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BroadBrook-FitzgeraldLakeGreenway-Pine Brook-Natural and Human History-7.1.20201 Natural & Human History of the Wilbur Property, Northampton, MA Prepared by Laurie Sanders, M.S. Conservation Works, LLC 1 July 2020 Summary The acquisition of the 53-acre Wilbur property fills in another important piece of the complicated jigsaw puzzle of parcels that form the Broad Brook-Fitzgerald Lake Greenway, the City’s largest (>900 acres) and most visited conservation area. Bounded by Boggy Meadow Road on the northeast, this land is surrounded on its northern half by protected open space. To the south, the future use of the abutting parcels is mostly known: the Lathrop Community is fully built out and the cemetery land’s use is designated (Figure 1). Most of the property is forested, rocky uplands, much of which was timbered during a 2018 shelterwood cut that created multiple small openings that are now succeeding into thickets. In addition, the property includes a wooded stream (Pine Brook), two areas with perched wetlands, and part of a beaver pond and shallow marsh. Collectively, these habitats support a higher-than-expected number of plant species, which in turn increase its animal diversity. In addition, the land’s location, not far from the Connecticut River, heightens its value for migratory birds and the property’s position within a larger block of protected land makes it of greater value to wildlife with larger home ranges, e.g. bear, moose, bobcat and forest specialists, like wood thrushes and scarlet tanagers. Wilbur Figure 1. The Wilbur property is located not far from the Connecticut River and walking distance to Fitzgerald Lake. A small cove of open water and shallow marsh on the Wilbur property. This area connects to a much larger marsh, which can be seen in the distance and is readily visible from Boggy Meadow Road. A beaver deceiver was installed at this beaver dam to regulate the water level. From here, Pine Brook flows almost due south, through the Lathrop property, under Cooke Avenue and then through a culvert below the Big Y parking lot, Route 91 and the RR tracks before daylighting near the horseshoe bend in the Connecticut River. Lathrop Cemetery Fitzgerald Lake 2 Although the property lies outside of any Priority Habitat for Rare Species (dark green), it does include Critical Supporting Landscape (light green with hatching and dark blue) (Figure 3). Furthermore, this area provides habitat for many species in decline and also appears to include suitable habitat for the endangered Bush’s Sedge (Carex bushii). When it comes to management concerns, most of the property is free of invasive plants. Of the invasive species present, the most widespread is Asiatic bittersweet. Other invasive plants on the site include, in order of frequency, multiflora rose, garlic mustard, Japanese barberry, winged euonymus, Morrow’s honeysuckle, tree-of-heaven, autumn olive, Amur corktree, glossy buckthorn, Norway maple, winter creeper, myrtle and ragged robin. The highest concentrations of invasive plants occur along Boggy Meadow Road and in the property’s southeast corner, near the boundary between the Lathrop property and the cemetery land owned by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield. Other occurrences are isolated and show up along the stream corridor, in the clearings created through the recent timber operation and on some of the rocky knobs. Figure 3. The north end of the Wilbur property (yellow) includes Critical Natural Landscape Habitat and supports species in decline, like the green heron in the photo. Above, one of many young tree-of-heaven saplings (Ailanthus altissima) found growing in the sunny clearings that were created during the 2018 timber harvest. In the foreground is another non-native, one of two stems of woodland figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) found on the property. Left, a single Amur corktree (Phellodendron amurense) was found growing near the beaver pond. Both tree-of-heaven and corktree should be controlled. 3 From a recreational standpoint, the protection of the property has multiple benefits. It ensures that (1) Boggy Meadow Road will retain its sole status as a trail (vs trail + private driveway access), (2) incorporates a short foot trail with great views of the beaver pond, and (3) has the capacity for additional trails. New trails could connect to the adjacent Lathrop property, via a new public access point near the cemetery, and/or by improving the old skid roads created during the 2018 timber harvest, with connections to Boggy Meadow Road, the cemetery or Lathrop property. A final aspect of significance is this parcel’s ownership history. At this point, the ownership records have been traced back to the mid-1800s and past owners include some of Northampton’s most noteworthy residents . **** The remainder of this report includes more detailed descriptions of the property’s geology, ownership history, and habitat characteristics. Above, Boggy Meadow Road, which borders the property, is one of the primary access points into the Broad Brook- Fitzgerald Lake Greenway and links to miles of walking trails. Below, an unofficial foot path from Boggy Meadow Road heads on to the Wilbur property. Located next to the beaver pond, the trail goes over rocky knobs and includes excellent vistas and vantage points. The trail ends after ¼ mile, but could easily be extended. One of two great blue heron nests observed in the large beaver pond on abutting City-owned conservation land. In 1993 this area was in private ownership and was a dense red maple swamp. Back in the 1800s it had been cleared and was a “boggy meadow”. Times change! 