Thank you to our 2024 Volunteers!

Scroll to see photos of this year’s volunteers and their hard work!

Our volunteers are the bee’s knees!

Our volunteers continued to exceed our expectations this year. Over 650 volunteers participated in our Trail Adopter program, led hikes, removed invasive species, picked up trash, collected data, conducted trail maintenance, assisted in communications efforts, and helped with community outreach. We also worked with 24 generous businesses, schools, and organizations on a variety of projects throughout the Fells (you can see them listed below!).

In total, volunteers donated over 1,700 hours of their time to support the Friends and the Fells. In Massachusetts, that’s over $69,649 in dedicated work at the Fells. We cannot thank our volunteers enough for all their hard work and dedication to keeping our Fells beautiful, ecologically sustainable, and safe for years to come!

Read more about the amazing work our volunteers have done below:

Trail volunteers work to repair an eroded trail.

Our Trail Adopters and volunteers from Earthwise Aware (EwA) recorded over 3,660 items of note to keep the trails looking sharp. They contributed over 520 hours to clearing trails, removing and reporting downed tree limbs, picking up trash, clearing culverts, and other special projects. They removed over 200 pieces of trash, cleared 89 culverts and water bars, and addressed issues with trail blazes and rogue trails. Multiple volunteers from the Boy and Girl Scouts helped paint dozens of new trail blazes to keep the trails well-marked. 

Interested in becoming a Trail Adopter? Complete the application here!
Jeff Adams leads a walk discussing Fells plants in the fall.

Our volunteer hike leaders offered a wide variety of guided routes throughout the Fells. There were a total of 106 social and educational hikes, over 50 Babes in the Woods hikes, and seven Hike ‘n’ Seeks. More than 775 people attended FOF community hikes this year.

Want to join a hike? Check out our calendar here! Want to lead a hike? Let us know by contacting Community Engagement Manager, Maddie Morgan, at maddie.morgan@fells.org

Thank you DCR and EwA!

A huge shoutout and thank you go to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Earthwise Aware (EwA) teams.

We could not do these volunteer events without the generous support, guidance, time, and tools of the DCR Fells team.

EwA developed the mobile applications that our volunteers use to collect data on trails, submit reports, and determine the health of the Fells. EwA consultants and volunteers also analyze the data collected to help guide our future conservation efforts and projects.

Join us in thanking the DCR Fells and Earthwise Aware teams for keeping our park safe, sustainable, conserved, and enjoyable for years to come!

Community volunteers help repair a trail and boardwalk.

Friends of the Fells offered 17 open volunteer days in 2024 and our dedicated volunteers showed up ready to make a difference. We worked with 220 volunteers to remove 50 bags and 19 piles of invasives from the Fells. We tackled black swallowwort, bittersweet, garlic mustard, multiflora rose, Japanese knotweed, buckthorn, and porcelain berry. Volunteers also removed 29 bags of trash at these events.

2024 was an incredible year thanks to the hard work of our wonderful volunteers. We exceeded the number of projects, volunteers, and hours in 2023. We look forward to working with you all again in 2025 and continuing to grow those numbers!
Volunteer with us!
If your company, school, or organization is interested in partnering with Friends of the Fells in 2025, please contact Maddie Morgan at maddie.morgan@fells.org.

Thank you to our 2024 partners and volunteers!

Appalachian Mountain Club
Baldwin Wallace
Bevi
Braskem
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School
Cambridge Running Club
Earthwise Aware (EwA)
Gay for Good
GoogleServe
Idle Hands Craft Ales
Intellia Therapeutics
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)
Keep Stoneham Beautiful
Live Blue – New England Aquarium Service Corps
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Medford Boy Scouts Troop 416
Medford Girl Scouts
New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA)
Paddle Boston
Patagonia
Roberts Elementary School
Tufts FOCUS
Tufts Leonard Carmichael Society
Tufts Mountain Club
Verizon
Washington University Boston Alumni Network
Winchester Girl Scouts

Want to volunteer with your group? Learn more about our group volunteering opportunities here.

Scroll to see photos of this year’s volunteers and their hard work!

Our volunteers are incredible!

