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December Bird Walks
Winter’s cold dark days are upon us. But take heart! Our resident winter birds are still with us, ready to lift our spirits with their cheerful presence.
To stay active and outside this winter season, join GBLC and Berkshire Bird Observatory for our Winter Bird Walk series–back by popular demand.
We will meet on Saturdays at 10 AM at the Berkshire Food Co-op, from January through the end of March.
New to birding? That’s okay! Have a friend you’d like to introduce to the hobby? Bring them along! Everyone is welcome and the trail is handicap accessible.
Whether you come for the birds, comradery, or both you will surely have a good time.
Please register here. And feel free to share the link and/or distribute the attached flyer.
We look forward to seeing you on the trail.
This series is sponsored by Ben Nickley, President and Executive Director, Berkshire Bird Observatory
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River Walk Works to Protect the Northern Red Oak on Bridge Street
We are working to protect the historic northern red oak adjacent to the downstream section of River Walk on Bridge Street.
Northern red oaks are valued symbolically by humans for their beauty and perceived strength. Many visitors to River Walk take notice of this regal tree which provides dense shade in the summer and vibrant colors in the autumn.
Northern red oak trees provide critical food resources and habitats to over 1,000 different species of mammals, birds, and insects. For this reason northern red oak trees are considered a keystone species, or an organism that has an outsized impact on its ecosystem. Keystone species maintain ecological balance – their disappearance can trigger negative effects throughout an ecosystem.
The Oak Tree Garden serves a few purposes. The native plantings add a foliage layer to collect moisture, they trap leaves and other dead organic materials which protects the soil, and they provide habitats for a variety of organisms. Native plants have stronger and more extensive root structures that allow moisture to pass through the soil more deeply and more easily, and the roots keep the soil in place during flooding events. So far we have planted: Uvularia grandiflora (large-flowered bellwort), Matteuccia struthiopteris(ostrich fern), Eurybia schreberi (Schreber’s wood-aster), and Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod).
Currently the wire fencing around the oak’s trunk prevents beaver damage. In the coming months you will notice a new fence made from repurposed fence rails and bittersweet vines that will protect the oak and its companion native plants from compaction by vehicle and foot traffic.
The GBLC team will be gathering large and interesting sections of bittersweet vine to create the protective enclosure. Donations are welcome! Contact christine@gbland.org if you would like to donate your bittersweet cuttings.
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Let’s celebrate the success of our premier Walk for Conservation – a Joyful day of Community action!
On Sunday, October 12th, 2025 a strong volunteer team and 75 champion walkers helped to provide our community with Great Barrington Land Conservancy’s premier Walk for Conservation. Friends and families used the event to connect with each other and show their support for a walkable community.
See Photos It was a really fun day of community action!
Together we worked to raise the funds needed to keep Great Barrington Land Conservancy strong and able to do the work we do for land conservation, farm preservation, and of course, community trails.
We believe that community trails that connect us to nature and to each other are essential to community wellbeing.
Many thanks to the 23 local businesses that pitched in to support this new fundraiser aimed at helping GBLC meet the costs required to keep River Walk, the River Front Trail, trails at Lake Mansfield and at the Pfieffer Arboretum open to all! This year GBLC’s work included engaging the community in the care and improvement of the native habitats that can be appreciated and enjoyed each and every day, why not take a walk today?
We are deeply grateful to all who helped to make the 2025 Walk for Conservation a big success, and we are already planning on ways to strengthen the event for 2026!
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THANK YOU HEVREH! You made a BIG difference on the Riverfront Trail!
On Sunday, October 19th, twenty- two Hevreh volunteers gathered to help on the southern portion of the Riverfront Trail located on Bridge Street.
Their mission was to battle the invasive plants that are overwhelming this riparian ecosystem area. The industrious adults and kids quickly learned to identify and remove bittersweet, burning bush, and multiflora rose.
GBLC Board Member and work party leader Jane Angelini was impressed! ” The group was so well organized and ambitious! I couldn’t believe how hard they all worked and how much they accomplished! ”
The mission of Great Barrington Land Conservancy is to engage the community in conservation and stewardship. The work party demonstrated how each of us can make a difference – especially when we work together! This Hevreh work group donated a total of 44 hours of community service and made a big difference for the environment!
Thank you Hevreh volunteers! You’re amazing!
