Open Space – Belmont Citizens Forum

OPINION: Treat Invasive Plant Removal as a System

Environment, January/February 2026, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Dec 172025

OPINION: Treat Invasive Plant Removal as a System

By Jeffrey North Belmont’s conservation lands—Rock Meadow, Lone Tree Hill, Habitat, and our many wooded edges and wetland buffers—face a quiet but relentless challenge. Aggressive invasive plants threaten the fundamental health and richness of our local native plant communities, and consequently the fauna that rely on them for food and shelter. Invasive species such as glossy buckthorn, bittersweet, knotweed, and tree of heaven do not care about property boundaries or budget cycles. Yet our response to this threat is fragmented: volunteers clear a patch, a contractor mows a section, a grant funds a pilot project. Then, when the effort cannot [READ MORE]

Miyawaki Forest Planted at Belmont Middle and High School

Environment, November/December 2025, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Oct 312025

Miyawaki Forest Planted at Belmont Middle and High School

On Saturday, October 4, dozens of volunteers of all ages gathered at Belmont Middle and High School to plant a Miyawaki forest, also known as a mini forest. (See “Belmont’s First Miyawaki Forest Comes to BHS,” BCF Newsletter, July 2025.) They planted 1,400 native tree and shrub seedlings on 3,000 square feet—about the size of a public swimming pool. Photos by Jeffrey North.

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]

Habitat Renovation is Underway

Newsletter, Open Space, Parking, September/October 2025 Comments Off

Aug 262025

By Thomas Phillips Mass Audubon’s Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary is currently renovating its entry circle to enhance visual appeal and incorporate accessibility accommodations for people with disabilities. The first phase of this project began in late April when the walkway was repaved and the entry circle widened. In early fall a new path will be built for people with disabilities with new plantings. The staff at Habitat are hopeful that, in addition to promoting inclusiveness for individuals with disabilities, the renovation will increase the check-in rates among visitors to the sanctuary. Staff believe that increasing check-in rates at [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]

Belmont’s First Miyawaki Forest Comes to BHS

Climate Change, Environment, July/August 2025, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Jun 302025

Belmont’s First Miyawaki Forest Comes to BHS

By Jean Devine Picture this: It’s 2028, and on the Belmont High School campus, a small forest of native trees and shrubs is shooting toward the sky. The trunks sway gently and the leaves shimmer softly in the summer breeze. As you walk toward this grove, birds flit in and out, you hear a hum of bees, while other pollinators, insects, and worms, mostly invisible to you, thrive in deeper sections of this new habitat. Before you stands Belmont’s first Miyawaki Forest (aka mini forest). Now, three years after planting, this forest is self-sufficient. And, it’s replicable! Maybe it has [READ MORE]

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]

OPINION: Understanding America’s Food Systems

Environment, May/June 2025, Open Space, Plants Comments Off

Apr 292025

OPINION: Understanding America’s Food Systems

By Tom Phillips With ambitious promises being made by the new Secretary of Health and Human Services to challenge “big ag” and reduce the country’s reliance on processed foods, and with significant actions already being taken by the Trump administration that impact agriculture on a national level—including the attempted layoffs of federal workers at USDA and FDA—it is crucial for Belmont citizens to understand the complexities of food systems. Growing up in the suburbs of Boston without any family ties to farming, I find it challenging to grasp the financial struggles, social issues, and environmental impacts inherent in food production. [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]

Conservation Commissions Protect Our Water

Climate Change, Environment, May/June 2025, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Water Quality Comments Off

Apr 292025

By Dorothy McGlincy and Jeffrey North Belmont is home to the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC), a vital nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting Massachusetts’s natural resources by supporting conservation commissions across the Commonwealth. Since its founding in 1961, MACC has been a cornerstone of environmental advocacy, providing resources, training, and support to the state’s 351 conservation commissions and promoting the protection of natural resources for future generations. MACC is headquartered at Mass Audubon’s Habitat property on Juniper Road. A mission rooted in conservation At its core, MACC’s mission is to assist and empower local conservation commissions, which serve as [READ MORE]

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]

New Connections Coming to Mystic Greenways

Environment, July/August 2024, Newsletter, Open Space Comments Off

Jun 252024

New Connections Coming to Mystic Greenways

By Isaiah Johnson It’s a great time to enjoy Greater Boston’s parks and paths as we head into the middle of summer. Whether you walk, bike, or run, the Mystic Greenways are great places to get outside and enjoy fresh air. At the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA), we are excited to see the path network along the Mystic River grow more connected every year, linking parks and greenways from the Mystic Lakes to Boston Harbor. The vision behind the Mystic Greenways is to connect 25 miles of paths, improve hundreds of acres of parklands, and engage thousands of community [READ MORE]

