The Charles River Parklands

How much do you love your London Plane Trees?

2012-02-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

Perhaps you might recognize them by their more common identity as Charles Eliot’s sycamore trees, as they have lined Memorial Drive in Cambridge since April of 1897. In any case, these trees and the streetscape at large were threatened by an insensitive road re-design in the early 1960s—a plan which sparked an outpouring of community resistance and demonstrations of dentritic attachment.

In 1962, the state legislature passed a bill allowing for significant changes to be made to the road design of Memorial Drive. The initiative from MDC outlined only the construction of three underpasses, which were planned for River Street, Western Avenue, and Boylston Street (JFK Street). However, community groups such as Cambridge Civic Association and Organization Ten, as well as individual community members, feared that eventually Memorial Drive would be widened to an inhospitable eyesore of an expressway, with lanes soaring over and above the existing road, constructed expensively and necessitating the removal of Charles Eliot’s trees. This prospect inspired the formation of a Citizens’ Emergency Committee to Save Memorial Drive, and the group became quite outspoken in 1964 once the actual construction plans for were revealed.

Besides calling for six million dollars of taxpayer money, the project threatened usurping recreation space, weakening the urban planning, and either chopping or transplanting up to 130 trees, including 35 sycamores. As an aside, the interest prompted investigation of the trees’ origin, and consensus was reached by experts from the Arnold Arboretum, the British Horticultural Society, and the Embassy of Thailand that Memorial Drive was in fact lined with Platanus x acerifolia—the London Plane tree—a hybrid of American and Eurasian Platanus trees.

Among the more high-profile protestors, Edward Bernays, appropriately enough in his role as the father of Public Relations and co-founder of the Citizens’ Emergency Committee, successfully garnered support for the Citizens’ Committee’s cause from key political figures, prominent citizens, and the national media.

A group of students were also spurred into action by the immediate threat to the trees posed by construction of a Memorial Drive underpass at Boylston Street. Close to a thousand Harvard and Radcliffe students formed a human roadblock, prompting The Harvard Crimson to report, “undergraduates joined the fun by staging a Save the Sycamore “protest” which held up Memorial Drive traffic for an hour and caused the MDC to bring on the canines” (Matthews, 05 May 1965). The Citizens’ Committee also formed a subgroup of members, affectionately called the Minutemen (a nod to the valor of the Concord Minutemen of 1775), to stand sentinel by the trees should MDC come by in the dawn hours to cut.

Eventually, the plan was postponed, reduced, and then finally revoked by the end of 1965.

Christina Antiporda, Charles River Conservancy

Reflections on a River (updated)

2012-02-14T10:02:00.001-05:00

The excitement of being on my own so far away from home, seeing Boston for the first time — that was how I felt when as a young woman many years ago, I arrived in the city, a senior from a small Kansas college pursuing career prospects in teaching.

A high school friend met me in Park Square for a quick tour around the Common, and we stopped at Bailey’s for ice cream and my first “jimmies” (sprinkles). Then we took the Red Line from Park to Harvard Square. As the subway headed up out of the dark tunnel, I was amazed to see the jewel that was the Charles River basin, sparkling in the sunlight for one brief moment as the train rode over the Longfellow Bridge. I will never forget that first view in April when the sailboats were out on the water.

Two years after that experience, I moved to Boston and continued my interest in the Charles: taking bicycle trips from Watertown to Boston, learning to sail at Community Boating, and filming a demonstration of a sailboat rigging for the first video I made on a reel-to-reel video recorder for an assignment at Boston University. I still have somewhere in my attic a painting I had made of the Charles River basin at sunset, and somewhere there may be a slide tape of a river cleanup that my eighth-^h grade English class produced as we explored a stream in a section of Waltham near the Lyman Estate.

Later, as a teacher in an elementary school across from the red brick Waltham Watch building, I escorted student groups along the Riverwalk to the public library. My son and I paddled a double kayak one Mother’s Day at the Newton Charles River kayak and canoe center, and my husband and I watched the Regatta from the shores in Cambridge and the Run of the River in Waltham, biking along the Upper Charles River Reservation from Watertown to Newton – always making new discoveries.

