text by John Caughey; photos by Steve Denham The Woodlands/Trails Group is one of ten activities (accomplished by groups, clubs, committees, individuals) under the umbrella of the MLRA Nature Coordinating Committee. The group meets at 8:30 AM every Tuesday, year round, in the Nature Center to plan the maintenance of five miles of marked walking trails in the 60 acres of woodlands of the Nature Preserve. The Nature Preserve is the natural woodland part of the Lewis W. Barton Arboretum on the Medford campus. The group is composed of five men and three women, who meet around a table set with coffee, tea, and cookies, and a 19” by 22” grid map of the campus, which they use to plan activities. (A map of the trails is also available at the Front Desk.) Each member of the group is responsible for monitoring a part of the trail system and time is spent at each meeting on trail reports. Typically, the group agrees on a certain maintenance activity for the day. For example, “There is a small tree down across Yellow Trail 13.” At about 9 o’clock, they pick up saws and cutters from the tool room and proceed to the site. This one is down by the creek known as Sharp’s Run. They remove the tree and do general maintenance in the vicinity until about 10 o’clock. For larger trees, they call on Herb Minkus, Arboretum Coordinator, and his power saw.  Click on the Map to see it full-screen. Then click on that image to toggle back and forth between full-screen and a much larger image. Use the back button to return to this page. - or - Click Here to open the map in another window and keep this window open. Either way, toggling to the close-up view lets you read the fine print, such as the numbers on the various sections of the Yellow Trail. Regular maintenance along the trails also includes the
control of poison ivy, the trimming of multiflora rose bushes, weedwhacking underfoot
grass, and lopping off intrusive branches.
In general, the Red Trail can be navigated without brushing against
surrounding vegetation. About 10
two-plank bridges have been put in place to take the trails over small gullies.
These bridges are chained to nearby trees, because in the past they were frequently
displaced by floodwaters and had to be reset.  Gordon Clift, rain or shine, in this case, rain. Another photo from Steve Denham's photoessay "Heroes of the Trails." GO THERE!  Kreibel Way, flooded following a 4-inch rain. This photo is from Steve Denham's photoessay "An Afternoon Slosh Along the Kreibel Way." GO THERE! You can almost hear the frogs.  This album with 14 photos from 2007 has four winter scenes and nine pictures of the aftermath of flooding. SLIDESHOW  | Chairman John Caughey leading a Woodland/Trails meeting  Ruth Spledelow. The
Woodlands/Trails Group welcomes new members to help in maintaining the walking
trails through Medford Leas’ beautiful woods and meadow. Anyone who is interested will find the
group at the Nature Center at 8:30 any Tuesday morning. 
This photo is from Steve Denham's photoessay "Heroes of the Trails." GO THERE! Concern for the integrity of the woods through
which the trails pass has caused the group to turn its attention to the removal
of invasive species. Beginning in 1997,
they have spent seven seasons working with the Landscaping staff to remove the
invasive reed Phragmites from the
property. Currently, they are working
to check the invasive tree Ailanthus
(tree of heaven, the one that also grew in Brooklyn). Removing these trees involves repeated searches of the property,
especially the meadow where the young trees resemble sumac. Even when the trees
have been identified, sprayed, and cut, they send up multi-tudinous sprouts
from the roots and the area must be searched and sprayed again. At present, the group believes they have identified and sprayed or cut essentially all of the Ailanthus trees on the property and they plan to revisit the sites and eliminate any sprouts over the next few years.  Spraying an Ailanthus treeThe photo above is from an album with 10 picture of the trails group inspecting trees and combating invasive species.  Two of Steve Denham's Fall Foliage photos VIEW SLIDESHOW |
Woodlands/Trails Group |
