Alluring golden light glints through the forest ahead, inviting us up on the open ridge alongside the improbable, imposing glacial erratic. Long before Joshua’s Trust made Wolf Rock our first conservation area purchase in 1971, Mansfield residents would picnic on this overlook next to the locally famous boulder. The easy trail, though it has probably […]
Enduring Wolf Rock Read Post »
If you have ever seen the Joshua’s Trust boundary medallions around, you may have noticed that some are a little different. Medallions that the one pictured here, indicate that the property is a conservation easement. These are managed very differently than the properties with trails. A conservation easement is a deed restriction that a landowner
Conservation Easements vs. Fee Owned Properties Read Post »
With all of us stuck at home on Friday evenings, there is no better way to unwind from the week than to relax on a warm night watching our volant, nocturnal friends fluttering in the sky. Yes, you guessed it, I’m talking about our backyard bats! When I tell folks that I study bats, many
Learn How Acoustic Monitoring Reveals Bat Biodiversity in the Night Sky Read Post »
We often think of planting habitat for pollinators in the springtime. However, there are some things we can do to help feed them through late fall. Natural areas are full of berries, seeds, but flowers stop blooming and the food source for pollinators quickly become scarce. Maintain a garden that blooms from early spring to
Bee Helpful to Pollinators this Fall Read Post »
Even tumbling through its ravine Tinkerville Brook makes barely a gurgle today. The stream is low and slow, but my educated fingertips tell me its temperature would still register below 68F. As it drops off steeply toward Bissonette Pond, the overstory is all hemlocks, and root-spreading mountain laurel is plentiful. It’s dark here, and a
Oasis at Tinkerville Read Post »
Last week I went out on my first ever trail crew with Joshua’s Trust. Usually I’m on the more administrative side of things, but I wanted to get out on the field and see what our volunteers and stewardship staff do every week. There were only 3 of us out on the trail crew, myself,
