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CHARLES RIVER PARKLANDS
UPDATE Volunteer—And Make A Difference!To date, the work of the Charles River Conservancy has focused on advocacy, renewal planning and improved access to the Charles River Parklands. But now an urgent new need is emerging: maintenance. Years of budget cuts mean overgrown shoreline vegetation, storm-damaged trees and a host of other ailments. All call for attention, and the sooner the better. In a collaboration between state government and a private, nonprofit organization, the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) and the Charles River Conservancy have joined to launch a volunteer Parklands maintenance effort. This blend of public resources and expertise combined with private initiative and volunteer energy is expected to improve conditions in the Parklands, expand access and enhance safety. Stretching nearly twenty miles along both sides of the Charles River from Boston Harbor to Watertown, the Parklands -- a garland of parks, playing fields and greenways -- often host 20,000 people and more in a single day. At the same time, they offer opportunities for personal renewal, physical exercise and healthy alternative commuting. Yet over the years, such active use combined with ever-diminishing budgets has exacted a sharp price in degraded facilities and greenspace. A Conservancy-led Volunteer Maintenance Program will formalize, expand and perpetuate local maintenance efforts and is expected to serve as the prototype for greenspace management in other parklands around the region. Central to this pioneering initiative is initial support provided to the Conservancy from a generous foundation supporter of the Parklands. The MDC, the public authority charged with stewardship of the Parklands, is also playing a role.
Superintendent Allan Morris, a veteran in volunteer park maintenance programs and currently in charge of the MDC's Southwest Corridor projects, will provide much of the training, supervision and support necessery to ensure the success of Conservancy events. A suitably equipped truck, complete with CRC signage, will serve to remove cuttings and debris. MDC trucks and personnel will also help to transport vegetation. Yet money and support are only part of what it will take to achieve the ambitious goals set by the MDC and the Conservancy for renewing Greater Boston's own "Central Park." "We were looking for a leader with vision, practical skills and enormous energy to spearhead the CRC's new maintenance programs; someone with great people skills and a deep commitment to the environment," says Renata von Tscharner, Conservancy president. To the benefit of all who love the Parklands, Renata's assessment of the individual needed to begin to stem the tide of benign neglect is ably represented in the person of Britt Lundgren, who recently was welcomed at the Conservancy's Newton offices by enthusiastic staff members. Britt's background and interests are a perfect fit for the role of Volunteer Coordinator for Parklands' renewal. A graduate of Colorado's Naropa University, where she was an environmental studies major, Britt has worked with several Boston area organizations, including the Massachusetts Audubon Society at Drumlin Farm, the Neponset River Watershed Association, and the Boston Natural Areas Network. She has a background in horticulture, volunteer recruitment and organic agriculture.
"I'll be working hard to develop teams of people to bring their positive feelings for the Parklands to bear on maintenance tasks," says Britt. "Also, I'll be looking to form core groups of community residents, college students, corporate work parties and more that will contribute one or two days a month. In the future I also hope to work with the Conservancy's youth and education coordinator, Amy Parsons, and through her with teachers who recognize the value of giving their students a hands-on experience in Parklands stewardship." According to Allan Morris, Britt will have her work cut out for her. She'll need to generate volunteer interest, make presentations to prospective participants, procure necessary materials and supervise day-to-day efforts. Given the Parklands' vast size -- they extend for over 10 miles up river from the Harbor dam -- Britt and her volunteers will have plenty to do. But if the work is challenging, the rewards will be spectacular and especially pleasing to the dedicated, self-designated cadre of Parkland stewards who have worked, mainly sight unseen, for years. A full-time coordinator of volunteers offers an opportunity to lend support to those selfless efforts and expand on previous work, renewing sections of the Parklands that have not benefited from periodic maintenance in years. Britt's projects will keep her busy all through the year overseeing activities ranging from landscaping in the spring and fall to winter pruning. Summer tot lot renovations and painting, as well as preparation for the nationally renowned Fourth of July celebration on the Esplanade are on the agenda, too. The MDC's Morris hopes that corporations and universities surrounding the parklands, as well as individual users, will be the ones to maintain it. "It's time that folks stop depending exclusively on the legislature to fund their favorite open spaces," he says, commenting on funding cuts that have severely impacted the Parklands. "It's time to think outside the box," he adds. "It's important to introduce line-level stewardship of the parks and develop relationships with as many schools, businesses and people as we can -- to be as inclusive as we can." In this way, the actual users of the park will have a personal stake in caring for it. From his own experience with developing and operating a similar effort, Allan Morris has identified three key components of a volunteer campaign. "First, provide a menu of programs," he says, "so that the individuals or groups can choose what they want to do." Second, Morris has found it's important to provide opportunities for people to work with others they haven't worked with before -- for example, students from different schools or employees of different departments within an organization. Finally, he recommends that all tools and materials be provided, along with proper supervision, "so that folks can see the results of their work." Britt Lundgren will be "on site" to ensure Morris's guidelines are carefully observed. One incentive to join up and become a regular Parklands volunteer? Stylish Charles River Conservancy T-shirts, which are sure to become a valuable souvenir among those who care about -- and work for -- their favorite spots throughout the Parklands. Charles River Parklands is published by The Charles River Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of the Basin parklands of the Charles River.
Email: crc@thecharles.org
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