Roots & Rivers
Haverhill Conservation in Action
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Join Essex County Greenbelt for a series of free guided hikes through Haverhill’s stunning conserved areas. Whether you’re a seasoned explorer or new to the trails, these hikes are a perfect way to connect with nature and your community. Let’s hike Haverhill!
Learn more
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Volunteer Opportunity
Open Space Deed Research Project
Our department is seeking volunteers to assist with deed research for open space protection. If you are interested, please email conservation@haverhillma.gov for more information.
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Places to go
Plug Pond Recreation & Conservation Areas
Plug Pond (Lake Saltonstall) Recreation Area is Haverhill's only beach and swimmable body of water! This area is popular for fishing, paddling, swimming, wading, and picnics. The beach just opened for the season! There are also 160+ acres of protected forest and wetlands with numerous trails to explore.
Visit this link, Plugs Pond | City of Haverhill, for more information on the trails and recreation area. For day passes and walk-ins for swimming, go to HAVERHILL RECREATION DEPT.
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MassWildlife
State Wildlife Action Plan for Massachusetts
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MassWildlife is finalizing a 2025-2035 revision to the SWAP. Join an information session on July 17 to learn about the update and how to submit public comment. The first draft of the Massachusetts 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan is ready for public review. The SWAP identifies over 600 species of greatest conservation need in MA and outlines key actions for conserving them. Register to join MassWildlife for an information session about the SWAP update on July 17 and learn how to provide feedback.
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Partners in Conservation
Community Partnership Award from HC Media
Congratulations to HC Media's Cassie Ellson and our Conservation Partners, Christine Kwitchoff and Lisa Marzili, for being awarded the Community Partnership Award this week from HC Media for their work on promoting Haverhill's trails! Thank you all for helping to produce the fantastic "Exploring Haverhill's Trails" series.
For more than 30 years, the Haverhill Trails Volunteers helped to create and maintain our city's trail systems. Today, led by Mark Sheehan who is the voice of Exploring Haverhill's Trails, the group continues to steward our trails for all to use. If you haven't seen them yet, make sure you watch the 4 short videos from HC Media below to learn about Haverhill's Crystal Lake and its conservation areas!
Exploring Haverhill's Trails: Creek Brook
Exploring Haverhill's Trails: Rurak Point
Exploring Haverhill's Trails: Crystal Shores
Exploring Haverhill's Trails: Crystal Gorge
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Pathways to Nature
Brandy Brow Forest, Myron's Road Trailhead
With the City of Haverhill's recent acquisition of land off of Myron's and Brandy Brow Roads, we now have access to well-established trails throughout the Eastern side of Brandy Brow Forest and East Meadow River. There is a new trailhead located on Myron's Road with two parking spots. A unique feature on this trail is an elevated beaver dam where the water is at eye-level! Please note that these trails are preexisting and are not yet marked.
Directions:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/vFbG65rYtBUHYNpM6
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Heritage Conservancy
Thinking Through a Lawn-to-Habitat Conversion Project
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"Right now, if you look out the nearest window, I bet you can see a lawn. Or at the very least, you can walk a short distance to find one. As of 2005, NASA Earth Observatory estimated that the US has about 31.6 million acres of lawn across the country’s vastly different climate and soil conditions. That’s more surface area than cornfields in our country. That number has likely only grown in the years since then. Lawns are one of the most ubiquitous landscape design features in the US today, but should they be? A growing number of homeowners, and even businesses, are getting tired of that hyper-manicured, wildlife-deficient look and turning towards a more ecologically-minded landscaping style."
For more resources on lawn conversion, pollinator habitat, and native plants, go to Grow Native Massachusetts
Article and photo by the Heritage Conservancy
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Environmental Legislation
Governor Files Environmental Bond Bill Mass Ready Act to Strengthen Infrastructure and Prepare for Disasters
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In June, Governor Maura Healey introduced the Mass Ready Act, a historic bill that proposes nearly $3 billion in bond authorizations to strengthen infrastructure and protect Massachusetts communities against increasing extreme weather events.