4 Bedrock Geology The 53-acres that form the Wilbur property are underlain by 420-360 million year old igneous rock known as monzodiorite (green in image), which is also regularly exposed at the surface as bedrock knobs and small outcrops. Composed of a mix of feldspars, biotite, hornblende and a small amount of quartz, it formed as a pluton, a giant mass of magma that intruded older metamorphic rock and then slowly cooled and crystallized deep below the earth’s surface. Over the last ~400 million years, this once-deeply buried rock formation has been exposed through erosion and weathering. In addition to monzodiorite, portions of the Wilbur parcel are covered with reddish sands and gravels, probably glacially derived from an extensive and much younger sedimentary rock formation (only ~200 mya) found to the north, east and south of the property. The evidence for this is the presence of red, iron-stained sands, which can be found along the lower sections of Pine Brook, not far from the border with the Lathrop property. The red sandstone, clearly exposed in outcrops along Rt. 91 just north of the Deerfield River, was deposited when the giant supercontinent of Pangaea split apart and caused the incipient rift valley that underlies and predates the Connecticut River Valley. The composition of the two bedrock types and their weathered derivatives are significantly different and help explain the suite of plants they support. The soils derived from the monzodiorite, for instance, are more acidic than those formed from weathered sandstone. Figure 4. This image shows the approximate location of the contact zone between older igneous rock (green) and younger sedimentary rock (gray). Above, exposures of local bedrock as well as large boulders carried south by the glacier are common on the property. They provide some variation to the topography, where elevations range from 220-264 feet above sea level. Below, reddish sands along the stream show that sedimentary sandstone is nearby. 5 Continental Glaciation, Glacial Lake Hitchcock & Current Surficial Geology If we could go back in time and visit Northampton 20,000 years ago, we’d find ourselves in an entirely unrecognizable landscape—all of the features we know would be hidden below a mile or more of ice. About 18,000 years ago, the climate changed and the continental glacier began melting. As the ice retreated, some of the topographic features that are now familiar landmarks like Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke were revealed. As the glacier melted, the unconsolidated boulders, cobbles, gravels and sands that had been carried and pushed along were left behind. This layer of unsorted material is known as till and, as shown on the graphic above, all of the Wilbur site is covered with a thin veneer of till (green) and most of it has bedrock close to or exposed at the surface (horizontal red hatching). As the glacier continued to melt, a dam of glacial debris formed in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and around 15,500 years ago, a long, narrow glacial lake known as Glacial Lake Hitchcock filled the Connecticut River Valley, extending from Rocky Hill, CT to White River Junction, VT. At the lake’s maximum height, the Wilbur property would have been covered by 40 to 50 feet of water (aquamarine color). After the dam in Rocky Hill let go, the lake dropped to a lower level (darker blue). Glacial Lake Hitchcock lasted about 3,000 years, and since its disappearance ~ 10,000 years ago, the thin veneer of silts, clays and sands that were deposited in the uplands have washed into the low-lying depressions. This helped create the perched wetlands found at this site and, due to the presence of clays, led to pockets with more fertile conditions. This glacial history is the reason why this site includes wetlands with swamp white oak and richer soils where sugar maple, ironwood, hornbeam, silvery spleenwort and miterwort also occur. Figure 5. Till deposits (green) and bedrock exposures (horizontal red hatching) cover the Wilbur property. Figure 6. The location of the Wilbur property (outlined in red ) and the rest of the Fitzgerald Lake (yellow) during the stages of Glacial Lake Hitchcock. 6 Had Glacial Lake Hitchcock and its accompanying fine sediments not covered this area, the flora of this site would be much less diverse. These richer pockets, however, make up only a very small fraction of the site. According to the NRCS soils map, 98% of the site is characterized by droughty, acidic, nutrient-poor Charlton- Rock Outcrop-Hollis soils, with 8-15% slopes. The remaining soils are either loamy sand (near the cemetery and part of a former glacial delta) or the more recent silt-loam deposits in wetland areas. (Appendix 1-Soils). Topography The topography on the site includes mostly level, rocky terrain, interrupted by bedrock knobs and exposures and occasional valleys. A shallow, virtually level isolated wetland occurs near the cemetery, while a larger perched wetland drains into the Pine Brook, which cuts across the property. The stream is bounded by rocky outcrops in some areas, but also flattens and meanders across a narrow alluvial floodplain that supports richer soils and a more diverse flora. The stream bottom includes a mix of sand and rounded cobbles, good hiding places for Northern Two-lined Salamanders. Ownership History The ownership history has been traced to 1847, when the land was acquired by Samuel Hill, Samuel