue Hills, says a group of volunteers have already expressed interest in controlling invasive species, and she is working on getting a corps of volunteers together to take action. She said that it would be impossible to get rid of all invasive species on the grounds, but they want to at least limit their spread.
Stocker will talk about techniques to kill unwanted plants, including cutting and disposing of them and using targeted poison. She said many of the species that are endangered at Blue Hills include trees, such as native ash trees. She added that many trees area being endangered by insects that have come over from Asia.

Stocker will speak at the Trinity Episcopal Church, One Blue Hill River Road, Canton, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m. Admission is $25 per person, or $40 per family, and it includes a “hearty meal and good company.”

More information can be found at info@FriendsoftheBlueHills.org.

Ponkapoag Bog boardwalk closed for renovations

The DCR Blue Hills Reservation staff will be working with the Appalachian Mountain Club trail crew beginning Tuesday, October 14 to repair a substantial number of damaged boards in the Ponkapoag Pond boardwalk on the northwest side of the pond. The boardwalk will be closed for the duration of the project due to safety concerns during renovations. Autumn is an ideal time to make needed boardwalk repairs as water levels are predictably low this time of year. Repairs to the boardwalk will be conducted each fall for the next three years until project completion. These repairs will provide greater stability on the boardwalk and additional protection for the unique and fragile quaking bog environment.

The Ponkapoag boardwalk was originally constructed in 1949 by Professor William J. Babcock of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy and his student “Rover Crew”. The boardwalk provides park visitors safe entrance into a unique natural environment. Neither solid land nor water the bog is a realm in between. A semi-floating mat of sphagnum moss extends across the surface of the water, creating an acidic wetland community uncommon in eastern Massachusetts. Ponkapoag Pond and bog has a special state designation as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The planned boardwalk improvements will help to protect and preserve this fragile ecosystem while providing public access and appreciation of this unique setting.

Questions: Please call the DCR Blue Hills Park Rangers at 617-698-1802.

Join our Facebook group!

Friends of the Blue Hills has a fledgling Facebook group. If you're on Facebook, come join us (you don't need to be a member of FBH to be a part of the Facebook group)!