This year, we saw a massive increase in volunteers helping out at the Fells. Over 600 volunteers participated in our Trail Adopter program, led hikes, removed invasive species, picked up trash, collected data, conducted trail maintenance, assisted in communications efforts, and helped with community outreach. We also worked with 24 generous businesses, schools, and organizations on a variety of projects throughout the Fells.

In total, volunteers donated over 1,100 hours of their time to support the Friends and the Fells. In Massachusetts, that’s $43,109 in dedicated work at the Fells. We cannot thank our volunteers enough for all their hard work and dedication to keeping our Fells beautiful and safe for years to come!

Read more about the amazing work our volunteers have done below:

Volunteer and Trail Adopter, Mike, helps paint new trail blazes.

Our Trail Adopters submitted over 200 reports this year to keep the trails looking sharp. They covered more than 285 miles and contributed over 350 hours to clearing trails, removing and reporting downed tree limbs, picking up trash, clearing culverts, and other special projects. They removed 34 bags of trash, cleared 23 culverts and waterbars, and addressed issues with seven trail blazes or markers. Three volunteers helped paint dozens of new trail blazes to keep the trails well marked.

Interested in becoming a Trail Adopter? Complete the application here!
Laurie leads a Hike ‘n’ Seek for toddlers and their families.

Our volunteer hike leaders offered a wide variety of guided routes throughout the Fells. There were a total of 119 social and educational hikes, over 50 Babes in the Woods hikes, and seven Hike ‘n’ Seeks. More than 700 people attended FOF community hikes this year.

Want to join a hike? Check out our calendar here! Want to lead a hike? Let us know by contacting Community Engagement Manager, Maddie Morgan, at maddie.morgan@fells.org

Thank you DCR!

A huge shoutout and thank you go to the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the DCR Fells team. We could not do these volunteer events without the generous support, guidance, time, and tools of the Fells team. Join us in thanking the DCR Fells team for keeping our park safe, clean, and enjoyable for years to come!

Community volunteers cut and removed bittersweet and multiflora rose.

Friends of the Fells offered 11 open volunteer days in 2023 and our dedicated volunteers showed up ready to make a difference. We worked with 324 volunteers to remove 161 bags and 13 big piles of invasives from the Fells. We tackled black swallowwort, bittersweet, garlic mustard, multiflora rose, Japanese knotweed, buckthorn, and porcelain berry. Volunteers also removed 56 bags of trash at these events.

2023 was an incredible year thanks to the hard work of our wonderful volunteers. We look forward to working with you all again in 2024!
Volunteer with us!
If your company, school, or organization is interested in partnering with Friends of the Fells in 2024, please contact Maddie Morgan at maddie.morgan@fells.org.

Thank you to our 2023 partners and volunteers!

Acera School
Alexion Pharmaceuticals
ALKU
American Tower
Analog Devices
Arc’teryx
Braskem
Cambridge Running Club
Eastern Bank
Farrington Nature Linc
Fortis Life
Gay for Good
GoogleServe
Idle Hands Craft Ales
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Medford Boy Scouts Troop 416
Mitre
National Grid
New England Mountain Bike Association
New Ecology
Patagonia
Sana Biotech
Sublime Systems
Tufts FOCUS
Tufts Leonard Carmichael Society
Verizon
Winchester Girl Scouts
Winchester High School Fells Club

You’re the best!

This was an impressive year for volunteering in the Fells! Over 175 volunteers participated in our Trail Adopter program, led hikes, removed invasive species, picked up trash, collected data, and helped with community outreach. Our volunteers donated 737 hours of their time to support and engage with the Fells. We cannot thank our volunteers enough for all their hard work and dedication to keeping our Fells beautiful and safe for years to come!

Read more about the amazing work our volunteers have done below:

Boot Boutwell leads one of his famous hikes around Long Pond.

Our 34 Trail Adopters were busy out on the trails this year. They covered more than 72 miles of trails and contributed 134 hours to clearing trails, removing and reporting downed tree limbs, picking up trash, clearing culverts, and other special projects.

Our hike leaders lept into action this year to lead free public hikes for the community. There were a total of 183 social and educational hikes, 40 Babes in the Woods hikes, and seven Hike ‘n’ Seeks. Altogether, hike leaders donated 365 hours to lead hikes and build community in the Fells. A total of 1,111 people attended the community hikes this year.
The Cambridge Running Club helped us remove three bags of trash from around Spot Pond and Flynn Rink.

