Lone Tree Hill – Belmont Citizens Forum

Rock Meadow Lacks a Conservation Restriction

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, November/December 2025, Open Space Comments Off

Oct 312025

Rock Meadow Lacks a Conservation Restriction

By Dan Nolan A pastoral gem in Belmont, Rock Meadow is in full splendor each fall as the leaves turn, providing a backdrop for Instagram posts, family holiday cards, and yearbook photos. It’s a treasure year-round for people, animals, pollinators, and the entire ecosystem it shares with the rest of the Western Greenway. What it doesn’t share is the same level of protection. As the crow flies, the deer trots, and the water flows, the land is all connected. The Belmont Conservation Commission is seeking to strengthen that connection by providing Rock Meadow with the same level of enduring protection [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Restoration Continues

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, Open Space, Plants, September/October 2025 Comments Off

Aug 262025

By Jeffrey North and Joe Hibbard For over a decade, Lone Tree Hill has been a focal point of community-led ecological restoration in Belmont. The Belmont Citizens Forum, the Judy Record Conservation Fund, and many dedicated volunteers, all under the aegis of the town’s Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill, have shared this effort. Since the restoration work began, this conservation land has transformed from a neglected patch of invasive thickets to a thriving habitat increasingly dominated by native species. Last April 26, despite steady rain, more than 50 volunteers gathered at Lone Tree Hill’s Meadow Edge Trail for [READ MORE]

Judy Record Conservation Fund Cares for Land

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, September/October 2025 Comments Off

Aug 262025

Judy Record Conservation Fund Cares for Land

By Roger Wrubel The Judy Record Conservation Fund (JR Fund) was founded in 2001 in honor and memory of Judy Record by her friends and family. Judy Record worked tirelessly and effectively from 1995 to 2000 as the leader of the McLean Open Space Alliance (MOSA), which began when eight apprehensive Belmont citizens met to discuss the rumored development of over 190 acres of woods and meadows surrounding the McLean Hospital campus. She stepped forward to lead the effort to preserve as much of the undeveloped land as possible. Record grew MOSA into an effective grassroots organization with 800 members. [READ MORE]

Trash on Lone Tree Hill

July/August 2025, Lone Tree Hill Comments Off

Jun 302025

Trash on Lone Tree Hill Here’s some of the trash that volunteers found at Lone Tree Hill . Help keep this beautiful open space clean for all to enjoy. If you see trash, please email lonetreehillbelmont@gmail.com. Thank you for helping keep our precious open spaces pristine!

Another Successful Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day

BCF Events, Environment, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2025, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Apr 292025

Another Successful Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day

By Radha Iyengar On Saturday, April 26, a day with steady rain, the Belmont Citizens Forum (BCF), in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund, held its 11th annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day. The volunteers included Girl Scout Daisy Troop 63278, Cityside Subaru employees, volunteers from Habitat, and citizens from Belmont and the surrounding communities. Many hands made light work. At the Meadow Edge Trail, volunteers removed garlic mustard and planted 50 white pine saplings, 10 eastern red cedar saplings and also replaced five white pine trees that did not survive the planting from last year. Volunteers also transplanted [READ MORE]

There is More to Restore on Lone Tree Hill

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2025, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Apr 292025

There is More to Restore on Lone Tree Hill

By Joseph Hibbard and Jeffrey North A crew of 30 field technicians, crew leaders, and one or two landscape designers kicked off the Lone Tree Hill work season on Lone Tree Hill on March 14 with a day of training. For the second consecutive year, the Land Management Committee (LMC) for Lone Tree Hill (LTH) granted permission for the Parterre Ecological Services “Class of 2025” to conduct an invasive species removal training session for field technicians. The trainees’ target area was a section in the northeast corner of the Great Meadow. The training area provided a hands-on workspace for training [READ MORE]

Join BCF for Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day April 26

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, March/April 2025 Comments Off

Feb 272025

Join BCF for Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day April 26

Join us in stewarding Lone Tree Hill! The Belmont Citizens Forum, in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund, is holding its eleventh annual cleanup and trail maintenance day on Saturday, April 26, 2025 from 9 AM until noon. Help with the planting of white pine saplings near the Meadow Edge Trail, cleaning up and removal of invasives at the Mill Street parking lot and the Coal Road respectively. Students can earn community service credits. Bounded by Concord Avenue, Pleasant Street, and Mill Street, Lone Tree Hill spans 119 acres of permanently protected conservation land and is available to everyone. [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Displays Autumn Glory

Lone Tree Hill, November/December 2024 Comments Off

Oct 282024

Photos by Jeffrey North Lone Tree Hill is a popular spot for a springtime stroll—but Belmont’s open space offers fall fascination as well. From asters to mountain mint, the site’s native plants put on a colorful autumn show.

