Nashua River Communities |
Resilient Lands Management Project
CLINTON | BOLTON
Project Story
Overview
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Launched in September 2021, The Nashua River Communities Resilient Lands Management Project (or “Nashua River Project”) invited residents and other local stakeholders to shape the course of how forests and open spaces will be maintained, accessed, used, and transformed in the coming years.
The key players in the project included a Core Team of diverse stakeholders from across the region that served as the steering committee for the project, and two Task Groups representing the two focus area land types: Forests and Lawns and Landscapes. Each group met several times between September 2021 and May 2023.
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The community-based process resulted in:
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A set of care guides for forests, lawns, parks, fields, open spaces, and other heavily-managed landscapes,
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Model wetland bylaws and regulatory development strategies that respond to the climate emergency,
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A framework for ongoing community participation in decisions that affect the integrity and continued viability of our landscapes.
For more details on how the project unfolded, keep reading below.
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Some of what we heard...
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Increase access and collaboration: Collaborate with local and state agencies to integrate public trails that connect with publicly owned lands, improve accessibility for residents with limited mobility, and coordinate around land stewardship priorities to strategically support shared goals across sites.
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Build partnerships with local and regional Indigenous Peoples: Enabling Indigenous land stewardship is critical for the health and resilience of our landscapes. Local Indigenous stewards can help care for and monitor the health of local landscapes in ways that prioritize and support the long-term health and well-being of the region and have traditional uses for forest products that may otherwise go to waste in private and municipal disposal.
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Bring people with different backgrounds and perspectives into climate resilience work: People are excited about connecting and shifting their relationships to forests, trees, and landscaped areas. Communities in Clinton and Bolton value green spaces close to them and lifted up the value of natural spaces for spiritual, physical, and emotional health, especially for youth.
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Support natural and traditional approaches to species management: Areas of high biodiversity and natural resilience can resist invasive species and improve ecosystem health. Understanding the life cycles of invasive species and pests and opportunities for companion or complementary plantings can help to manage negative impacts. Controlled burns, strategic containment, sustainable management of local deer populations, and community education can expand the capacity for identification and early detection of pests and invasives.
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Bring more youth in: Bringing youth into our work came up again and again in Core Team, Forest Task Group, and public meetings. During year 2, we worked closely with the Minuteman High School Environmental Class of 2025, which you can read more about at the Minuteman High School StoryMap.
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Year 1 Timeline:
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September - December 2021
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The project kicked off in September 2021 and the Core Team formed shortly after.
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The Core Team consisted of community members, town staff, and consultants who held the overall project vision and steered the overall project direction to be consistent with community values and priorities.
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Meeting #1: At their first meeting, the Core Team drafted the overall project principles and vision:
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In November, the Forest Task Group – a team of community members, town staff, and consultants – convened to identify community values that guided thinking about forested areas, and how forests and trees contribute to community and ecological resilience. Their conversations, expertise, and values directly informed the development of the Forest Care Guides.​​
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Meeting #1: At their first meeting, the Task Group discussed the potential of forests in Clinton and Bolton to support local circular economies, soil and ecological health, and the ability of forests to help in increasing the health of humans through shading, forest immersion, forest products that aid in human health, and natural systems connections.​
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Site visit #1: This first site visit took the Task Group conversations off of Zoom, and into local forested areas. Group members shared knowledge, built relationships, and identified specific actions to take to increase resilience in the region. The group visited the Lime Kiln Conversation Area, privately owned Chapter 61 Forest in Bolton, DCR Wachusett Reservoir Watershed, and Rauscher Farm in Clinton.
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January - March 2022
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Project milestones:
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Gloria Robles joined the project team in January 2022 as an Outreach Specialist focused on including Spanish-speaking communities in Clinton and Bolton.​
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Development of Regulatory Review:
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The first year of the project they also included a review of Clinton and Bolton’s bylaws and regulations related to wetlands protection and local development. The process resulted in an “opportunity matrix” that highlighted ways the Towns could strengthen local wetlands bylaws and development guidelines to reflect a long-term vision for community health and climate resilience. The team worked with Town staff to develop and support the adoption of a local wetlands bylaw (in Clinton) and specific updates to an existing bylaw (in Bolton).​
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Core Team Meeting #2​:
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​At its second meeting, the Core Team drafted a purpose statement to guide the group’s work together and in the project:​
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Forest Task Group Meeting #2:
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At its second meeting, the Forest Task Group drafted forest care principles to build a collective vision for working together to create healthy and resilient ecosystems and communities. Check out the Guide to Forest Care to see the Forest Task Group Principles.​
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Forest Task Group Site visit #2:
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On March 23, 2022, members of the Forest Task Group traveled to four sites within Clinton and Bolton to learn about forest conditions and priorities on the ground. Starting with established, municipally-owned forests in Bolton (Philbin Conservation Land and Gould-White Conservation Land), the group then ventured to 40 Caves Conservation Area in Clinton (a property of Sudbury Valley Trustees), and then to more heavily impacted urban forest landscapes along Counterpane Brook and the Nashua River in Clinton.
