By Charlie McCabe
Volunteers building new approaches to the footbridge using gathered rock and soil
One of the best ways for me to recharge my batteries is to get outside and volunteer in a nearby park or open space. No matter what the season, there's always something to do, and there's a lot of satisfaction in taking a challenge and working with others to figure out a solution. Currently, my primary volunteer efforts are through the Friends of the Middlesex Fells, a local nonprofit with three full-time staff, plus a number of seasonal staff and a TerraCorps volunteer. Middlesex Fells is a 2300-acre forested natural area bisected by an interstate highway and surrounded by six cities/towns, one of which I live in. I can reach a portion of the Fells by walking 15-20 minutes from my house.
Digging out all of the extra rocks and soil from the upstream end of the culvert.
The Fells is a beautiful, hilly, rocky space with miles of trails, vernal pools, and lots of native flora and fauna. It also has invasive species of plants and trees, eroded trails with crumbling culverts, and lots of visitors. The Friends of the Fells works on these issues in partnership with the Department of Conservation and Recreation or DCR, which is the state parks agency. Our local DCR staff are few in number and appreciate the assistance we can provide.
I've been volunteering as a Trail Adopter for a number of years. This involves walking the trails, noting issues (fallen trees, blocked paths, clogged drainages, trail damage, etc.), documenting them (via a customized app on my phone), and fixing the problem if I can. Often this leads me to locating a clogged pipe or culvert that runs alongside or beneath a trail and working to unclog it. I've built up my knowledge on what works over the past few years. As with any volunteer project, it is a bit of trial and error and I assume that I'll have to return to check my work (repeatedly) and continue to tweak fixes. The photos below show a typical before and after — a pipe that has been mostly buried in soil and leaves, followed by the pipe opened up and armored with with rocks to slow future clogging. It goes without saying that there's a lot of digging before the second step of gathering and placing rocks.
Before (top) and after (bottom)
We recently took advantage of a fall drought to repair a trail that floods regularly after heavy rain or with melting snow. This particular trail is heavily used, with a trailside stream running from a spring-fed pond down to a big culvert or pipe that cuts across the trail and into the creek. It also has a small footbridge that allows users to cross when the culvert is clogged or overflowing and the water is flooding across or down the trail. The stream, the culvert, and the bridge all needed work, so we proposed a series of workdays to our DCR team and they gave us the go-ahead to begin repairs.
January 2023: Mid-winter unclogging of the upstream end of the culvert (and yes, that water was frigid!)
We've held two volunteer days thus far and 20+ people have joined us each time. The amount of work we've been able to accomplish has been amazing, and we're hosting a third workday to address some additional issues in the same area. No doubt, we'll get a lot more water running down the stream that will overflow the pipe, but so far the redesign seems to be working and I'll continue to monitor it and tweak it when necessary.
Volunteers digging down under a footing so we can re-level the footbridge
(which had been pushed up by flooding)
Completed footbridge with new approaches built of rock and soil
This is all prelude to say that if you're feeling down, getting outside really helps. While a walk in a park and a forest is great, try combining that with a little volunteering. Moving rocks and unclogging culverts is one way, but there are many organizations that could use your help in any way, and you'll immediately see what a difference you can make.
Our great group of volunteers from our mid-November 2024 workday
Water flowing into the upstream end of the culvert.
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