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Pomeroy Terrace Conservation Area Sanders 2014.pdfPomeroy Terrace-Northampton School for Girls Conservation Area A Natural History of the Pomeroy Terrace Conservation Area By Laurie Sanders, M.S December 2014 It is hard to believe that just sixty years ago the land behind the former Northampton School for Girls, now Cutchins School, was an open clearing. Today this area is entirely wooded and includes a network of well-maintained trails. The dramatic change was due in large part to the land’s acquisition by the State of Massachusetts, which recently donated the surplus land to the City as conservation land. Vegetation Patterns Created over time by the Connecticut River, this nearly-level property lies within the 100-year flood- plain and includes a long swale that was once part of a river channel or flood trough. Today the swale receives water during extremely high flood events and more regularly, from drainage off the fair- Pomeroy Terrace-Northampton School for Girls Conservation Area 2 grounds, which flow into the swale via a long ditch adjacent to Cross Path Road. Historically this water would have drained to the Montview Conservation Area, but the dike (located at the conservation area’s southern border and constructed after the 1938 hurricane) acts as a barricade and the water eventually evaporates. During the last fifty years, this property has been left idle and over time, what was once a former playing field has developed into a seemingly mature forest. The canopy is dominated by silver maple, but includes impressive catalpas and an abundance of elm and Norway maple. The under- story is fairly diverse, but unfortunately many of the most abundant plants are non-native. These include Pomeroy Terrace-Northampton School for Girls Conservation Area 3 Asiatic bittersweet, Japanese knotweed, moneywort, privet, goutweed and more wintercreeper than any- where else in Northampton. The common native species are, in order of abundance, touch-me-not, sensi- tive fern, jumpseed, avens, poison ivy, wood nettle, mad-dog skullcap, elderberry, and silky dogwood. A small clearing near the dike has a swath of sensitive fern, touch-me-not, avens and goldenrod, as well as clusters of staghorn sumac and silky dogwood. North of the property, along the wet swale, are some massive pin oaks; they show up in the 1952 photograph. Recommendations 1. At this site, the invasive species appear too abundant to try to control. The wintercreeper is espe- cially problematic, but the management of any of these species seems beyond any reasonable invest- ment of time and money. Control invasives where they are encroaching on views and paths, but oth- erwise, the best course of action may be to do nothing. Clockwise from the top are three different views of the park-like forest. The last image is of the open clearing near the dike, which includes a thick swath of goldenrod and other forbs. A sewerline runs near here, which may be why this area is periodi- cally cleared. Pomeroy Terrace-Northampton School for Girls Conservation Area 4 2. Develop an agreement with College Church and/or Cutchins to maintain the trails and/or sell the property to one of these entities with restrictions for its future use. 3. Create a connecting trail from the flood control dike to this parcel and encourage greater public use of the property. This report was made possible with support from Northampton’s Community Preservation Fund. Photographs © Laurie Sanders. A waist-high “carpet” of touch-me-not in the foreground. The structure in the back is owned by the DPW. Meanwhile, a beau- tiful, interconnecting network of trails has been established on the property and is well-maintained, with wood chips and wooden bridges over the drainage ditches and swale.