MassLIFT-AmeriCorps Orientation and Trail Project at the Forest

Twenty MassLIFT-AmeriCorps members started their year of service this September with a four-day orientation at the Harvard Forest.  The MassLIFT (Massachusetts Land Initiative for Tomorrow) program, founded and led by Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, trains and supports its members to sustain and often initiate conservation-related projects across Massachusetts.

The September orientation included a tour of the Fisher Museum as well as workshops on volunteer management, plant identification, and invasive species removal. Municipal leaders from Northfield introduced the group to community and local government land conservation efforts. Bill Labich from Highstead and David Graham Wolf from Mount Grace led sessions on engaging conservation communities at multiple scales.

Bob Clark, Chair of the Petersham Conservation Commission and longtime Harvard Forest volunteer, led the group's participation in the 2012 National Day of Service: clearing the new Bob Marshall Trail on Harvard Forest’s Gould Woodlot - a project that will continue through the year.