Stewardship Activities 

Selected Events of Past Years

Upland Meadow Restoration 2010-11    
     A proposal to restore upland meadow areas in Arlington’s Great Meadows was presented at a public meeting on the evening of July 14th of 2009.
        The Mass Audubon report about the proposed project was entitled “Recommendations for Restoration of Meadows Habitat at Arlington’s Great Meadows, Final Report, May 14, 2009”. Copies can be found here on the website.  

The project then was implemented in 2010 and 2011 with the help of many volunteers.  The open upland meadow you now see near the kiosk was once scrubby woodland. 

Fire at AGM on Friday April 17, 2009
There was an extensive fire in AGM on the afternoon of April 17.  Although the fire was mostly confined to the lower wetland areas, some upland areas especially in the northeast near Shelia Road were also damaged.  Approximately 100 acres of a total of 183 acres were affected. Regrowth in the wetland areas is likely to be very rapid.  Here is a map (2MB PDF) showing the general extent of the fire, although the burned areas were somewhat patchy even the the central meadow area, perhaps related to water levels.  The fire was almost certainly of human origin, but there is no information about whether it was accidental or intentional.  We also have a photo page of some after fire pictures.  We welcome any photos of the fire that you might have to share.  The wetland area is recovering quite rapidly after the fire although the situation is more mixed in the upland areas.  More photos to come soon.

Fire at AGM on April 23 in 2008 
Nine acres of upland forest near the nursing home were scorched by a fire on April 23.  Read the Lexington Minuteman article: http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/news/x1041578027

FoAGM Contact Information:

To join the FoAGM email list, all you need to do is click on this link to send an email to FoAGM-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.  You will then receive news and updates about our events, including weather-related cancellations and reschedulings.  This is a very low volume moderated list, and you can unsubscribe at any time.  You can also visit our internet discussion group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FoAGM/

Email Contacts:
General information at info@FoAGM.org

General Resource Information

A Natural Resource Inventory and Stewardship Plan commissioned by Arlington's Conservation Commission, was completed in 2001 by Frances Clark of Carex Associates.  Copies are available at the Arlington and Lexington Public libraries.  It is available here on this web site.

About Arlington's Great Meadows (AGM)

About the Friends of AGM

Annual Reports (since 2003)

 FoAGM By-Laws (6/21/14)

Boardwalk Project Background & Info (7/8/05)

Information about Invasive Plants (added 3/24/02)

All about Woodcocks (3/28/02)

More about Woodcocks by Marj Rines (9/17/03)

Photo Album (7/1/02)

Bugs Photo Album (7/3/03)

Site Search

Resource Links

Arlington Town Website

Arlington Reservoir Committee

Citizens for Lexington Conservation

Environmental League of Massachusetts

Lexington Town Website

Menotomy Bird Club

Mystic River Watershed Association

Puddle Stompers (for the kids)

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(Page updated on: 04/29/2020 )