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Remembering Shep Evans – A Champion for Conservation in Berkshire County
Remembering Shep Evan
Rarely does a day go by that I don’t think about Shep as a friend, a great naturalist, and the many ways he supported conservation efforts in the Berkshires and mentored GBLC regarding land protection and stewardship. Many folks think of Shep when we hear peepers begin to chorus in spring or the faint echo of peeper calls around fall equinox, when daylength matches spring. Shep was the creator of the annual Spring Peeper Stampede, a lighthearted competition to see who would hear, or most accurately predict the date and time of, the first peeper chorus in the Housatonic river watershed from Pittsfield to the Connecticut state line. Each year, the lucky winners, in both categories, were treated to a midday meal with Shep at The Red Lion Inn!
Along with serving on many conservation organization boards, Shep is credited with writing much of the Berkshire Scenic Mountain Act which became Mass. General Law, Chapter 131, Section 39A, in 2006. This act allows individual cities and towns in Berkshire County to adopt local regulations to protect their mountain regions, to preserve the natural scenic qualities of the environment, and protect critical watershed resources from activities that could cause erosion, flooding, and water pollution. Shep was the force behind Great Barrington adopting the Scenic Mountain Act later that year.
He also played a critical role in a collaborative campaign for adoption of the Community Preservation Act (CPA) by Great Barrington voters in 2011/12, which allows the town to receive and allocate local and state funding for open space protection, historic preservation, affordable housing, and outdoor recreation. Since 2015, well over $4 million has been awarded to dozens of CPA projects in Great Barrington, including the Riverfront Trail along the Housatonic River at Bridge Street and Brookside Road and the recently completed Lake Mansfield Recreation Trail and shoreline restoration project, and many others.
GBLC’s board president, Christine Ward, remembers Shep serving as GBLC president and later as Great Barrington”s Conservation Agent and his steadfast support of the lake Mansfield improvement efforts, and how he played a crucial role with his unwavering advocacy for Lake Mansfield road closure instead of a one-way road, so that substantial habitat restoration could be accomplished. Similarly, he was a powerful voice pushing for remediation of illegal tree cutting and removal (by an abutter) of the Pfeiffer Arboretum and other protected land bordering Long Pong. Ever a birder and ecologist, Shep also advocated for improved mowing practices, habitat management, and signage to support Bobolinks, an uncommon bird from South American, that nest in the fields at the town’s McAllister Wildlife Refuge.
Shep’s legacy runs deep. We are deeply grateful for his decades of service and encourage everyone to follow Shep’s role model and find ways to support land conservation and wildlife habitat protection in the Berkshires as a member and volunteer with GBLC, BNRC, BEAT, HVA, and other like-minded organizations in our communities.
Shep Evans passed away on July 18, 2025
– written by Dale Abrams 9.23.25
Other links:
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2025 Walk for Conservation – Sunday, October 12th, 2025 / 10am – 1pm, start at Olympian Meadows.
Join us Sunday, October 12 for the 1st Annual GBLC Champions Walk for Conservation!
GBLC’s Walk for Conservation is a community event celebrating the importance of Trails for All.
All are welcome, you can pre-register or sign in at the Walk Start. Donations are welcome but not required.
The walk begins and ends at Olympian Meadows located at 578 S Main St, Great Barrington, MA (See Map and get directions)
This fundraiser for Great Barrington Land Conservancy is aimed at supporting local conservation and trail stewardship. Community Trails are essential to community health. A strong town-wide trail system includes accessible trails that allow everyone to experience nature and to connect to recreation and fellow community members. In this way we can support the physical health and mental health of a diverse community each and every day.
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Berkshire Edge: Great Barrington Land Conservancy fundraiser celebrates Lake Mansfield improvements and community collaboration
June 12, 2025 -Written by Kateri Kosek
The Great Barrington Land Conservancy, which stewards the town-owned Lake Mansfield Recreation Area, was celebrating the completion of years of improvements to the tranquil public space, which feels much more removed than it is from the bustle of downtown.
Great Barrington — On Saturday, June 7, the rain let up just in time for the Great Barrington Land Conservancy’s (GBLC) third annual Bluegrass Celebration and Fundraiser to get off to a slightly delayed start on the shores of Lake Mansfield. Again, the bluegrass trio of GBLC board member Kate Roblin on fiddle, Sam Clement on guitar, and Dave Lawlor on mandolin entertained a modest but enthusiastic crowd, though the musicians opted for an unamplified, acoustic set due to a threat of lightning. The community event was free; the nonprofit gratefully accepted donations and even garnered a few new volunteers through the event. As Director Christine Ward noted, SoCo Creamery, which has always donated very generously to their organization, provided free ice cream.
