Wildlife habitat restoration work begins at Rock Meadow, Belmont

Contractor Bruce Scherer uses a Brush Hog mower to clear invasive plants as part of the Rock Meadow wildlife habitat restoration project.

(left to right) Kaela Hale, Debbie Hartman of Friends of Rock Meadow, Jeff Collins of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Elizabeth McGuire of the Middlesex Conservation District and Kathryn Zichelle Sullivan of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service watch as restoration work begins at Rock Meadow.

Contractors Bruce Scherer and Chris Polatin discuss the Rock Meadow restoration project as Scherer prepares to clear invasive plants.

Contractor Chris Polatin (left) of Polatin Ecological Services and Soil Conservationist Kathryn Zichelle Sullivan of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service discuss the management plan for the Rock Meadow conservation area.

BELMONT, Mass. (August 10, 2007) -- Work to clear invasive species and restore 30 acres of grassland habitat at the Rock Meadow conservation area in Belmont began this week. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is providing $51,855 in federal cost-share assistance to the Town of Belmont over 10 years.

Under a management plan developed by the Belmont Conservation Commission in partnership with the Massachusetts Audubon Society, contractors Chris Polatin and Bruce Scherer powered up a tractor, Brush Hog mower and chainsaw to start clearing such invasive plants as Tree of Heaven, buckthorn, oriental bittersweet, swallow-wort and garlic mustard.

Rock Meadow Conservation Land is owned by the Town of Belmont under the authority of the Belmont Conservation Commission. The area includes 70 acres of meadowlands, wetlands, woodlands and community gardens. The meadow is being overtaken of invasive plants that are destroying both its historic character as a meadow and its habitat value for grassland birds. A group of residents formed the Friends of Rock Meadow to raise funds for land management activities to implement a management plan for the property.

A special Town Meeting was held to approve the project. According to Belmont Conservation Agent Mary Trudeau, documentation provided by NRCS, the Massachusetts Audubon Society and Polatin Ecological Services help secure the unanimous approval.

This project will restore and maintain 30 acres of grassland habitat for wildlife. Work will include clearing trees and shrubs, cutting vegetation and annual mowing, which will be delayed each year until after bird-nesting season. The project will benefit grassland bird species that are considered in decline in Massachusetts due to diminishing habitat.

The federal funding is provided by NRCS through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP). Through WHIP, NRCS provides technical and cost-share assistance to landowners to protect or restore valuable ecosystems and wildlife habitat on their property. Landowners may receive up to 75 percent of installation costs for conservation practices. In 2006, NRCS funded 51 WHIP projects on 1,700 acres of land in Massachusetts, for a total of $1.4 million.

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