Belmont’s Victory Gardens Remain Vibrant

Environment, History, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Open Space, September/October 2024 Comments Off

Aug 232024

Belmont’s Victory Gardens Remain Vibrant

By Jeffrey North Victory gardening in Belmont has never been more popular (local food production activity during World War II notwithstanding). One of the largest and oldest continuously active community gardens in the Boston area, Belmont’s Rock Meadow Victory Gardens consists of 132 garden plots of varying sizes, typically ranging from 12 by 12 feet to 50 by 50 feet. The gardens cover about three acres of land at the Rock Meadow Conservation Area along Mill Street, between Trapelo Road on the south and Winter Street on the north. After glaciers retreated 10,000 years ago, Native Americans burned the land [READ MORE]

Restoration Resumes on Lone Tree Hill

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2024, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Apr 302024

By Jeffrey North and Joseph Hibbard A crew of 18 technicians, crew leaders, designer, and managers gathered on Lone Tree Hill early on the misty morning of March 15. They were there for the third and final day of their work season kick-off with a day of training on Belmont conservation land. The Land Management Committee (LMC) for Lone Tree Hill (LTH) had granted permission to allow the Parterre Ecological Services “Class of 2024” to conduct an invasive species removal training session for field technicians. Their target zone was a section of the southeast corner of the Great Meadow. The [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Saw Improvements in 2023

Environment, January 2024, Lone Tree Hill, McLean, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Jan 052024

By Radha Iyengar Belmont’s Lone Tree Hill Conservation area benefited from another year of conservation, restoration, and stewardship, thanks mainly to the efforts of the Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill (LMC). Many Belmontonians and visitors enjoy this 119-acre conservation property for walking, biking, viewing wildlife, and being out in nature. The LMC was created through a memorandum of agreement between the town and McLean Hospital in 1999. The agreement outlined the development restrictions for the McLean Hospital campus. It also reserved approximately 119 acres of the campus as publicly accessible open space, including a new municipal cemetery, and [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Goes Native with Plantings

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, September/October 2023 Comments Off

Sep 012023

Lone Tree Hill Goes Native with Plantings

By Jeffrey North On Earth Day 2023 (April 22), the Belmont Citizens Forum (BCF), in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund, held its ninth annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day. (See “Volunteers Plant, Clean Up Lone Tree Hill,” BCF Newsletter, May/June 2023, for more information). Several dozen volunteers rolled up their sleeves, and gardening trowels in hand, planted 350 plugs of young native plants in the Great Meadow and reclaimed meadow areas of Belmont’s Lone Tree Hill Conservation Land in addition to planting 40 white pine saplings to replace the mature pines gradually lost to age and weather. The [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Restoration Hit 2022 Milestones

Environment, January/February 2023, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Jan 032023

Lone Tree Hill Restoration Hit 2022 Milestones

By Jeffrey North In 2020, the Land Management Committee for Lone Tree Hill (LMC) and the Judy Record Conservation Fund began a multi-year campaign to restore native plant communities in prioritized areas of the Lone Tree Hill conservation land. Step one in the restoration was to bring the invasive plant species under control. Planting natives would be a wasted effort and expense if they cannot compete with the pernicious plants that have come to occupy large swaths of our conservation lands and private yards. The work began with a broad brush, property-wide restoration survey conducted by ecological design professionals in [READ MORE]

Belmont’s Invasive Species: Ailanthus

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Sept/Oct 2022 Comments Off

Sep 102022

By Jeffrey North Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), typically called ailanthus, is a rapacious deciduous tree native to China. It was first introduced into the United States when it was imported as an ornamental plant to Philadelphia in 1784 and later to New York in 1820. On the West Coast, immigrants brought the plant from Asia and planted it in California in the 1850s. The tree was initially valued as a fast-growing ornamental shade tree that was tolerant of poor soils and a broad range of site conditions. It tolerates vehicle exhaust and other air pollution quite nicely. It was widely planted [READ MORE]