Parsons and Joseph Conant for $2,500 from Julia and Sarah Clarke (Book 119, p. 498). At that time, the land was described as bounded by Slough Hill Road (long since abandoned and no longer visible), Boggy Meadow Road (which led to a farm and pasture that we now know as Cooke’s pasture) and Millstone Mountain Road (now known as Quarry Road). The sisters had received the land through the will of their father, Christopher Clarke. Sometime after this, Hill, Parsons and Conant gave the land to another Northampton resident, Harrison Otis Apthorp. When, how or why this happened remains unknown. By the late 1830s, Apthorp had moved to Northampton and in 1841, he married Helen Maria Clarke, the older sister of Julia and Sarah (mentioned above) and Christopher Clarke (the 2nd) who, among his many accomplishments was instrumental in booking Jenny Lind in Northampton, protecting Pulaski Park, securing the funds for Memorial Hall, advocating for forests and trees, and helping with the preservation of Mount Tom, Mount Sugarloaf and Mount Holyoke (among others). Helen Maria was also the niece of John Clarke, who founded the Clarke School for the Deaf. Apthorp was a graduate of Bowdoin, an elocutionist, and French teacher. He did everything from sell apples and pianos to rent houses and buy and sell land. He donated funds to the Civil War effort and was among the City’s highest taxpayers. 7 In 1866, three years after H.O. Apthorp’s death, his eldest son, the executor of his will, sold the “Wilbur” land to Thomas Munroe Shepherd for the sum of … one dollar! Again, how or why this transaction occurred like this is a mystery. Perhaps it was used as collateral for an outstanding debt that the elder Apthorp had with Shepherd? The answer, at this point, is unknown. Like Apthorp, Shepherd was part of a prominent family, with long ties to Northampton. He and his wife, Edith Carpenter Shepherd, lived in his boyhood home at 66 Bridge Street, which is now part of Historic Northampton. Shepherd was a banker by profession, but he was also an accomplished artist. In 1883, he designed the City seal, which is still used today. After Thomas Shepherd died in 1923, Edith held on to the land. Like her husband, she was keenly interested in local history and thanks to her efforts, Historic Northampton now owns all three houses and barn that form its campus. When Edith died in 1969, the remains of Thomas Shepherd’s Trust was used to fund the Historical Society’s first paid staff. In 1975, the bank holding the Trust’s remaining assets sold this parcel for $36,000 to Keith and Ruth Wilbur, both of whom had known Edith and like her, were passionate about local history. According to their daughters (pers. comm. Jody Kinner and Carol Menke), their parents purchased the land as a place to reconstruct local historic homes that were slated to be demolished. The couple soon realized that the site was not ideally suited for this purpose and decided instead to begin planting trees and use the property as a place for family excursions and picnics. At that time, Keith was also the head of the newly formed Northampton Historical Commission and Ruth was the director of the Northampton Historical Society. Wilbur, who was a doctor at Cooley Dickinson Hospital and the Smith College Infirmary, authored and illustrated 14 books on local history and medicine, built a dugout canoe, and among his many accomplishments, carved a bust of Jonathan Edwards that traveled the country. In the 1970s, he also played an instrumental role in championing the preservation of Northampton’s 19th century buildings. Ruth, meanwhile, established professional standards at the Historical Society, organized the collection, opened the historic houses for tours, and developed an active programming schedule that included a school curriculum. In 1994, the couple deeded the land to their four children, who have retained it ever since. In 2002 the Wilbur family filed a court case against the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield to assert their rights to access the property via the former Slough Hill Road along the cemetery. “My parents bought the property because my father wanted to save old homes from being torn down. He thought it would be great to move those homes to the property. I think he learned pretty quickly that it would be very costly to do that. But he loved the property so he turned it into a tree farm. I remember helping him plant white pines I think they were. … It is a beautiful piece of land. We have tried hard to care for it and follow the forestry plan. We still just go for walks there!” Jody Wilbur Kinner, June 21, 2020 via email. 8 N In 2011, City of Northampton planner Wayne Feiden approached the Wilbur family about selling the land for conservation (pers. comm, Wayne Feiden). The family wasn’t interested at the time, but Feiden call ed “every couple of years” to inquire. In 2017 a forest cutting plan was prepared and the family had the timber, mostly white pine and oaks, harvested (Figure 7). After the cut was completed in 2018, the family put the land up for sale and in 2020 the four agreed to sell all 53-acres to the City. Fig. 7. Today the land is currently considered Prime 3 Forest Land. Although marketed as potential pasturage in 1847, the land has been forested since at least 1958 (photo). Since the Wilbur family purchased the land in 1975, they have managed the forest as a tree farm and for timber. The dashed line is a rough approximation of the property’s boundaries. Note that the forested area to the south; today it is open and functioning as a cemetery. Meanwhile much of what’s now the beaver pond was then an open pasture. Photo courtesy: University of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management. Hampshire County: aerial photograph, July 17, 1958. William P. MacConnell Aerial Photograph Collection (FS 190). