Did you know that 25% of Northampton is made up of conservation land? Several parcels are in Leeds. The LCA helps to safeguard the land for users by having trail committee volunteers survey the trails and borders of each conservation area every Autumn. I did it for the first time this year with volunteers, Lora Sandhusen, Erin Mahon-Moore and Justin O’Connor. We walked different sections of Robert’s Hill on 4 different days. We noted trail blockages, widow makers, and blow downs with waypoints using the excellent trail app called GaiaGPS. (If you hike, I’d recommend trying the free version, which is what we used.) On Robert’s Hill we found 12 trail sections that needed clearing. Our waypoints were sent to Tom Annese, field manager for the Planning Department. Tom has already done the clearing work! Conservation area borders are also walked to note any sign of disturbance, signage and blazes are reviewed, trash and other signs of abuse are included in an end-of-year report for each parcel. The reports are sent to the Department of Planning and Sustainability and the Conservation Commission.

Steve McDonough walked Beaver Brook Greenway North and South and the Kennedy Road parcel. He prepared reports for those conservation areas. On Beaver Brook Greenway South he found a tree had been axed down in an unsuccessful attempt to create a bridge across the brook. Damaging trees, disturbing vegetation, leaving any kind of trash (dog poo bags included) is 100% wrong and against City conservation rules. There is still work to be done on this property, so stay tuned for volunteer trail opportunities in the spring.

Data collected from the 2022 summer trash clean-up collaboration between LCA, the Inclusive Group, and Friends of Northampton Trails were included in the Mill River Greenway-Leeds report. The number of clean ups and trash bags collected per week were noted along with the number of user outreaches. Summer E.coli water testing results, trail quality, improvements made and general concerns were also included. Since the reports were sent in, a tree fell from the river bank at the main swim area. It will be cleaned up by Tom Annese and the narrow trunk lengths will be used to delineate some of the trail edge to prevent any more widening. The stump will remain to ward off erosion and hopefully the small sprout that is still alive on the stump will flourish next spring!