A summer evening at Magazine Beach…what could be more delightful? It’s the perfect time to take note of birds having their evening meal of insects by the river. And maybe you’ll find a moth or two, seeing as it’s still National Moth Week!
UPDATE: We’re moving to our rain date, Friday, July 28. Sorry to change things, but we don’t want you sitting in the wet. Tomorrow should be beautiful! See you at the park!
Come celebrate sustainable and healthy commuting at our Walk/Ride Day Eve Celebration Friday, July 28 at 6-8pm (rain date: Walk/Ride Day, Friday, July 28). Bring a picnic and enjoy treats from ice cream truck!
Boston-based band Trusting Fate will serenade us with “imaginative, unexpected music that combines elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, roots and blues into a fresh, powerful sound.” Katie Liesener from Massmouth will MC commuter-related storytelling. (Have a funny, gripping, or otherwise memorable personal story about urban biking, walking, or transit experience to share in 4-5 minutes?) Gallery 263 will host a bicycle decorating table, so bring your bikes. And be amazed by big animal puppets made by the Cambridge Wildlife Puppetry Project. FREE!
All of our moth images this week are photographs shot in Cambridge. The image here was photographed at Fresh Pond Reservation by Tom Murray, author of Insects of New England and New York.
When you’re out looking for moths this week, include caterpillars. You can post a photo of it on iNaturalist.org or bugguide.net and ask for identification help.
For years, the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) and its volunteers have helped to document water pollution problems in the Town of Belmont. This week, that hard work paid off.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an Administrative Order on Consent with the Town of Belmont over years of water quality damages. Over the next five years the town has agreed to make a significant investment in repairs to its storm water system, which is discharging pollutants, including human sewage, into waters of the Mystic River watershed. We congratulate Belmont on their commitment to improve water quality to tributaries to Alewife Brook.
This is a success story for citizen science and for non-profit environmental collaboration with government agencies. Data acquired by MyRWA volunteers and shared with EPA was key to making progress. This has been a group effort—from the dozens of volunteer monitors who go out each month to collect samples, to the tireless work of others like Roger Frymire, who spent countless hours finding sources of pollution in the Alewife Brook area.
Since 2000, volunteers through the MyRWA’s Baseline Monitoring Program have generated water quality data that is shared with state and federal agencies. Each year the EPA in conjunction with MyRWA issues a water quality report card for the Mystic River watershed.
The 2015 water quality report card for the Belmont area tells the story: Alewife Brook earned a D grade with 50% compliance with boating and swimming standards for bacteria; Little River a D- grade at 44% compliance; and Winn’s Brook an F grade at 33% compliance.
One powerful aspect of the Baseline Monitoring Program is that it is poised to document success as well as problems. As infrastructure repairs are made in Belmont, we fully expect these grades to improve. We look forward to documenting and celebrating water quality improvements to Alewife Brook, Little River, Winn’s Brook, Wellington Brook—and the Mystic River itself—over the next five years!
Congratulations and thanks to everyone who continues to work with us for protecting clean water.
The 2,000 year-old practice of making biochar converts agricultural waste into a soil enhancer that can hold carbon, boost food security, and increase soil biodiversity, and discourage deforestation. The process creates a fine-grained, highly porous charcoal that helps soils retain nutrients and water.
Cathie Zusy and Brian Conway of the Magazine Beach Committee of the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association.
On the fifteen-acre section of parkland between the banks of the Charles River and Memorial Drive, between the BU Bridge and the Riverside Boat Club, bird-watchers have identified no less than 94 species. This area, called Magazine Beach, also attracts a regular stream of walkers, joggers, bikers, boaters, and families using the state-run outdoor swimming pool. A powder magazine–built as a gunpowder storage facility in 1818 and converted to a bath-house in 1899—is slated for occupancy about two years from now. New landscape plans include a 10-foot multi-use path along Memorial Drive, a dock, two overlooks, stormwater-related improvements, and a splash deck and natural play features.
Cambridge Outdoors talked with Brian Conway and Cathie Zusy, members of the Magazine Beach Committee of the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association (CNA), who have worked in recent years to champion the park’s revitalization.
1. What is the history of the parkland at Magazine Beach?
“It was originally an island surrounded by marshes but was turned into one continuous piece of land. It was a park created by the city. The Olmsted Brothers created a plan for the park inspired by Charlesgate Park, where the Esplanade is now. The Cambridge “city fathers” wanted something just like that—a water park and a “play ground for the young.” It was inspired by envy. But a financial panic in 1893 got in the way.
All the parklands along the river were turned over to the Metropolitan District Commission in the 1920s for the purpose of consistent parkland management.
There’s a long history of people trying to make Magazine Beach better. There have been many different plans for the park over the years, most of which never were implemented. The last real improvements happened in the 70s, other than the 2009 city investment in new playing fields.”
The powder magazine at Magazine Beach in 1935, converted into a bath-house, with swimmers and beachgoers in the foreground.
