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Arlington Land Trust

Arlington Land Trust

Protecting Open Spaces in Arlington

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Past Events

The Quabbin Reservoir and Beyond – Presentation March 15

March 5, 2020

Note: The talk on Quabbin Reservoir scheduled for Sunday, March 15, is being cancelled by the Lexington Cary Library in the interest of public health.  3/11/2020

Sunday, March 15, 2020, at 2:30pm

Land and Water: The Quabbin Reservoir and Beyond

Presented by Leigh Youngblood, Executive Director, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust

Cary Memorial Library, 1874 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington

The Quabbin Reservoir is the largest inland body of water in Massachusetts, and is the primary water supply for 40+ communities in Greater Boston. Leigh Youngblood, will give a presentation on the construction of the reservoir, the four lost towns of the Quabbin Reservoir (Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott) and the land, water, wildlife, and people that persevere there today. 

Many individuals living in the greater North Quabbin region, where Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust conserves and stewards land, have parents who experienced the relocation, keeping the legacy very much alive today. Constant encounters with landowners, foresters, biologists, surveyors, historians, artists, anglers, poets, and others inform a balanced perspective between the practical and the personal. This talk is co-sponsored by the Lexington Field & Garden Club.

2020 Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference – March 28

March 4, 2020

Note: The Mass Land Conservation Conference in Worcester on Saturday, March 28, is being cancelled due to the coronavirus emergency. 3/11/2020

Saturday, March 28, 2020, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm

2020 Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference

The Climate’s Future is in Our Lands

Worcester Technical High School, One Skyline Drive, Worcester, MA

Registration is open, with early-bird rates til March 9! Sign up now. 

Keynote Address by Jad Daley, President and CEO of American Forests. Learn more about Mr. Daley here.

Exhibitor Opportunities

Showcase your business or organization before a sophisticated and engaged audience of over 500 conservation professionals by booking an Exhibitor table! Exhibitor registration deadline is Monday, March 9.  Details here.

Calling Volunteers

This conference wouldn’t be possible without the help of many volunteers before, during and after the event. Sign up to volunteer here. 

Spotlight Your Conservation Work

If you’d like to share a slide about one of your successes over the past year, please send a PowerPoint slide to masslandconference@gmail.com

Workshop Descriptions

Read the full list of the workshops at the MassLand Conference here.

Speaker Bios

Our conference presenters volunteer their time and expertise to help further conservation in the Commonwealth. Read their bios here. 

ALT Annual Meeting – Report

January 24, 2020

Report on the ALT Annual Meeting on January 21, 2020

Many thanks to Professor Richard Primack for a fascinating presentation on Henry David Thoreau as a climate change scientist. Thoreau set a valuable research standard by documenting his observations of plants and animals in and around Concord during the 1850s. 

Those records are now being used as a baseline for measuring a vast array of data on the current environment, including the dates when wildflowers bloom, when native trees such as oaks and maples begin showing leaves, and when various bird species migrate into the area. Some of the changes over the past century are startling: many plants have gone extinct locally; others have become much less abundant while some invasive species have increased in distribution; and many birds and insects are changing their behavior as well. Following the meeting, Dr. Primack sold and signed copies of his book, Walden Warming: Climate Change Comes to Thoreau’s Woods.

More than 70 members and guests attended this Annual Meeting for the year 2019, led by President Christopher Leich. ALT Treasurer Brian Rehrig presented a summary financial report for the past year, and Arlington Conservation Agent Emily Sullivan provided updates on monitoring and enforcement of the conservation restrictions at Arlington 360 (still known as the Symmes site) and on bank improvement projects at Spy Pond Park that have affected the water level in the pond. Leich also addressed the current status of the Zoning Board of Appeals hearings on the proposed 40B housing development on the Mugar land. Finally, he conducted the annual election of ALT board members. Three members were reelected unanimously: John F. Page, Bancroft Poor, and Clarissa Rowe.

ALT Annual Meeting – Announcement

January 13, 2020

Tuesday January 21, 2020   7-9 pm

Common Ground Bar & Grill

319 Broadway, Arlington

Mark your calendar to join us on for the ALT Annual Meeting at Common Ground, 319 Broadway. Our program will feature author and Boston University conservation biologist Richard Primack exploring Walden Warming: Climate Change Comes to Thoreau’s Concord.   

Henry David Thoreau was a climate change scientist! For the past 15 years, Professor Richard Primack and his team have been using Thoreau’s records from the 1850s and other Massachusetts data sources to document the earlier flowering and leafing out times of plants and the more variable response of migratory birds. Most noteworthy, plants in Concord are also changing in abundance due to a warming climate.  What would Thoreau tell us to do about global warming if he were alive today?

Please join us as we review some accomplishments of the old year and challenges of the new, and share some refreshments.  

Hope to see you there!

________________________________ 

Richard Primack is a Professor of Biology with a specialization in plant ecology, conservation biology, tropical rain forest ecology, and climate change biology. He is the author of two widely used conservation biology textbooks, was the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Biological Conservation, and served as the President of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. His research has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, National Geographic, and other publications, and he is often interviewed on National Public Radio. 


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