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April - June 2022
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Project milestones:
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Core Team Meeting #3:
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At the third Core Team meeting, the group reflected on the draft principles, reviewed the Forest guides outline and Forest Task Group process, as well as supported the planning of the upcoming stakeholder engagement.​
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Forest Task Group Meeting #3:​
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At the third Forest Task Group meeting, the team reviewed the draft Forest Guides outline while keeping content grounded in previously identified principles to develop place-based strategies for forest stewardship and care. The project team took detailed notes of the discussion, and integrated comments into the final design of the Forest Guides.​
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Rauscher Farm Event:​
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The Rauscher Farm Event was held to specifically engage Spanish-speaking families and individuals in the project area. The overall intention was to introduce people to the project and Rauscher Farm in a family-friendly and accessible way while learning about community priorities and needs concerning climate resilience and natural lands.​
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Public Open House:​
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The purpose of this event was to connect with Clinton and Bolton residents in a way that created reciprocal learning and connection so that the forest guides and regulatory matrices could reach their potential in these communities.​
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Youth engagement:​
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The project team planned an educational field trip for sophomore environmental science students at Minuteman High School to conduct vernal pool delineation, wetland plant species identification, aquatic invertebrate identification (in the creek), and observe differences between species in the woods and adjacent to development. The goal was to help students understand the impacts of development on wetlands and watersheds in Clinton and Bolton.​
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Year 2 Timeline:
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September - December 2022
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Project milestones:
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In September 2022, the Lawns and Landscapes Task Group – a team of community members, town staff, and consultants – convened to identify community values that guided thinking about lawns, parks, fields, open spaces, and other heavily-managed landscapes, and how those landscapes contribute to community and ecological resilience. Their conversations, expertise, and values directly informed the development of the Lawns and Landscapes Care Guides.
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Lawns and Landscapes Task Group Meeting #1:
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The purpose of this meeting was to discuss how residents of Clinton and Bolton would like to work with open spaces in ways that alleviate and mitigate the impacts of climate change based on their own lived experience; and what they most want to protect and enhance.
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Our conversation with the Task Group revealed that residents of Clinton and Bolton value open space as places that contribute to overall health, education, and connection. They identified specific playing fields, parks and open spaces, and play spaces for children as areas of significance. The group reflected on how all of those spaces not only support biodiversity and wildlife habitat, but also physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
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Forest Task Group Meeting #4:​
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On September 26th, the Forest Task Group met for the fourth and final time to gather guidance on how to make the guides most useful to stakeholders; and to engage the Task Group in their personal role in bringing the guides to life. Facilitating access to land for local indigenous tribes was of particular concern in this conversation. Other recommendations to make the guide accessible included design considerations like creating infographics, including hyperlinks, and other graphic elements.
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Core Team Meeting #4:​
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The Core Team met to review edits of the forest guide and regulatory matrices, as well as identify action items for each team member to take on to support the implementation of certain recommendations included in the Forest Guides.​
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Lawns and Landscapes Site Visit #1:​
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In October 2022, the Lawns and Landscapes Task Group visited 4 sites in Clinton: Savage Field, Clinton Veterans Athletic Complex, Maybarton Community Garden, and a yard on Parker Street.​
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Lawns and Landscapes Task Group Meeting #2:​
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At their second meeting, the Lawns and Landscapes Task Group shared collective values, visions, and experiences to develop a set of principles for lawn and landscape care.​
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The Task Group then identified practices for lawn and landscape care that align with those principles. These practices are incorporated into the Lawn and Landscape Care Guides.
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January - March 2023
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Project milestones:
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Core Team Meeting #5:
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The Core Team met for the fifth time to evaluate project progress and ensure that planned activities for the remainder of the project were aligned with the Core Team’s principles. The Core Team supported thinking around how deliverables could be accessible and relevant to wider communities. Main themes included the importance of including seniors and youth, and making the bylaw review more accessible to people beyond the Town Planning and Select Boards. Some of their ideas, which were incorporated into activities that followed the meeting.
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Lawns and Landscapes Task Group Meeting #3:​
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Purpose: To transform our approach to lawn and landscape care practices, in a way that is grounded in tangible action and lived experience, so that we can identify new, values-aligned ways of working together to create healthy and resilient ecosystems, communities, and regions.
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Youth Engagement:​
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Based on feedback from year 1 and an understanding of community priorities to engage youth, year 2 Kicked off collaboration with Minuteman High School’s Environmental Class of 2025 to develop a set of climate solutions for increasing resilience at Forbush Field (which had been previously identified by a Clinton youth as a significant location to visit during site visits). The project was focused particularly on natural resource conservation and nature-based solutions. They used their technical expertise in ArcGIS and I-tree, as well as conducting interviews with residents, to produce their recommendations. Check out one of their StoryMaps here!
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April - June 2023
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Project milestones:
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Core Team Meeting #6:
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In May, the Core Team met for the sixth and final time. The group expressed a desire to continue collaborating and identified specific next steps each individual could take to maintain the momentum that had built over the last two years of working together.
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Lawns and Landscapes Site Visit #2:​
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During the second Lawns and Landscapes Site Visit, the group visited four places in Bolton: Forbush Field, Bolton Town Common, Rona’s house, Florence Sawyer School.
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The group discussed how to shift land management practices toward an approach that’s based on observation and developing a reciprocal relationship with the environment. They also discussed levers for systemic change to accelerate regeneration and regenerative land management practices, including Zoning and regulatory frameworks, economic opportunities, cultural respect agreements, and shifting cultural paradigms.
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Project Celebration​
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The project is wrapping with a celebration meant to connect residents of Clinton and Bolton with the information generated by, and people who were involved in, the project, with the intention of making changing landscape care policy and practice more accessible and equitable.​
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Regulatory Review:
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In the first year of the project, the project team produced an Opportunity Matrix highlighting ways that the Towns can strengthen local wetlands bylaws and development guidelines to reflect a long-term vision for community health and climate resilience. This year, in order to facilitate immediate regulatory action, the project team collaborated with Town staff to create a set of prioritization criteria in line with Town resilience goals, ease of adoption and implementation, and potential for impact. The prioritization criteria were applied to the matrix to create a tool that will allow Town staff to identify recommended regulatory updates based on alignment with specific goals and opportunities for impact.​
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