For Individual Volunteers, NOT Groups

Install temporary fencing for sheep grazing conservation project

4/29/2023 Four female People Making a Difference (PMD) volunteers stretch and attach wire fencing to a line of upright posts that they had pounded into the meadow

WHEN

  • Saturday 4/27/2024, 9:30am-12:30pm
  • Rain Date: 4/27/2024 , 1:30-4:30pm
    Sign up for either or both primary (9:30-12:30) and/or rain postponement shift (1:30-4:30pm)
  • Sign up by 4/21/2024
    ~6 volunteers are still needed.

WHAT

Help install temporary fencing for a sustainable, sheep grazing conservation project to maintain a meadow's biodiversity/habitat.

Team up to pound in t-posts eight feet apart and to stretch and attach field fencing together.

No prior experience required.

WHERE

Rock Meadow Conservation Area, Belmont near McLean Hospital
1-mile from Waverley Sq (bus #73 last stop from Harvard Sq)

Note: PMD only shares specific directions, maps, and other details with registered volunteers since we cannot accommodate any walk-ins, i.e., unregistered volunteers simply showing up.

WHY

Grazing was historically practiced in Rock Meadow since New England meadows revert to scrub or woods if not maintained. Ruminant grazing is a sustainable way to maintain this meadow habitat.

Learn more at https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/country-gazette/2018/08/25/belmont-resident-helps-rock-meadow/64762239007/

 

HOW

Please sign up by 4/21 at http://pmd.org/s/042724.htm

Incomplete submissions cannot be honored.

Call PMD if you cannot register online using qualtrics.
CALL THE PMD OFFICE at (*82) 1-781-963-0373 so that we can help you AND troubleshoot the problem so that other potential volunteers will not face the same problem. Thanks!

After you register online, you will see a confirmation screen and receive a confirmation email message.
Then PMD will email specific details a few days before the project, including directions to the project site (by public transportation and by car), what to expect, a map, and (for minors only) a waiver form.

 

WHO

We seek volunteers who can lift at least 10 pounds unaided, have good balance, and have modest manual dexterity/hand-eye coordination to pound in t-posts eight feet apart and to stretch and attach field fencing. Volunteers will be working together in teams.

We recommend volunteers be age 14 or older**, but will accept mature, physically capable, younger volunteers able to focus for the entire three hours IF they are accompanied by individually registered and fully participating adults.

**Please call PMD's office at (*82)1,781-963-0373 for instructions on how to register younger volunteers.

For 31+ years, public charity People Making a Difference (PMD) has promoted informed and responsible volunteerism by involving people in tangible work that meets local needs and by assisting companies in building successful community involvement programs that:
  • Produce appreciable results while conserving recipients' limited resources.
  • Educate volunteers about broader issues.
  • Bring people together to make a difference.
SIGN UP

 

 

"Grazing, or grazing and hay-making, are vital to maintain the diverse flora of wild meadows and to prevent the growth of tussocky vegetation, scrub and trees.
Most plants of wild meadows are perennials. These die back in the autumn and re-grow from rootstock in spring and are not dependent on regenerating from seed every year. Grazing at light to moderate levels will only remove part of the above-ground growth and will not kill the plants. Failure to graze or cut a wild meadow during spring and/or summer will encourage coarse vegetation, causing the number of wild flowers to rapidly decline."
PDF posted online by The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management

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