Category Archives: Project Updates

From a “Mom Whose Son is Flying High”

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Hillary T.

North River Accessible TrailOne of our goals here at Mass Audubon is to make nature accessible for everyone. The public facilities at most of our staffed wildlife sanctuaries are already universally accessible and we have many accessible trails.

So you can imagine our delight when our president, Henry Tepper, received the following email from Kerri Nagle in regards to an experience she recently had with her son. She graciously agreed to let us share her thoughts.

—– 

I am writing this email to say thank you. Thanks to you and your organization, my 10 year old son who has CP [Cerebral palsy], is in a wheelchair, but is extremely intelligent, can enjoy life like never before!!! This may sound dramatic but it’s not, he has just started bird watching and we took him to North River and Daniel Webster in Marshfield and because of your amazing kindness, he was able in his special stroller to hit all the trails!!!!!!!

The paths , the wooden bridges, are amazing!!! To think these where right under our noses is incredible, we have had an amazing week discovering all they have to offer, and we joined as a family today once we determined that Declan could benefit, which he can!!!

To say the trails are magical is so so true!!!

You have made a difference in the life of a young boy who wants nothing more than to enjoy life like you and I do. Please let me know what other sites are as accessible, because we have a whole summer coming up where we can explore them all, we live on the south shore of Boston so we can start down here.

So again , thank you!!!

I wanted to make sure you knew how truly amazing they are!!!

Kind regards,
A mom whose son is flying high
Kerri Nagle

—

Learn more about our efforts to make nature (and Mass Audubon) more accessible for all to enjoy, including a list of accessible and multi-sensory interpretive trails.

The Western Greenway Project

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Hillary T.

Western Greenway BlazeHabitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Belmont is proud to be part of the Western Greenway, 1,200 acres of interconnected open space in Waltham, Lexington, and Belmont. This corridor is a valuable and increasingly rare resource in our region, providing natural, cultural, and recreational benefits.

The interconnected lands of the Western Greenway, 20 parcels in all, continues to serve wildlife and people. Among the many species of wildlife living here are wild turkey, foxes, wood frogs, pink lady’s slippers, painted turtles, jack-in-the pulpit, and great horned owls.

Large contiguous open spaces, such as the Western Greenway, also provide us other services. For example, growing trees produce oxygen and remove and store carbon dioxide from the air, thus slowing global warming. Wetlands act as sponges soaking up rainfall and snow melt, thus preventing flooding. Wetlands also filter impurities from water before they reach our waterways.

The best way to appreciate the value of the Western Greenway is to walk its seven miles of emblazoned trails between Habitat in Belmont and the Robert Treat Paine Estate in Waltham, viewable on the Greenway Map. Habitat is offering a guided walk of this route on May 4.

To learn more about or to become more involved in protecting the Western Greenway, please contact us.