So it was no surprise to my friends when I decided one summer to learn about the river firsthand from beginning to end after reading Max Hall’s book The People’s River. On a beautiful July day, I started in Hopkinton, and I have been exploring ever since. I have spent many hours looking at maps and print media then making watercolor paintings and writing about the various sites along the waterway, and every time I needed inspiration, I would go to some area of the river and be refreshed and recharged to go back to one of my projects.

Taking part in river cleanups and reading literature about the health of the watershed contributed to an awareness of how to be a steward and led to my interest in stream surveys in my suburban town. The river’s resiliency is quite amazing, having been used for industrial dumping, with dams slowing and stagnating the current, and all manner of construction close to the water’s edge. We are grateful for the far-sighted people in the 1960s who began to pay attention to the needs of the river. Since then we have watched impressive new parks and plantings appear along the green corridor that borders the river.

. . . and I will continue to go down to the river and celebrate its beauty and its promise, and I will always enjoy that moment when the train surfaces from the dark underground for that view of the basin from the Longellow Bridge.

by Kathleen Rowe

Oysters Reintroduced to Boston Harbor in 2008!

2011-11-22T08:53:00.001-05:00

The Charles River used to be teeming with oysters. Up until the 20^th century, oysters could be harvested in the Charles that were up to a foot long! These amazing bivalves are filter feeders and can process and filter up to 30 gallons of water a day and undergo nitrogen fixation.

However, due to loss of habitat through river fill, pollution, and over harvesting, oysters have not been present in the river for decades. Thanks to a group called the Massachusetts Oyster Project, oysters were reintroduced in the Boston Harbor in 2008! They placed 150,000 oysters at the mouth of the Charles River. Due to the dam placed at the Museum of Science in the early 1900’s, the Charles River is no longer an ideal habitat for oysters. The brackish water- or mix of salt and freshwater at the mouth of the Charles is the perfect spot for oysters. The spot is also ideal because it's an area where it's difficult for people to harvest them. This is especially important for oysters that also filter and process sewage- they could be carriers of salmonella or other harmful bacteria.

Each year the Massachusetts Oyster Project places more oysters that have been lost due to predation or mortality from too much silt. To see more about this cool project, or perhaps to volunteer to help seed the Boston Harbor with oysters, please visit www.massoyster.org

Have you been to Herter Park?

2011-11-16T10:40:00.004-05:00

Before I began working at the Conservancy I had never set foot in Herter Park, nor had I heard of this area of the parklands that is located along the riverbank in Allston, but the more I’ve learned, the more I am surprised that it’s remained under-wraps for so long. Not only does Herter Park have a fascinating history, but it is the largest section of open parkland in the Basin. In a city as busy as Boston, that’s definitely something to brag about!

Herter Park is worth a trip. With two community gardens, the recently renovated Artesani Playground, a huge open lawn that draws volleyball players and picnickers, and a Charles River Canoe & Kayak rental kiosk, this area of the parkland has something for everyone.

Like me, you probably didn't know that this section of the park used to be home to a speedway. It’s true! The Charles River Speedway was constructed in 1899 to serve as a racing track and promenade for horse-drawn vehicles. For many years the Speedway was an active venue for horseshoes, horse racing, and carriages. But by the late 1950s the automobile had become king, and, as buggies and carriages fell out of fashion, the land was turned over to general recreational use. Herter Park is now the finish line for two of the biggest water sports in the nation – the Head of the Charles Regatta and the Run of the Charles canoe and kayak race.

Snow Scene by Frank Costantino

With winter upon us and snow in the near future, Herter Park is a great place to cross-country ski and snowshoe, and ample free public parking is available. The snow is coming but that's no reason to stay indoors. Get out and have fun in the Charles River Parklands!

N. Twigg

Associate Director

Charles River Conservancy

Testing the Waters

2011-10-31T14:10:00.000-04:00


Xiaodan with two samples

As a member of the Charles River water quality monitoring team - a collaboration between the Charles River Conservancy and Northeastern University - I've experienced the joys and challenges of being out on the river every single day, for two summers in a row now!