This legislation focuses on crucial infrastructure improvements, including upgrades to roads, dams, and bridges, and establishes a Resilient Revolving Fund for these types of projects. It also streamlines permitting for priority housing, culvert replacements and salt marsh restoration projects by cutting redundant reviews and improving coordination. See the Governor's press release and full bill text.
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Get Involved with Conservation
Lend a Hand as a Trail Steward
Be our "eyes and ears" on the trail by letting us know about trail issues and picking up litter and debris.
Learn more
Become a Haverhill Trail Steward
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Volunteer Opportunity
MRWC's Summer Culvert Marathon!
Merrimack River Watershed Council
Saturdays from July 19th to August 9th
"There are upwards of 20,000 culverts in the Merrimack watershed. When undersized or failing, they are barriers to fish migration. Many of our culverts are over 50 years old and were built without consideration for aquatic life or our changing precipitation levels. Aging, failing, and undersized culverts pose flood risks and fragment habitats.
Help MRWC assess the culverts in our watershed and raise money for MRWC at the same time. Sign up to participate in the culvert marathon and join on Saturdays from July 19th to August 9th.
Participants will be trained in culvert assessment and work as part of a team with a certified culvert assessor. Over the course of the four weeks, participants will have the opportunity to become a trained assessor themselves! All data collected will be added to a regional database that MRWC and its partners use to prioritize stream crossing upgrade projects.
If interested please email MRWC at volunteer@merrimack.org."
Culvert Marathon | Merrimack River Watershed Council
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Haverhill's Least Wanted | Invasive Species
Japanese Knotweed, Fallopia japonica
Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) was brought from eastern Asia as a garden plant. This perennial herb grows up to 10 feet tall, with heart-shaped leaves and white flowers. It invades a wide variety of habitats and forms dense stands that crowd out other plants.
Japanese knotweed is an extremely difficult plant to control due to its ability to re-grow from vegetative pieces and from seeds. Established populations have extensive root systems, so removal by pulling or repeated cutting is only effective for young plants. Treatment with systemic herbicide can be effective, but you might need to treat repeatedly; another possibility is stem injection or application of a systemic herbicide to freshly cut stems, though this is labor intensive.
For larger populations, cut the plants in late June or early July, and then treat the re-growth with a foliar spray of a systemic herbicide in late August or early September.
Control of invasive plants in wetlands is subject to the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act; check with Haverhill's conservation commission before implementing control measures. Always read and follow the directions on the label when using herbicide. In wetlands, only apply herbicides registered for use in those areas.
Have knotweed? Check out these resources to help you tackle it.
Source: Mass Audubon
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Science Powered by You
Report Nature Sightings with iNaturalist
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Have you ever asked a friend for an ID of a plant or animal you didn't recognize? Or are you the friend who gets asked? We've all snapped a photo of something unknown only to forget to research it later. You might even have hundreds of pictures of plants and animals on your phone or computer that you wish could be of use to someone.
If any of the above sounds familiar to you, consider joining iNaturalist!
A Community for Naturalists · iNaturalist
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Mass Audubon | Climate and Nature Champions
Protect Animals from Rodenticide Lobby Day
July 24th 10AM-3PM @ 500 Columbian Street, South Weymouth, MA 02190
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Join Mass Audubon, MSCPA, and other partners for the Protect Animals from Rodenticide Lobby Day on July 24th. It’s time to speak in one strong voice to our legislators – telling them to stop the use of anticoagulant rodenticides in Massachusetts! Join small groups advocating with your elected officials to support An Act Restricting the Use of Rodenticides in the Environment (H965/S644).
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Stay Informed
New City of Haverhill Website
The City recently changed our website platform to make it more user friendly! Find our pages here:
Home | City of Haverhill
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