Millers Meadow

Millers Meadow is a twelve-acre stretch of land located in Greenfield between Colrain Street and a curve in the Green River.  This floodplain was the site of a mobile home park between 1970 and 2005, when Tropical Storm Tammy caused the river to rise over eleven inches and flood the trailer park.  Since that time, the meadow has been used by dog walkers and occasional encampments. It is designated as a Conservation Area by the City of Greenfield.

An ongoing plan for restoration of the property was begun in 2023.  The first step has been to plant trees and shrubs on the hillside and the upper end of the meadow, with the goal of  providing native habitat and improving river water quality.  Restoring a functioning floodplain, a long-term goal of the project, will reduce flood damage both here and downstream.

To learn more about the Millers Meadow Restoration Project, including how to volunteer for planting days, visit the Millers Meadow page on Greening Greenfield's website.

The open meadow provides space to start fresh with native saplings and shrubs.  However, eventually the tangle of alien invasives near the river bank will have to be removed.  The bittersweet is smothering the old oaks and maples.  The Japanese knotweed, with its thick growth and shallow roots,  actually undermines the stability of the stream bank, leading to more erosion at this site and to deposition of knotweed seeds downriver. 

Millers Meadow has great potential as a natural open space near urban Greenfield.  On a quiet May morning, a visit to the confluence of the Green River and an incoming brook provided sightings of a snowy egret, a wood duck, a swift, and a couple of Baltimore orioles!  And the new plantings in the meadow already show potential for rehabilitating this open space.