2 What role has this (adjacent) neighborhood had in the history of Cambridge, and what is it like today?
“From the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, many immigrants lived in this part of Cambridge. There were many factories here and close by. Magazine Beach was created to provide a place where factory workers could cool off on hot summer days. Today, instead of soap, biscuit, candy, lantern and telescope factories, we have biotech and high tech companies. But the need remains: we all need “breathing spaces” to relax and revitalize along the river.”
3. Why is Magazine Beach an important place in your own mind?
“At 15 acres, it is Cambridge’s second largest park. It offers access to the river, old shade trees, cool breezes, the sky and the sunset. And it is the location of the oldest building on the Charles River Basin. As a community park, it represents the ideals of democracy—it is everyone’s green open space. It is a mixing ground.”
4. Are there animals at Magazine Beach? What can people do there?
“In addition to the 94+ bird species, there are rabbits and squirrels. It’s a favorite dog walking spot. Single and double shells launch from there at the Head of the Charles Regatta. It’s used by pick-up soccer players, Cambridge Youth Soccer, Cambridge Central Youth Baseball, Youth Lacrosse, the Boston University Academy Quidditch team, swimmers, and rowers (at Riverside Boat Club).” [Note: Click here for wildlife sightings at Magazine Beach]
Magazine Beach has been the venue for art activities, musical performances, and nature exploration for the past several years, supported by the Cambridge Arts Council, Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association, and other sponsors.
5. What’s the more recent history of the revitalization effort?
“The CNA has been working on the project since November 2010. For the past three summers, we’ve had a full roster of outdoor events at Magazine Beach.The CNA has been working with Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to revitalize the park and to restore it as a place of beauty. We’re committed not only to the revitalization of the park—we want to make sure its maintained. If there isn’t a “guardian” group, it may be forgotten.
With the help of Cambridge and private contributors, DCR has stabilized the exterior of the Powder Magazine. Cambridge just allotted another $100,000 to renovate the interior by adding public bathrooms and lighting, etc. (DCR will match this.)
The landscape is in design now. We hope to have “shovel-ready” plans by the end of the year. Then we need to find the money for park improvements.”
Notes:
Prospective community-oriented tenants for the powderhouse building should contact HCP.Requests@state.ma.us.
For the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation’s Presentation on 10/20/16 regarding the landscape plans for Magazine Beach, click here.
Mothers Out Front, a Cambridge-based organization with community teams in five states, educates and trains mothers and supporters to advocate and act for a “swift, just and complete” transition to renewable energy. Not a few Cambridge members have gone on to play roles in the growing national movement grappling with climate change through “grassroots organizing, personal and collective action, and a focus on shifting policy.” We caught up with Mothers Out Front Cambridge Community Team Co-Coordinators Zeyneb Magavi (right) and Leslie Bliss (left) at a city park recently. Magavi,a graduate student, has three daughters 12, 11, and 6. Bliss, an educator, also has three daughters, 24, 23, and 21.
1. What makes Mothers out Front different from other organizations working on the global warming issue?
Bliss: Since we’re building a grassroots national movement, there’s an emphasis on empowering others and creating leaders.
Magavi: Well, it’s run by women and it’s not hierarchical.
Bliss: We spend time building relationships with each other—within community teams, and with other Mothers Out Front in the state, across the country, and with allies. We give importance to taking the time to listen, connect, and respect.
Another difference is that we are focused on fossil fuel policies as an ethical choice. Environmental organizations have focused, in past years, on love of nature, on trees, etc.; others focus on the science of climate change. These are important, but Mothers Out Front has a very human focus.
Magavi: Mothers Out Front is based on a moral directive—that it is immoral to ruin the climate for our children’s future.
A multigenerational Mothers Out Front team flagged gas leaks in Cambridge in May, raising awareness that the leaked methane is 84 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide in the first twenty years of its release.
2. What have you told your daughters about climate change and how have they reacted?
Bliss: My kids have heard a lot of talk about it at home and are very aware of climate change. We were chatting with one of our daughters, who dreams of becoming an apple farmer. My husband reminded her that she’d have to look even farther north than New England to be able to do that. Our daughters have been part of mitigating our reliance on fossil fuels in the household.
Magavi: I think of discussing climate change with children the way any parent deals with any other parenting problem. It needs to be developmentally appropriate. My oldest two know the “big picture scary part” of climate change. My youngest (6) and I haven’t yet discussed it directly. The first step is to learn to love nature, understand how it works and that is a system. Once you understand that it’s a system, that you can understand more clearly how it can be disrupted by human activity.
Also, if you present a problem along with information about an action to address the problem, it avoids the anxiety in young kids. My middle daughter got really worried for a while. I brought her to a march, and her worry went away because she had done something about climate change and saw that other people are working hard on the problem. We’re giving them hope.
Bliss: At one point I was gathering postcards and sending them to Governor Baker. My daughter stepped up and said, “Oh, I’ll do that, too, mom.” This sort of thing creates a jumping off point, where you can connect and have a conversation about actions we can take.
3. How do you see the relationship between Black Lives Matter and Climate Activism?
Magavi: Both movements fight injustice. Often the infrastructure for fossil fuels extraction and delivery goes geographically through disadvantaged communities. If you step back in time and think of colonialism and the extraction of resources it involved, you can see a parallel, that the fossil fuel economy is being played out in a class way.