Spare a Thought for Lone Tree Hill

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Sept/Oct 2022 Comments Off

Sep 092022

By Dean Hickman and Leonard Katz Between Pleasant Street and Trapelo Road to the south, Concord Avenue to the north, and Mill Street to the west, Lone Tree Hill wraps around McLean Hospital and sits above Belmont, providing us with a peaceful and secluded mix of woods and meadows where we can escape the hustle and bustle of suburban life down below. It is also Belmont’s gateway to Rock Meadow on the other side of Mill Street as well as to the more secluded trails of the Western Greenway which head west into neighboring Waltham and Lexington. Anyone looking for [READ MORE]

Restoration Resumes on Lone Tree Hill

Environment, July-August 2022, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Open Space Comments Off

Jun 202022

By Jeffrey North A crew of field horticulture technicians returned to the Lone Tree Hill conservation area for their first visit in 2022 on May 20. Begun in late 2020, the work to enhance the ecological integrity of Belmont’s 80-acre conservation land site addresses the most egregious infestations of biodiversity-erasing invasive plant species. (See Restoration Projects Approved for Lone Tree Hill, BCF Newsletter, May 2021) The mission this time was to cut or pull and spray garlic mustard in bloom. As garlic mustard is one of the first plants to start actively growing in late March, leaves can be sprayed [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Volunteers Clean, Weed, Plant

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2022, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

May 052022

Lone Tree Hill Volunteers Clean, Weed, Plant

By Radha Iyengar On Saturday, April 30, a sunny but cool day, BCF, in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund, held its eighth annual Lone Tree Hill Volunteer Day. At the Pine Allee, volunteers planted 46 white pine saplings of which 40 saplings were store bought and 6 were transplants from Lone Tree Hill. The new plants replaced some of the Allee’s missing trees as well as some of the dead saplings from the 2017-2019 volunteer day plantings. At the other end of the property, the volunteers collected 11 bags of trash, one box of recyclables and six bags [READ MORE]

Lone Tree Hill Cleanup Saturday, April 30

BCF Events, Lone Tree Hill, March/April 2022, Newsletter, Open Space Comments Off

Mar 032022

Lone Tree Hill Cleanup Saturday, April 30 Join us in stewarding Lone Tree Hill! After a two-year hiatus, the Belmont Citizens Forum, in conjunction with the Judy Record Conservation Fund, is holding its eighth annual tree planting, cleanup, and trail maintenance day on Saturday, April 30, from 9 AM to noon. For more information, email bcfprogramdirector@gmail.com. Help complete the planting of saplings along the Pine Allee, cleaning up at the Mill Street parking lot and the Coal Road area, and removing invasive species on the property. Students can earn community service credits. Bounded by Concord Avenue, Pleasant Street, and Mill [READ MORE]

A Tribute to a Conservationist

Environment, Lone Tree Hill, March/April 2022, Newsletter, Open Space, Town Committee Meetings Comments Off

Mar 032022

By Anne Paulsen, Martha Moore, and Heli Tomford with contributions from neighbors Nanny Almquist, Jacquie Dow, and other Belmont friends and committee colleagues who knew and worked with Joan Campbell. When Joan Louise Campbell died on December 15, 2016, Belmont lost a citizen whose life exemplified devotion to her community, especially its open spaces. Joan moved to Belmont with her parents in the late 1930s, and except for some years working as a librarian in Seattle, she lived in the same Prospect Street home for most of her 92 years. We are honoring Joan Campbell because of her involvement in [READ MORE]

Belmont’s Invasive Species: Glossy Buckthorn

Environment, January 2022, Lone Tree Hill, Newsletter, Plants Comments Off

Jan 042022

Belmont's Invasive Species: Glossy Buckthorn

By Joe Hibbard Take a walk on the north side of the Great Meadow at the Lone Tree Hill Conservation Land and you might notice some recent changes in the landscape. A broad area along both sides of the Pitch Pine Trail, which was until recently an impenetrable thicket of invasive plants, is being cleared and on its way to a healthier forest/meadow edge landscape. The clearing is part of a long-term project to restore ecological balance to degraded landscapes that are part of the Lone Tree Hill Conservation Land. The project is led by the Land Management Committee for [READ MORE]

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