October 25, 2016

“A Place in Nature for Everyone”

In 2012, PCT acquired a 6 acre parcel of land, located between E. Green and East Streets, consisting of a large meadow, surrounding woodlands and two small brooks, adjacent to its most visited property, the Brickyard Brook Conservation Area (11 acres).  After considerable deliberation, the Board decided that, given the mostly flat terrain here and other factors, the property would be an ideal location for an accessible trail, designed for visitors of all abilities to use and enjoy.

The Mutter’s Field Accessible Trail (MFAT) consists of an 1800-foot loop skirting a 2-acre meadow, with a connection to our non-accessible, Brickyard Brook trail. The trail offers a quality, passive outdoor recreation opportunity for people of all abilities, in a tranquil setting with striking views of Mt. Tom. Along the trail, we’ve installed seven, beautiful accessible benches and picnic tables, built by Easthampton carpenter and PCT supporter, Kevin Mulligan.

Some of the features you will find here include:

• An accessible picnic area, adjacent to the trail
• Plantings of native grasses, flowering plants and shrubs
• Two field stone raised bed butterfly gardens, planted with native flowering plants (donated by Dr. Leslie Harrington)
• An entrance and parking area at East St. with 2 designated handicapped spaces
• An improved entrance at the end of E. Green St.
• An inclement weather shelter with two accessible benches

In the fall of 2016, we installed five colorful, interpretive signs, created to educate visitors about some of the natural features found at the trail. In addition, PCT began the process of controlling/eradicating non-native plants that have invaded much of the property. Over the next several years, we hope to restore it to a place where native plant species can flourish.

It is expensive to maintain a property like Mutter’s Field. PCT, an all-volunteer non-profit organization, has limited resources to keep this property looking beautiful. Therefore, we hope you will support us by donating to our MFAT maintenance endowment fund. We are also seeking volunteers to help out in a variety of ways. Please contact us if you’d like to contribute your time and skills to this most worthy cause.

Thank you to all who have helped make this dream a reality for all of us to enjoy!

Description:

This 16.3 acre property lies on the western edge of Easthampton, with the south branch of the Manhan River forming its western boundary. The majority of the property is wetland, but there is an upland component too.

The Red Maple Forest is the largest community. It includes a section of shrub wetland in the southern half, which is  made up of impenetrable silky dogwood and multiflora rose with some Morrow’s honeysuckle as well. A floodplain red maple forest on the northern section is mostly red maple in the canopy with a little elm and ash. There are lots of multiflora rose in the understory. This community also includes a narrow strip along the west boundary is a mixed hardwood forest with red and black oak, black birch and maple. Some streams enter into this portion from the east, coming down some steep and muddy ravines.

On an elevated bench at the north end is a White Pine Forest. This stand is a good habitat for roosting or nesting owls, hawks, or crows. The shrub layer in it is sparse, but contains lowbush blueberry, arrowwood, burning bush, glossy buckthorn, and Japanese barberry. These last three species are all invasive and likely colonized here following this stand’s history as a pasture, which is evidenced by some sprawling juniper bushes. In the ground layer are lots of seedlings of bittersweet along with such common plants as Christmas fern, Canada mayflower, intermediate wood fern, and princess pine.

The third community is a vernal pool almost completely filled with buttonbush.

The fourth community is a shallow marsh that is a beaver-flooded wetland with somewhat more diversity. In addition to buttonbush it also contains cut-grass, halberd-leaf tearthumb, dodder, and spotted touch-me-not. There is a small area of open water in the center.

The Manhan River itself is 20-25 ft wide, 1-3 ft deep, has a silty, sandy bottom, and mud banks 6-7 ft high. It is mostly unshaded in this section.

Assets:

The best features of this property are its relatively large size and its lack of disturbance by humans (except indirectly by the invasive plants). The conservation status of this property helps retain the integrity of the Manhan River corridor. The Manhan River here is classified as Living Waters Core Habitat and the conservation area itself is included in BioMap Core Habitat. The NHESP database indicates that three rare species have been recorded in the vicinity of this area.

The birds seen here are a mix of forest species, open-shrubby species, and those who utilize the river.

Accessible to the Public: Yes

Click here to view a virtual tour of Pomeroy Meadows.

Access to trails is at the end of Ranch Ave. Refer to maps.

Description:

Located on the south shore of Rubber Thread Pond and adjacent to City Hall, this tiny, but popular half-acre conservation in the center of town has big management issues, as well as many assets. The property, located on the south shore of Rubber Thread Pond is primarily used for fishing. The shoreline here is accessed by a trail through a forested strip between the pond and Lake Street. At the east side of the conservation area there is a small parking area,a gazebo, picnic site, and steps down to the water. At the west end of the property is a small open area under two large sugar maples.

The woods along the shore contain primarily sugar maple, red maple, and red oak, with lesser amounts of Norway maple, black locust, paper birch and white ash. The shrub layer is mostly sugar maple but also contains Norway maple, false indigo (a non-native but non-invasive species), Japanese barberry and several other native and non-native species. The ground layer is a mix of herbs, ferns, and grasses, most of which are native.

Assets:

Despite the challenges from being an in-town park, this property provides city dwellers a taste of nature, and does have valuable habitat features for wildlife. The landscaped area has been thoughtfully planted with a variety of non-invasive fruit-bearing shrubs. A shadbush tree planted by the parking area provides ripe fruit for birds.

This park is a rejuvenating spot for people on their lunch break, nearby residents seeking some contact with nature, or for fishing.

Trails: Yes