I’ve read a paper spelling out how inequity is the root cause of climate disruption. The main idea is that only from inequity and huge gap between haves and have nots can you get the kind of extraction and consumption of natural resources that has driven climate change.
Black Lives Matter UK recently had a sit-in at the London City airport (editor’s note: The airport is slated for expansion into adjacent neighborhoods). They were drawing attention to the fact that it’s the wealthy who fly in those airplanes, and it’s the front-line communities and the poor who suffer the most as a result of the environmental effects of the air travel industry.
Bliss: The No-DAPL movement is a recent example I’ve seen that’s really taken fire, highlighting the connection between injustice based on race and injustice based on climate.(Editor’s note: The “Dakota Access” Pipeline (DAPL) is a fracked-gas pipeline that will stretch from North Dakota’s Bakken shale fields through Lakota Treaty Territory and underneath the Missouri River, to Peoria, Illinois).
4. What does being part of Mothers Out Front mean to you personally?
Bliss: We’re pragmatic and get things done one step at a time—that’s how parenting is, too.
I’ve come to know know I’m not alone in being concerned about this. I have built strong relationships with other women in Mothers Out Front who are part of our Cambridge team. This has been deeply motivating and reassuring.
Magavi: I would second that. I would also say what’s been inspiring is the strength and brilliance of the women in the group. The way we work is so low stress. We work collaboratively —it’s a pleasure. It means a lot to me to take action on climate change through Mothers Out Front because it turns worry into a positive, meaningful action.
5. What does a member do? Can people who aren’t mothers join ?
Magavi: With Mothers Out Front, you can participate at any capacity you are able to do—from ‘liking’ the Mothers Out Front Facebook page to volunteering at a table at a community event. You can volunteer when you have free time, and then not, when you don’t. We’re mothers, so we understand about time constraints.
Bliss: Also—we are mothers, grandmothers, and allies. Anyone of any gender with or without children, can show up at events and support us. The organization is women-run (no man can be in a leadership role). We have people who say, “I have nephews and nieces, so I am very concerned about climate change because of them.” Or, “I’m a caregiver, and I’m very concerned.”
Jean Rogers has been Fresh Pond Reservation’s ranger since 1994.
1. Are you coming to the Honk! Parade on October 9th?
I am going to come, though I won’t be walking the entire parade route. You can see me helping launch the Cambridge Wildlife marching group in Davis Square as the parade begins, and I’ll be there again as the parade ends in Harvard Square.
I’m going to Honk! because it’s a way to reach out to people who are celebrating the fall season. The giant animal puppets, and the handmade costumes, help people be aware of the real animals that are all around us in the city. Anyone in Cambridge can march with Cambridge Wildlife. It’s a way to celebrate our connection to them. The Honk! band music makes it even more enjoyable!
2. Why is it important to people to know what animals live in Cambridge?
Well, what’s important is that we pay attention. We don’t want to take away things wild animals need or use up all the space ourselves. All of us are sharing the city with other people but we also sometimes forget we have animals in the city, wild animals that we might not think about very much. There’s so many animals that we need to be aware of—so that we don’t step on them or harm them in other ways. It’s nice to see the wildness of animals because we are part of nature, and we have wildness in us too.
3. What are some of the questions people ask you the most at Fresh Pond Reservation?
How far is it around the pond is the main one. People come to tell me about things they see. Because when they don’t know the name of an animal, they can’t find out more about it in a book, so they ask me to help them start to know something about it.
A lady came in the other day to say she noticed a turtle on the grass and wanted to know if it was okay. It was! Turtles come onto the land to lay their eggs. People don’t know when wild things are okay, and they worry whether an animal is in the right place or not. Also, they want to know what wild things eat and should they feed them. They shouldn’t. People think I take care of the wild things at Fresh Pond, but actually they take care of themselves.
4. What are three of the most fascinating animals at Fresh Pond?
Minks are fascinating because they are so athletic. They are really an all-terrain animal. They are on the water, they are in the water, they are up a tree; they are on the ground, they are under the ground. They chase chipmunks up trees. Chipmunks are their idea of a very good meal. You never expect to see chipmunks up in a tree! Minks are very wild. A mink will ignores us, try to not be visible to us; it will back away, do what ever it can to remain unseen.
I think rabbits are fascinating. They try to be invisible in plain sight—they just stay still..
The tree swallows that use our nesting boxes and other hollow areas in trees are interesting. They like to live near the water, where they can catch insects to feed their young. Every spring the same pairs come back to raise their young here. They follow us around to see which bird box they’re going to get, as we’re putting them up!
Tree swallow peeking out of Nesting Box #15 at Fresh Pond Reservation, Spring 2016.
5. What do you think surprises people about Fresh Pond?
Because so many people move so quickly here, they don’t notice a lot of things. Either that, or they’re using earphones or talking with a friend while walking. Most people are really surprised that, when they stay still and quiet for a bit, they see wild things.
The Isabella Tiger Moth is one of many you can see in Cambridge. It’s 
Cambridge Outdoors 
You must be logged in to post a comment.