Citizens for Lexington Conservation promotes the enjoyment and appreciation of our natural environment through education and advocacy.
CLC is a non-profit organization in the town of Lexington, Massachusetts.

>> Read more about CLC 

>> Join CLC (or renew your membership)

>> Recent Newsletter The April 2019 Newsletter is Here!

>> Calendar of Events

The CLC Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 23, 7:00 - 9:00 pm

Lexington Community Center dining room, 39 Marrett Road

This year's speaker is Lexington's own Alexandra Bartsch, owner of the Lexington Bee Company.

She will speak about beekeeping and the importance of all pollinators in our environment. In addition, Alix is spearheading an effort to qualify Lexington as a Bee City - a designation promoted by the Xerces Society to protect pollinators.

Please join us for what is sure to be an informative evening!

Free and open to all

Lexington as a Bee City

In the near future Lexington may become a “Bee City”.  The Bee City program is operated by the Xerxes Society as a way of promoting and certifying towns and campuses that actively promote and encourage pollinators. Although it refers to bees, the program makes it clear that it intends to encourage all types of pollinators-- monarch butterflies and other insects as well. If you are wondering why it is to support and promote pollinators, you can learn about the current pollinator crisis in a New York Times article about the "insect apocalypse." . Pollinator protection is an idea whose time has come. 

.

The Town of Lexington has been environmentally active for decades and has undertaken several programs that encourage pollinators.  The Conservation Commission has voted to fully support the initiative to have Lexington certified as a “Bee City” as has Citizens for Lexington Conservation and other town groups. With their support, Alexandra Bartsch, one of three Master Beekeepers in Massachusetts, is leading the effort. She has been a resident of Lexington since 1968 and a beekeeper in Lexington since 1978. She and her daughter keep bees around Lexington as a benefit to the conservation land, the community garden, the interfaith garden and Wilson Farm. With her daughter she has formed the Lexington Bee company. Alexandra is also an attorney and has promoted conservation with such nonprofit groups as the natural resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Beginning with an early morning bird walk, continuing with a stewardship project in the mid-morning, and culminating with an afternoon gathering of conservation minded Lexington groups and guided walks, events will be happening all day at Wright Farm. There will also be an ongoing bioblitz as part of the Boston Area City Nature Challenge that weekend. Lots of fun to be had!! Please join us!

Wright Farm Spring Celebration information

free & open to all

Birding Walks

Saturday April 27: 7-8:30 am: Birding Wright Farm

Start your celebration of Earth Day 2019 at Wright Farm with some early morning

birding by joining us to kick off a daylong Bio-Blitz effort as part of iNaturalist’s City

Nature Challenge. We will be looking to start the daylong species tally for the property as

we search for both resident species as well as early-season migrants. Please park along

Volunteer Way located across from the farm, which is located at 241 Grove Street.

Walk Leader: Keith Ohmart (kohmart@verizon.net)

Sunday May 5, 8-10 am: Birding Lower Vine Brook

Warblers are small, beautiful tropical birds that fly north to breed every year. Over 15

different species stop off in this sheltered area during their spring migration to their

nesting grounds in northern New England and Canada. Depending on the weather and the

foliage, you may see a dozen species in a morning. Children with adults are welcome.

Wear boots if it’s wet, and bring binoculars and a bird book. No dogs please. More than

light rain or lightning will cancel the event.  If the weather is uncertain call the leader.

Meet at the entrance to the Lower Vine Brook Conservation Area opposite 121 Vine

Street.  

Walk Leader, Harry West (671-461-9500, hwest2020@gmail.com)

Wednesday May 8, 6-8:30 am: Birding the Western Greenway

The Western Greenway consists of over 1200 acres of interconnected open space in

Waltham, Lexington, and Belmont. There has been little documentation of migratory or

breeding birds in many parts of the Greenway. We will choose a section in Lexington that

most likely few Menotomy Birders know or bird. Amongst our target species we will be

checking to see if Blue-winged Warbler returns to an area it has been seen in over the

past several years. Meet at Cart Path Lane, off Walnut Street in Lexington. 6:00-8:30 am.

Walk Leaders: Roger Wrubel (rwrubel@massaudubon.org) and Keith

Ohmart (kohmart@verizon.net)

Nature Walks and Other Activities

Sunday April 28, 2-4 pm: Lincoln Park Garlic Mustard Pull

Garlic mustard seeds can take up to 7 years to sprout, which requires repeated efforts to

control and eradicate this aggressive invasive species. Come join CLC’s multi-year effort

to pull this year’s progeny from along the pathways in Lincoln Park. We will be shifting

our focus this year to the Middleby Road entrance. Bring gardening gloves. Steady rain

cancels. Meet at the Fitness Path Trail entrance on Middleby Road across from the

entrance to the Bridge School where you may park.

Leader: Elaine Quinlan (978-995-5794, ejquinlan2@gmail.com), Judy Mello (781-

861-7744, jmacmello@comcast.net)

Sunday May 12, 2-3 pm: The Apiary at Cotton Farm

Join Alexandra Bartsch, a longtime Lexington resident and Master Beekeeper, for a tour

of the beehives at the Cotton Farm orchard on Marrett Road.  We will be opening the

hive and tour the inner workings of these fascinating pollinators and maybe even meet the

queen!  Veils will be provided for those who wish to venture close. No dogs please. Park

along Marrett Road and walk down the entrance road to the property to the meeting point.

