Upper Charles River Reservation

IUCN Category V - Protected Landscape / Seascape

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The area Upper Charles River Reservation is a state park in the state of Massachusetts in the United States. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR ) and is part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston. The sanctuary covers an approximately 24 km long leg of the Charles River and extends from the dam in Watertown (42 ° 21 ' 55 "N, 71 ° 11' 21" W42.3653 - 71.1893 ) and the urban areas Newton, Waltham, Weston Needham to Riverdale Park in West Roxbury (42 ° 16 ' 17 "N, 71 ° 10' 25 " W42.2713 - 71.1736 ). Part of the Charles River Reservation Parkways also passes through the area.

Description

Throughout the reserve there are adjoining each other trails that lead visitors along the banks of the Charles River. Completed restoration measures have the return of native birds and wildlife permits that may be encountered with some luck now. Especially in the Lakes District Canada egrets, night herons, mallards, mergansers, cormorants, kingfishers, warblers, sparrows, swallows, woodpeckers, muskrats, rabbits, raccoons, mice, turtles, snakes and frogs can be observed.

History

Designation as a protected area

The banks of the Upper Charles River were reported by the Metropolitan Park Commission, the predecessor organization of the DCR, at a very early stage as a protected area. In the early 19th century historic parks such as Hemlock Gorge Reservation, Riverside Amusement Park and Norumbega created in this way (now Six Flags New England) Park, which quickly became the most popular recreation areas in the metropolitan area of ​​Greater Boston.

In the 1960s, the park Riverside and Norumbega were closed due to heavy pollution of the river. Since the 1970s, however, there is an increased public interest in environmental issues, which has led to an improvement of water quality and the cleanliness of the shore. In the 1980s, five new parks were opened in total cooperation with the neighboring cities.

A 6 mi ( 9.66 km ) long section of the river, extending from Watertown Square to Commonwealth Avenue in Newton and Weston, has been restored as a self-sustaining nature reserve. A walking trail connects today without interruptions the Upper Charles River and its surrounding communities with the network of hiking trails along the Charles River in Cambridge and Boston.

Renaturation

The appearance of the Upper Charles River Reservation has changed fundamentally over the last 25 years. Both water quality and the condition of the riparian zones could be significantly improved. In particular, emphasis was placed on improving the living conditions for animals and plants by maintaining an appropriate stormwater management introduced and mainly native plants were resettled.

Traditionally, the major rivers in the United States were considered for centuries as an essential industrial resource and as a transport route. From 1634 to the early 19th century were built along the Charles River between Natick and Watertown nine dams to harness the power of water for new industrial enterprises. So combined in 1814 in Waltham Moody Street Mill put into operation the first of its kind in the United States, the spinning and weaving of cotton in a single factory. Similarly, the first water-powered looms were employed there. Today is located in the building the Charles River Museum of Industry, showing a comprehensive portrait of the industrial past of the river.

The establishment of industries followed by the disposal of solid and liquid wastes and of rainwater into the river. The dams inserted in interaction with industrial pollution to the ecological balance of the river throughout the 19th century considerable damage. Only towards the end of the century, notice was taken of the impact and taken steps to protect the river and its banks. A large part of the estimated 18 mi ( 28.97 km ) unprotected and undeveloped riparian areas in today's reserve were acquired in the late 1890s by the Metropolitan Parks Commission, the predecessor organization of the DCR. The purchase was followed by 40 years of river development and park construction.

Between 1930 and 1970, but the proportion of sewage and industrial waste increased due to the increasing density of population in the metropolitan area of the metropolitan region again, since the turn of the century built sewers with the growth could not keep up. As a result, decreased water quality and the recreational value of the protected area, so that in the early 1960s, the Riverside Park and Norumbega had to be closed due to disrepair.

The protected area has benefited directly from the environmental movement of the early 1970s. Efforts of public institutions and citizens' movements such as the Charles River Watershed Association again led to a significant improvement in water quality. The remaining residues of the Riverside Park and Norumbega were modernized and reopened. The improved water quality led directly to a renewed focus on the banks of the Charles River and the establishment of today's green belt along the protected area.