Another member of the monitoring team at work

During the summer of 2011, we followed a day-to-day procedure of sampling, monitoring and analyzing the water quality to help determine the safety for swimming. There were three spots along the Charles spreading out from upstream to downstream under our monitoring. We had a cycling team including Kellie, Robert and myself to access all these spots and perform water collection every day. After we collected the samples we took them back to the environmental lab at Northeastern University to process and analyze them.

The most challenging day of this project was when Hurricane Irene swept over Boston. Under the severe weather conditions, we collected the precious samples as usual in the midst of flying branches and collapsing trees. It was worth the risk though.

Cyanobacteria under the microscope

The data obtained over the past two summers helps build up a foundation to study and understand the Charles under various conditions and will help to bring people back to swim in it. We're looking forward to having you join us to help get the Charles cleaner.

Xiaodan Ruan
PhD Candidate
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Northeastern University

Note: Results from this summer’s testing will be available in the coming months. The Conservancy looks forward to sharing the details with you.

photos courtesy of Dr. Ferdi Hellweger, Northeastern University

Beautiful fall foliage along the river!

2011-10-26T14:15:00.000-04:00

You may have noticed the beautiful fall foliage along the river. Autumn is a great time to observe the leaves changing from green to a beautiful oranges, reds, and yellows. But have you ever wondered why the leaves change color?

The process has to do with the changing of pigments in the leaves. Chrlorophyll which is normally present in the leaves produces a green pigment that acts as the dominant color throughout the season. During autumn, the chlorophyll, which allows leaves to manufacture sunlight into food, stops being produced and therefore allows the the other colored pigments, such as carotenoids to show through. Cartenoids produce yellow, orange, and brown colors (also found in foods like corn, carrots, and bananas). Anthocyanins produce shades of red in the leaves and are produced only in the autumn, when bright sunlight and excess plant sugars are available inside the leaf cells (anthocyanins produce the red colors in cranberries, red apples, cherries, and strawberries). Now when you look at the leaves you can think about all the cool processes that are happening to create this beautiful fall display. But don't trust me- check it out for yourself!

If you're looking for more beautiful fall foliage, and perhaps a day trip or hike, then call the Forest Service's Fall Color Hotline at 1-800-354-4595 for the most up to date details of the fall color display.

Charles River Dam - check it out!

2011-10-05T16:50:00.001-04:00

In the coming weeks the Department of Conservation and Recreation will offer two free tours of the Charles River Dam. Now, if you’re like me you’ve passed this structure multiple times by bike, kayak, or Duck Boat but never really stopped to understand its importance.

Did you know that it provides flood protection for over 2,400 acres of urban property along the banks of the Charles River??? That its six pumps have the capacity to move more than three million gallons a minute???

The Charles River Dam has won several architectural awards, including the Presidential Award for Design Excellence, which honors projects that represent the highest standards of Federal design in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and planning, historic preservation, interior design, engineering, graphic design and products and industrial design

Pretty impressive!

Want to find out more? Join the DCR for these free one-hour Ranger-led tours of the structure and pumping facility on October 29^th and again on November 19^th (2-3pm). The groups will meet at the Paul Revere Park flagpoles located below the Charles River Bridge in Boston.

Adventures with the Charles River Cleanup Boat!

2011-08-22T14:05:00.000-04:00

The different types of trash we found in the river

Sarahbeth and I went on the Charles River Cleanup Boat this week. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Our captain for the day, Tom, was fantastic and has been running the cleanup boat for several years now. We started at Community Rowing and rode all the way up to the Museum of Science, scooping up bottle caps, plastic bags, and assorted trash on our way. The most interesting thing we found was a large Styrofoam ball. It's amazing what people throw out and what ends up in the river! If you're interested in joining the Cleanup Boat, go to www.cleanupboat.org. They're looking for volunteers in September and it's a great way to see the river from a different angle!

The day's haul of garbage!