Walk Leader: Alexandra Bartsch (albartsch@rcn.com)

Saturday May 18, 12 noon-1:30 pm: Family Led ACROSS Lexington Walk

Get the kid’s eye perspective of ACROSS Lexington’s Route A, the first installment of

the ACROSS system and still one of its most popular routes. This family led walk will

traverse approximately half of the route taking in portions of the Lower Vine Brook,

Chiesa Farm, and Parker Meadow Conservation properties along the way. Walking

surfaces will be a mixture of paved surfaces and unpaved foot trails. Well-behaved dogs

on leashes welcome.

Walk Leader(s): Ian Fox and family (ifox@alumni.upenn.edu)

Saturday May 25, 10-11:30 am: Cataldo Reservation Interpretive Walk

Cataldo Reservation, a 5 acre Conservation Area that lies in East Lexington near the

Minuteman Bikeway, has been undergoing a restoration project for the last two years.

The focus has been on controlling the invasive plant infestation and building a healthy

native plant population to support the local fauna. Mill Brook runs through Cataldo

Reservation and, until the recent restoration efforts, has been largely invisible to

passersby on the trail. Come take a walk and see the new views of Mill Brook and the

surrounding flood plain as well as the new plantings that are beginning to become

established. Lexington Conservation Steward Holly Samuels, who has been leading the

restoration effort, will lead the walk. Meet at the property entrance on Bow Street

adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway.

Walk Leader: Holly Samuels (hollygardendesign@gmail.com)

Saturday June 8, 10 am – 12 noon – Wright Farm/Bedford Res Walk

The acquisition of the Wright Farm property by the town has opened up the possibilities

of connecting to open spaces in neighboring towns. This walk will explore the walking

connection to Bedford’s Old Reservoir property and a portion of its trail system. The

distance covered will be between one and two miles with a combination of street walking

and unpaved woods trails. The trails include some moderate slopes.  Bedford requires

that all participants sign a waiver of liability form, which will be provided at the

beginning of the walk.  Children and well-behaved dogs on leash are welcome. Park in

the Wright Farm driveway which circles behind the house. 

Walk Leader: Phil Hamilton ( pkhamilton45@gmail.com )

Monthly Trail Walks in Bedford

The Bedford Trails Committee conducts free monthly Trail Walks in Bedford the first Saturday of each month.  Trail walks vary monthly, from strolls on flat ground to hikes with hills. For detailed info on current and future hikes, please visit: https://groups.google.com/group/bedfordma-trails 

Location We rendezvous at 9:45 am at the parking lot behind the Bedford Free Public Library on 

Mudge Way, and leave 10:10 am from the Trailhead designated on the BedfordMA-trails website 

Contact:        To Join if you already have a Google account, go to: 

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/bedfordma-trails  and click “Join Group to Post”

To Join if you don’t have a Google account, please send an email to: BedfordMA.trailwalks@gmail.com  and you’ll be added to the Group.

Check out this delightful video made by some folks with a real appreciation for the natural world.

The Wright Farm Barn, future home of Lexington's Community Environmental Center

Let us know if there is an upcoming event that should be listed here.

Citizens4LexingtonConservation@gmail.com

Joe-Pye-Weed in Dunback Meadow, August 2016 (photo courtesy John Andrews)

Are you looking for a new route to walk, run or bike?

ACROSS Lexington is waiting for you - try it!

You can find route information here on the Town website.

ACROSS Lexington stands for Accessing Conservation land, Recreation areas, Open space, Schools and Streets in Lexington.

Please let us know if you would be interested in working with CLC in any capacity. Could you write a piece for the Newsletter? Lead a walk? Work on the website? Take a leadership role on the Board? Help manage marketing/outreach? Drop us a line if you think you can help - we always welcome new faces!

Walks Publicity Coordinator: Each spring and fall CLC sponsors a series of walks in conservation and open space. We are looking for someone to focus initially on walks publicity, and eventually to organize and broaden the types of walks we conduct. 

Events Coordinator: Each year, CLC features a speaker on conservation, resource, or environmental issues. To deepen and enlarge our educational focus, we are seeking a new film/speaker coordinator to take on the tasks of identifying, scheduling, and publicizing videos and speakers. Our plans are to offer 3-4 events per year as an exciting new way for CLC to continue to raise public awareness regarding local, regional and national environmental issues.

Conservation Restriction Monitors: CLC is in the process of acquiring conservation restrictions (CRs) on five Town-owned properties that were acquired in whole or in part with Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds. We are seeking individuals who are interested in helping to complete the remaining CR applications for three of the five parcels and/or participating in the annual monitoring of the properties. 

Recording Secretary. This position involves taking minutes at Board meetings and filing any forms required to maintain our status as a nonprofit organization. 

If you would like to know more about any of these positions, please contact Eileen Entin (eileenhome@gmail.com, 781-862-6418).

CLC is sponsoring a new program for children - the Junior Ranger Program - aimed at getting kids out into Lexington's Conservation properties with games and activities. In conjunction with Cary Memorial Library we have a booklet to guide children and their parents. The kids will visit several different Conservation areas, fill out some activity sheets that will guide nature observation, and can, upon completion, receive a Junior Ranger Certificate from the Library.

You can find the Junior Ranger booklet here.