This is the second article about the ongoing project to remove invasive plants at the town-owned Keyes-Parker Conservation Area.  The project is co-sponsored by the Invasive and Native Plant Advisory Committee (INPAC) and the Pepperell Conservation Commission (PCC).  The work initially focused on the small hill adjacent to the parking area, formerly the site of a dog kennel operated by the Pepperell Hunt Club.  Led by INPAC member Marc Basti, Commissioner Rob Rand and Conservation Administrator Paula Terrasi, volunteers first removed the fencing around the hill.  Over the late spring and throughout the summer, Marc Basti and Rob Rand worked tirelessly on weekday evenings and weekends to remove the vast number of invasive plants that had grown along the fence.  The piles of buckthorn, multiflora rose, bittersweet, honeysuckle and autumn olive were chipped by the Highway Dept and spread as mulch over the area.

The Invasive Removal Plan is part of the Conservation Commission’s overall projects on Keyes-Parker and Sucker Brook, which included a dam removal and culvert replacement to restore Sucker Brook to its original natural bounds as a coldwater tributary to the Nissitissit River.  In May, a Planting Day was held near the newly installed culvert.  Thirty-five volunteers from NCT, INPAC, PCC, Trout Unlimited, the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts, and other residents came together to plant over 600 native wetland perennials, trees, and shrubs.

In June, volunteers removed additional invasives along the trail to the former dam site and planted a variety of native shrubs and trees in their place.  New species added included white oak, red oak, highbush blueberry, red and black chokeberry, serviceberry, spicebush, elderberry, American hazelnut, black willow, and nannyberry.  Throughout the summer drought, volunteers Marc Basti, Paul Terrasi, Patty and Jim Franklin, and Deb Fountain kept the new plants watered using a water tank provided by the Highway Department and kept full by the Fire Department.  In September, resident Mike Carney joined Marc Basti to clear more invasives along the sledding hill’s forest edge.  On October 8, INPAC did follow-up cutbacks and cleaned up areas that had been worked on to keep the invasive plant growth at bay.

The result of all the volunteer work over spring, summer and early fall is impressive.  With the fence and overgrown invasives removed, the view from the hilltop adjacent to the parking area is wide open. Native plants now frame the new culvert, providing food and shelter to wildlife and helping to protect Sucker Brook from runoff.  Our thanks go out to the many organizations and volunteers who helped with this wonderful transformation at the Keyes Parker Conservation Area.