Friends of the Fells offered 11 open volunteer days in 2022 and our dedicated volunteers showed up ready to make a difference. 113 volunteers donated 245 hours of their time to participate in trash clean-ups, invasive species removals, and community outreach events.

We held three trash clean-ups at Sheepfold Dog Park and Flynn Rink. 50 volunteers came out to the Fells to pick up trash and help keep the forest clean and healthy.
Medford Boy Scout Troop 416 helped us remove two massive piles of multiflora rose and bittersweet.

Volunteers also tackled Asiatic bittersweet, multiflora rose, Japanese knotweed, black swallowwort, and garlic mustard at Crystal Springs, Virginia Wood, Medford High School, and the Botume House. The hard work that the 53 volunteers put into removing these invasive plants has a visible and tangible impact on the Fells ecosystem.

We attended the Stoneham Fair, Melrose Victorian Fair, Medford Farmers Market, Tufts University Community Day, and Malden Summer Festival in 2022 and had seven wonderful volunteers table with us to offer a friendly face and provide information about the Fells and FOF to community members.

This year was an exceptional year for volunteering, and we look forward to more fun volunteer events and hikes in the Fells in 2023!
Volunteer with us!
Photo by Jess Garton

In a bid to better protect ecologically sensitive habitats and rare and endangered species, the Friends of the Fells has asked the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to designate portions of the Middlesex Fells as patch reserves. 

“The Fells is home to a remarkable diversity of life, including many unique and uncommon plant communities, dozens of vernal pools, and rare species that depend on these patches of habitat,” said Chris Redfern, Friends of the Fells Executive Director. “Establishing patch reserves to protect these sensitive resources is our best chance to ensure their survival.”

Patch Reserves are defined landscape areas that require special management practices for biodiversity conservation. Patch reserves reduce the potential for habitat fragmentation and degradation and increase ecological resilience by improving connectivity among habitats (for example, protecting the upland habitats of vernal pools for invertebrates and amphibians). These reserves could also reduce recreational impacts through management actions such as installation of educational signage, adding boardwalks, and rerouting and/or removing trails as needed.

An opportunity to request the establishment of patch reserves in the Fells came about when DCR requested public comment on a 10-year review of their Landscape Designation Management Guidelines. Friends of the Fells submitted extensive comments, founded on more than a decade of field research by Fells advocates. Our advocates’ comprehensive understanding and documentation of the presence and location of sensitive habitats and rare and endangered species make the Middlesex Fells a particularly suitable and attractive park unit at which to pilot a new patch reserve designation.

To learn more, read our full comments here.

Our YouTube channel started last spring, inspired by continuing our programming during lockdown since we couldn’t offer our usual guided walks, volunteer projects, and other in-person opportunities.  Over the past months, we have continued to produce informative and educational video content for the community through this platform.

The latest addition to our YouTube offerings is “Introduction to the Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation.”  This video discusses our mission, the value of the Fells, and gives a brief overview of our programs and offerings.  The video also features excerpts from Executive Director Chris Redfern and ‘Babes in the Woods’ program leader Diana Lomakin.

This project was produced by Paige Colley, one of our 2021 video production interns.

And just a reminder:  our “My Middlesex Fells” video feature series is still seeking participants:

We want to hear about your unique relationship to the Fells!  If you’re interested in sharing your own personal experiences with our community, contact us.  We also welcome your own submissions to the My Fells Project we launched last year, featuring your own artistic interpretations of the Fells.

Click the icon below to visit our YouTube channel for much more content!

Friends of the Fells launches new “My Middlesex Fells” video feature

Each of us has our own distinctive relationship to the Fells, and every experience we have visiting the Fells can be completely unique from the last.  This new video project from our intern Dexter Fadness attempts to capture some of the diversity of those experiences.  

The first video in the series features Friends of the Fells board Chair Jeff Buxbaum, who talks about his own realization of this diversity and the joy of getting lost in the Fells.

 

We want to hear about your unique relationship to the Fells!  If you’re interested in sharing your own personal experiences with our community, contact Dexter at dexterfadness@gmail.com.  We also welcome your own submissions to the My Fells project we launched last year, featuring your own artistic interpretations of the Fells.

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