Encouraging Our Children
to Observe and Care for Nature
Dear Friends,
In addition to Carlisle Conservation Foundation’s principal mission of
preserving and maintaining conservation land in Carlisle (at present, over
600 acres), CCF seeks to educate and inform Carlisleans about the town’s many and varied trails, the wonder of the natural world, and the importance of getting children out in nature.
This year, CCF worked closely with the Carlisle Public Schools, sponsoring two significant endeavors—the Blanding’s Turtle project and the distribution, free of charge, of a copy of the 2018 Edition of Trails in Carlisle to every family with a child in the schools. We also continued our year-round Nature Walks & Talks program, inviting Carlisle families to join us on educational journeys both outdoors on conservation lands and indoors for lectures. Our hope
is that through our efforts to provide resources and information to children
in town we will not only nurture their love of the outdoors and a lifelong appreciation of Nature, but also, by extension, we will help them become more caring and compassionate citizens of the world.
 |
Above left, Wallace and Angelo Chen on the lookout for “odes” during one
of three dragonfly walks held this summer on the Cranberry Bog.
Right, A Blanding’s Turtle in a fifth grade classroom. Fifth graders care for the turtles in school by feeding them twice a day, cleaning their tank, and measuring their growth on a weekly basis. The turtles are then released at Great Meadows in Concord in the Spring. At this time, they are usually the size of a 3- or 4-year-old wild turtle giving them a much better chance of survival. During the year, biologists from Grassroots Wildlife come to the school and make two presentations and students take two field trips to view the turtles' habitats. CCF sponsors this program to engender in the town’s children an appreciation for wildlife conservation and how their actions can have a positive impact on a threatened species and the environment. Your support of CCF helps us fund this program. |
 |
Above left, At our Annual Meeting this June,
CCF Vice President Wayne Davis acknowledged retiring Marjie Findlay’s 30 years of service on the Board. Over her long tenure and in addition to her central role in many land preservation projects, Marjie was instrumental to our educational outreach through the Carlisle Schools, including CCF’s sponsorship of Audubon naturalists from Drumlin Farm who led explorations of the Conant Land and follow-up classroom discussions as part of CCF’s “Building Conservation Communities” program that was integral to the curriculum in the fourth grade for many years.
Marjie also shepherded CCF’s sponsorship of several years of sheep grazing on Towle Field, transforming a field maintenance project into a potent visual reminder of our rural roots, enchanting Carlisleans and others passing by.
Right, on an overcast November day, ten CCF board members took advantage of Steve Hinton’s recently acquired deluxe camper for a two-hour road trip crisscrossing Carlisle (with a detour through Billerica to check out CCF’s one holding in that neighboring community, an 8-acre piece of the Greenough Land). The purpose of the trip was to familiarize board members, especially newer ones, with the locations of the 23 CCF-owned properties, more than 225 acres in all. Steve Spang provided capsule descriptions of each of the properties, also noting as we passed them many of the 18 parcels on which CCF holds a Conservation Restriction (more than 400 additional acres). |
Art Milliken, Community Leader
 We were saddened by the loss of longtime CCF Board member, president and friend, Art Milliken, on October 9. His deep commitment to environmental conservation and his love of Carlisle led him to pursue many projects that consummated in the preservation of hundreds of acres. Art's proudest achievement was to spearhead Carlisle’s adoption of the Community Preservation Act, which has provided critical funding for additional conservation
projects (such as the Sorli and Woodward lands), while also supporting the town’s affordable housing, historical preservation, and recreation needs. We are ever grateful for Art's contributions to the Town of Carlisle and the Carlisle Conservation Foundation.
Support CCF
We welcome new Board members Alex Chen and Drew Kissinger. The CCF board remains committed to its mission of preserving and maintaining Carlisle’s precious natural environment and through our educational efforts, encouraging the embrace of Nature by all who live here. We hope you will consider a generous donation to CCF so that we may continue our efforts.
Warmest regards,
Dale Ryder, President
We appreciate your support.
Carlisle Conservation Foundation and Land Trust
P.O. Box 300, Carlisle, MA 01741
Board members: Alan Ankers, Alex Chen, Manuel Crespo, Wayne Davis, Lauree Eckler, David Freedman, Peg Gladstone, Kelly Guarino, Heidi Harring, Steve Hinton, John Keating, Drew Kissinger, John Lee, Dale Ryder, Steve Spang, Steve Tobin, Drew Williams
We invite you to join CCF with your tax-deductible donation. You may now make your donation to CCF on the HOME page
|