Profiles in Belmont: Farmer Tim

Environment, May/June 2024, Newsletter, Open Space Comments Off

Apr 302024

By Elissa Ely Choosing a favorite vegetable or melon, if you happen to be Farmer Tim Carroll, is like choosing a favorite child. If he’s eating a cantaloupe from his farm, cantaloupe is his favorite. When he’s eating a cherry tomato, the cantaloupe steps aside. “I’m not a fennel guy,” he says, but with such respect that no fennel could resent him. There are dozens and dozens of vegetable children in Farmer Tim’s world. Since 2015, his Dudley, MA, farm has grown multiple varieties of up to 50 kinds of produce each August through October. The season starts aboveground with [READ MORE]

How to be a Biodiversity Builder

Environment, May/June 2024, Open Space, Plants, Stormwater, Water Quality Comments Off

Apr 302024

by Jean Devine An open mind, eagerness to learn new things, a willingness to work with peers from different schools, and a tolerance for hot weather, a bit of rain, and getting dirty are all it takes to be a Biodiversity Builder. Youth don’t join Biodiversity Builders (BB) to fill out their resume. They join because they’re curious about nature and maybe gardening, they worry about climate change, and they want to do something positive to help the planet. Youth who become Biodiversity Builders learn how to solve environmental and societal challenges, get down and dirty removing invasive plants and [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]

Beavers vs Us: Who Manages Stormwater Best?

Environment, May/June 2024, Newsletter, Open Space, Stormwater Comments Off

Apr 302024

Beavers vs Us: Who Manages Stormwater Best?

By Anne-Marie Lambert There’s a lot of complexity but not much bureaucracy involved when beavers take action to manage stormwater. Beavers don’t follow many rules and regulations to slow down a brook’s flow to a prescribed amount or filter pollutants like phosphates or nitrates. They don’t submit maintenance plans for what they will do differently when large rainstorms or new pollutants arrive. Beavers don’t wait for permit approvals or make decisions based on a checklist of laws and regulations. Beavers have evolved to build their homes across brooks to create whole new ecosystems that support many species that have evolved [READ MORE]

Vision for a Better Belmont: Chris Ryan

Construction and Housing, May/June 2024, Open Space, Parking, Traffic, Transit Comments Off

Apr 302024

This is the fourth of a new series of interviews with Belmont leaders about their vision for Belmont’s future. Jeffrey North conducted this interview. It has been edited for length and clarity. – Ed. Chris Ryan has served as Belmont’s town planner and director of planning and building (OPB) since September 2023. With more than 30 years of experience in city planning and economic development, Chris has worked at the town, city, county, regional, and state levels in the public sector in at least 10 communities and the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission; the Metropolitan Area Planning Council; and the Central [READ MORE]

Profiles in Belmont: Phil Thomas

March/April 2024, Open Space Comments Off

Mar 012024

By Elissa Ely “One ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs or a bee makes honey.” – Marcus Aurelius There is so much we could say about Phil Thomas. We could talk about his distinguished career in high technology, which followed his distinguished career in Naval Intelligence. We could talk about growing up oceanside in Florida, where his father worked as a photographer for NASA and John Glenn visited the house. We could talk about his childhood hopes of becoming the next Mickey Mantle (stymied only, perhaps, by height). We could also talk about Phil’s [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]

Japanese Culture Center Comes to Belmont Hill

January 2024, Newsletter, Open Space Comments Off

Jan 052024

Japanese Culture Center Comes to Belmont Hill

By Fred Bouchard Drive up Concord Avenue from Belmont Center this winter, glance left after the big curve, and you’ll see an eye-catching sight behind the driveway opposite Sumner Lane; cherry trees and rhododendrons, a garden, and—rising behind the house—a half-built, huge-timbered barn. What, a barnraising on Belmont Hill? This property belonged to the late Anne Allen and now bears a conservation restriction encompassing 3.3 acres of forest, fields, and meadows. Allen donated this property’s conservation restriction and the Maple Allee conservation restriction across the street to Belmont in 2004. These two conservation restrictions contribute to the town’s open spaces [READ MORE]

Older Entries