This Arbor Day, we are delighted to announce that the Great Barrington Land Conservancy has a Tree Walk on the Riverfront Trail!
The Riverfront Trail Tree Walk is an enduring way to educate the community about the many varieties of trees we have discovered on the trail, and about the importance of the tree diversity that we are preserving as a way to combat global warming. We intend to identify more than two dozen varieties and display their scientific name, family, origins, and more on metal identification signs.
Janice Kabel, President of the Board of GBLC, describes the origins of the Tree Walk project:
"As we first worked our way through the riverfront areas during design and development of the Riverfront Trail, I was struck by the incredible variety of trees that we found, many entangled in massive Bittersweet vines that have been cut. We have many typical varieties as well as Bur Oak, Katsura, the small tree American Bladdernut, and others not often seen in our area. It gave me a sense of the responsibility we have to respect and preserve these trees for the future. I hope that the Tree Walk will encourage folks to pause on their walk, look up, and appreciate these trees and their importance in our lives."
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Dale Abrams, naturalist and GBLC board member, also invites us to slow down, view our natural surroundings, and appreciate the critical role trees play in storing carbon and holding soil in place on mountain slopes and floodplain zones.
"I would have guessed we'd find 12-15 species and we found more than 2 dozen, many representing our native tree diversity (Basswood, Silver, Red, and Sugar Maple, Ash, Hemlock, etc) and a few highlighting the use of trees from around the world as landscape features in the 19th and 20th century (Katsura, European Beech, Horse Chestnut, Norway Maple, etc)."
This Arbor Day, consider a donation to help GBLC to cover the costs of the Riverfront Tree Walk signs. Support the Riverfront Trail Tree Walk today!
Riverfront Trailhead. Photo by Eric Brenner.