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries. dpb-2t-11 July 17, 1958. 9 Habitat Descriptions Using the MA Natural Communities Classifications Guide (Swain & Kearsley, 2000), there are four broadly defined natural community types on the property: (1) Mixed Oak Forest; (2) Swamp White Oak “perched” swamp; (3) Red Oak- Sugar Maple Transition Forest, and (4) Shallow Marsh (Figure 8). These boundaries are rough and were generated following a single visit on June 22, 2020. *** Mixed Oak Forest (1) covers virtually all of the upland areas, or about 80% of the site. The canopy includes a mix of oak species, most commonly red oak (Quercus rubra), black oak (Q. velutina), and white oak (Q. alba), with lesser amounts of scarlet oak (Q. coccinea) and on some of the drier rocky outcrops, chestnut oak (Q. prinus). Other hardwoods in the canopy are hickory (Carya spp.), red maple (Acer rubrum) and black birch (Betula lenta). White pine (Pinus strobus) is also common, but not nearly as widespread as the oak. Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) occurs infrequently in the uplands, and is concentrated along the lower stream corridor. As expected, it is infested with wooly adelgid. In the areas where the harvest was light or didn’t occur, the understory includes beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), witch hazel (Hammamelis virginiana), maple-leaved viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium), ironwood (Carpinus caroliniana), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) and chestnut (Castanea americana). The most common herbaceous species are wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), partridgeberry (Mitchella repens), starflower (Trientalis virginiana), common wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata), Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), dewberry (Rubus sp.), Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica) and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus virginiana). The most common ferns are hay-scented (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), New York (Thelypteris novaeboracensis) and bracken (Pteridium aquilinum); in wetter spots, sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana) and cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) are common. 1 2a 4 2b 1 Cemetery 3 Fig. 7. The property outline, with topography and locations of four natural communities. 10 Because of the 2018 shelterwood cut, the property now includes frequent openings, especially near the center. Where the disturbance was most intense and the clearings are larger, the landscape is now dominated by hay scented fern, blackberry (Rubus sp.), pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina) black huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), black locust (Robinia psuedoacacia) and lots of young black birch. It was in these more disturbed areas where several young saplings of Tree-of- Heaven were (alarmingly) observed; multiflora rose and Japanese barberry were also present. In less disturbed sites, huckleberry (Gaylusaccia baccata) and blueberries (Vaccinium pallidum, V. angustifolium) are abundant. Other regularly encountered species include whorled loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia), hog peanut (Amphicarpa bracteata), Indian cucumber root (Medeola virginiana), and in wetter areas, jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and spotted touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis). Asiatic bittersweet can be a pest in these areas. This Google Earth image of the site from December 2001 shows the uneven distribution of white pine and hemlock across the site. Source: Google Earth These images show how varied the look and species composition of the upland forest is, especially in areas where logging recently occurred. 11 Left to right, While this property has been forested for decades, the adjacent property - the Boggy Meadow—was cleared and open during the 19th century when its peat was harvested for fuel for the brickworks off North Elm Street. The barbed wire indicates that it was used to pasture animals too. (Center) Rock outcrops are common throughout the property. (Right) Polypody fern grows in abundance along the slope of a rock exposure. Left to right, Blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum) is one of the most common woody plants in the upland areas. (Center) Bristly dewberry is common where the soils are partially wet or shaded, and often where there was a disturbance. (Right) Mountain laurel occurs on the site, but is not as common as expected. The new clearings in the property’s southeast corner is much more impacted by invasive plants than the rest of the acreage. (Left) Asiatic bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) winds over the vegetation. (Right) Not far away grows a patch of Japanese meadowsweet (Spiraea japonica), which has naturalized in the forest and may be a cast off garden plant from the nearby Lathrop community. 12 Swamp White Oak “Perched” Wetland (2a and 2b) In Massachusetts, this natural community type is restricted to the Connecticut River Valley and within Northampton, this community type is known from less than six sites, most of them concentrated in the Broad Brook-Fitzgerald Lake Greenway. These wetlands are underlain by lake bottom clays, overtopped with sandier soils. On the Wilbur site, these wetlands, while relatively small, significantly increase the property’s overall plant diversity. 