The Great Barrington Land Conservancy, which stewards the town-owned Lake Mansfield Recreation Area, was celebrating the completion of years of improvements to the tranquil public space, which feels much more removed than it is from the bustle of downtown. The projects have been a collaborative effort between the GBLC, the town, the Department of Public Works, and the town-appointed Lake Mansfield Improvement Task Force.
So the group, which maintains the River Walk and Riverfront Trails as well as trails at Pfeiffer Arboretum, is in need of fiscal support from the community, said Ward. “It’s a real challenge, because there’s a lot of need right now.” Despite generous in-kind donors, GBLC does finance a lot of their purchases. They also frequently hire Greenagers to work on their trails, investing in young people. This spring, a Greenagers trail crew fixed the ailing trail entrance from Christian Hill Road to Lake Mansfield Conservation Forest. “They literally moved tons of crushed stone to make it a more accessible trail,” said Ward.
They can always use more volunteers, too, to help with trail maintenance or pulling invasive species. GBLC will hold another volunteer work day on Saturday morning, June 21. The public is also welcome to attend their community meeting Tuesday, June 24, at Berkshire Food Co-op, to learn more about the nonprofit’s accomplishments, goals, and upcoming events.
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Community Volunteers plant more Trees and Shrubs at Lake Mansfield!
On May 17th, 2025 20 GBLC and GB Rotary Volunteers planted 30 trees, and then mulched 73 recently planted trees and shrub and many more trees planted last November! Great Barrington Land Conservancy is committed to re-wilding the lake and trails edges in the recently improved Lake Mansfield Recreation Area.
We also weeded and mulched an elm, a red maple, and a sugar maple planted a decade or so ago by the GB Garden Club. The forest trails were raked, litter was picked up, and burning bush and garlic mustard, two invasive species, were removed from the forest!
It truly was an amazing day! Our volunteers ranged in age from 2 to 65+ year old! Preceding the work party, two smaller volunteer squads planted 43 trees and shrubs and sprayed plant material to repel deer who are eager to nibble on emerging leaves. (See the complete new plant list below)
Thank you to Rotary Volunteers for collaborating with GBLC on the Lake Mansfield Project. Plant material was purchased through the generosity of GBLC- Lake Mansfield donors. Thank you to the GB DPW for providing the mulch needed to help our new trees and shrubs succeed!
MORE PLANTING COMING! Let us know if you would like to help with the planting of perennials planned for this space: Email us at info@gbland.org.
Want to join us next time? Lake Mansfield Volunteer Day Two: Beach Area and Lakeside Trail – Saturday, May 31st 9:30-11:30AM
TREES
- 5 AMELANCHIER ARBOREA or CANADENSIS SERVICEBERRY/SHADBUSH
- 3 ACER RUBRUM RED MAPLE
- 1 NYSSA SYLVATICA BLACK GUM
- 1 QUERCUS BICOLOR SWAMP WHITE OAK
- 1 BETULA LENTA BLACK BIRCH
- 1 Carpinus caroliniana American hornbeam
SHRUBS:
- 7 Amelanchier laevis SMOOTH SERVICEBERRY
- 7 Hamamelis virginiana American witch-hazel
- 7 VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM highbush blueberry
- 5 ARONIA MELANOCARPA BLACK CHOKEBERRY
- 5 LINDERA BENZOIN NORTHERN SPICEBUSH
- 3 ALNUS INCANA SPECKLED ALDER
- 3 VIBURNUM DENTATUM ARROWWOOD VIBURNUM
- 9 CLETHRA ALNIFOLIA SUMMERSWEET
- 5 SWIDA (CORNUS) AMOMUM SILKY DOGWOOD
- 5 Corylus cornuta sub america Beaked hazelnut
- 6 ROSA PALUSTRIS SWAMP ROSE
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The Lake Mansfield Spring 2025 Newsletter is here!
Our spring newsletter is brimming with information about the power of working side-by-side to care for this treasured space and about our upcoming community programs.
INSIDE:
Improvements
Parks are for Everyone
Community Planting
Greenagers Trail Crew
Grappling with Geese
Community Programs