2a (Figure 7) is a significantly larger and more diverse than 2b and drains to Pine Brook. It supports red maple, swamp white oak, pin oak (Quercus palustris), hemlock, shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) and ash (Fraxinus sp.) in the canopy. The understory vegetation was dominated by a variety of sedges and grasses, as well as sensitive fern and false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica); in the shrub layer, winterberry (Ilex verticillata), arrowwood (Viburnum recognitum) and ironwood were common. Other plants of interest found only in this area on the property included woodland horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum) and golden ragwort (Senecio aureus). 2b is a smaller, isolated depression that is dominated by broad patches of bare, wet organic soils, plus swaths of sedges, grasses, wool grass, ferns and other herbaceous plants (skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), Virginia creeper, violets (Viola spp.), fringed loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata), jack-in-the pulpit, bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara)). The canopy includes black ash (Fraxinus nigra), swamp white oak, slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), and an abundance of red maple and red oak. The shrub layer is dominated by winterberry, arrowwood and high bush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum). This area also had been disturbed and Asiatic bittersweet was common. 13 Red Oak-Sugar Maple Transition (3) This community type is associated with the alluvial stream and adjacent perched wetland. It is one of the few sites where plants like sugar maple (Acer saccharum) can be found. Yellow birch (Betula lutea), ironwood, and a variety of herbaceous plants not seen elsewhere on the property occur in this small, richer pocket. Some of the other plants are jumpseed (Persicaria virginiana), hellebore (Veratrum viride), Virginia creeper, halberd-leaved tearthumb (Persicaria arifolium), clearweed (Pilea pumila), silvery spleenwort (Deparia acrostichoides), crested shield fern (Dryopteris cristata), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), mad-dog skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), and a variety of sedges. The shrubs include winterberry, ironwood, as well as less commonly seen species on this property, like speckled alder (Alnus rugosa), flowering dogwood (Benthamidia florida), and spicebush (Lindera benzoin). Unfortunately there are also some invasive plants in this corridor, including Japanese barberry, winged Euonymus (Euonymus alatus), and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata.) These images show the variety of microhabitats along Pine Brook, including seepy drainages, lusher alluvial “floodplains”, meanders and variations along the stream corridor. 14 Shallow Marsh and Beaver Impoundment (4) Sometime around 2014 beavers arrived on Pine Brook and established a dam, which now floods about 20 acres. Most of the flooding is on city-owned conservation land, but about ½ an acre is on the Wilbur property. The beavers’ activity transformed the landscape; what was once a red maple swamp is now a broad pond, full of dead red maple trunks. The vegetation along the newly created shorelines varies with light levels and disturbance: some are open, while others are thick with sedges, grasses and other herbaceous species. It is possible that some area within this stretch might be suitable habitat for Bush’s sedge, a state-endangered species that was historically found in the vicinity. On the Wilbur property, the vegetation surrounding the open water is rife with sedges, grasses, cattails (Typha latifolia), swamp candles (Lysimachia terrestris) goldenrods (Solidago spp), asters and rushes. This is also, unfortunately, a few stems of Canada thistle (Cirsium canadense) and two corktree saplings that have gotten a toe hold. The open water portion is covered with water shield (Brasenia scheberi), cow lily (Nuphar sp.), duckweed (Lemna sp) and in a few places, bladderworts (Utricularia sp). This area is a boon for wildlife. During my brief visit I saw wood ducks, great blue herons and Canada geese with young and heard green frogs, bullfrogs, kingfishers, green herons, red-winged blackbirds and more. 15 Acknowledgments: Thank you to Wayne Feiden for providing supplementary resources and information; to Jody Kinner and Carol Menke, for the information about their parents, Ruth and Keith Wilbur; to Barbara Pelissier for historical research; to Pete Westover for the creation of maps; and to Arthur Haines for the identification of Scrophularia nodosa. Andrew Kuether created the map depicting changing levels of glacial Lake Hitchcock. I am grateful to Fred Morrison and Lydia Morrison for comments and edits. Swain, Patricia C. and Jennifer B. Kearsley. 2000. DRAFT-Classification of Natural Communities in Massachusetts. MA NHESP. Westborough, MA. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management. Hampshire County: aerial photograph, July 17, 1958. William P. MacConnell Aerial Photograph Collection (FS 190). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries The decaying remains of a stump from an earlier timber harvest, probably 15 or more years ago. White pine stump from the 2018 cut.           Book 119 p 498‐499   Book 419 p 66‐68