Love of the land

by Lori Bradley

Many people in the South Coast meet up in our varied and wonderful parks and public spaces. Our public parks can be viewed as one of the healthiest expressions and embodiments of community connections and love for the land. Behind our wealth of public parks are hundreds of hardworking people who share their love for community by preserving, building, and maintaining outdoor recreational spaces. Late winter is one of the best times to get out into them to reawaken the body, mind, and heart!

Fresh air in the city

One of the most fascinating parks in the South Coast is the New Bedford National Whaling Historic Park (NBNHP) which covers over 13 blocks in downtown New Bedford. The park challenges preconceptions of parks as collections of rural pathways. The NBNHP is inclusive and accessible to people of all ages in this urban community, interweaving local residents, small creative businesses and restaurants, university students and personnel, tourists, and park employees.

The venerable New Bedford Whaling Museum gives a comprehensive history and interpretation of the whaling industry that built the city and is now a leading advocate for ocean conservation. The recently renovated Custom House Square offers a calming green space for people to rest while visiting shops and historical sites.

The tight cluster of historical sites, visitors center, and museums became an official national park in 1996 and is administered through a partnership of the National Park Service, the City of New Bedford, and private business owners. Decades of visionary planning and development made it possible. The park is so beautiful, and seemingly self-reliant, it’s easy to overlook the many volunteers, city and state officials, and community members who loved this area passionately enough to create it.

Current park superintendent Jennifer White Smith was an early seasonal park employee and has since spent over twenty years of her life dedicated to building the NBNHP. For her, the park is truly a labor of love, “There is so much love woven through the story of the NBNHP. The love from the grassroots folks who had the crazy idea that New Bedford deserved a national park. The love our staff and volunteers have for the mission of the National Park Service, the city, and our community partners.”

Smith continues, “There is the love a family feels when they engage with our park’s meaningful and relevant stories. And love from the locals who have such pride that their community is part of a network of very special places set aside for the enjoyment of all and future generations. We at the park just could not be more in love with New Bedford.”

Learn more by visiting nps. gov/nebe.

A park revitalized

Twenty miles north of New Bedford is Massasoit State Park, a public green space with a more traditionally rural setting. Like the NBNHP, it took a community of concerned people who loved the land enough to work to preserve and build it into the beautiful gem it is today. It is one of a few, precious freshwater fishing and recreation areas in the greater South Coast. It offers public access to several lakes and ponds, a camping area, beach, playground, and plentiful miles of hiking and biking trails.

A decade ago, the park was under threat of suburban sprawl development. An underground electric mishap resulting in the closing of the campground and the park quickly fell into disrepair. Public restrooms were closed and covered in graffiti. Illegal campfires were set throughout the park and threatened the forest and surrounding neighborhoods with wildfire. Once welcoming and safe, the park began to feel like a dangerous place that wasn’t of benefit to the community.

Fortunately, a group of volunteers who loved public parks and rural lands came to the rescue. The Massachusetts Park Friends Network, groups of volunteer advocates who adopt specific parks for care, discovered the neglect and degradation at the once-beautiful park. A Massasoit State Park Friends page began on Facebook (facebook.com/ MiddleboroTauntonMA) and brought the park long-needed attention. Residents united to save the park and began writing to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) voicing their support. The Boy Scouts undertook renovation projects on some of the park bridges.

In 2014, Keiko Orrall, State Representative for the 12th District in Bristol County, began advocating for the renovation of the park and gained full DCR support. In 2015, the state committed its financial support, and the official renovation began. Today, Massasoit State Park has new, accessible campgrounds, a new swimming beach and restrooms, and an expansive, accessible playground. The roads were repaved and smoothed for walkers of varying abilities, along with wilder paths branching off for those who love traditional hiking and mountain biking through rough forest paths. The most remarkable aspect of the renovation was the dedication to making the park accessible to the widest possible community of visitors. The State and National Park Services are paying increasing attention to making life-enhancing outdoor experiences available to everyone. In 2012, the NPS formed an Accessibility Task Force to improve approaches to ensuring that national parks can be enjoyed by individuals with disabilities and this act of love is certainly apparent at the state level at Massasoit. Enjoying a recent, unusually warm winter day at the park were groups of hikers, horseback riders, and dog walkers, along with people strolling with canes and walkers or pushing wheelchairs and strollers down smoothly paved paths through the forest.

Growing together

Next door to New Bedford, the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust (DNRT) is one of the most effective and popular land trusts in Massachusetts. Residents share their love for the region by donating their land to the public and to future generations. The DNRT has been working to protect thousands of acres of land in Dartmouth since their founding in 1971. By combining efforts with other conservation organizations, the DNRT maintains many trails through fifty of the most beautiful open spaces in Massachusetts, in addition to their DNRT Center offices which are housed in a historical antique farmhouse undergoing continuing restoration.

The Center rests on farmland that houses the Helfand Community Gardens, in which South Coast citizens without access to open space can rent garden plots for the year. Behind the DNRT is Greer’s Garden created in 2020 by Massachusetts TerraCorps service member Bruce Traban. The public can visit the peaceful garden that is planted with native grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees that are all pollinator friendly, sharing knowledge and love of the land back full circle with the birds and bees in their own gardens.

People and their pets can experience the health-giving peace and beauty of the outdoors by walking the dozens of well-maintained DNRT trails. Or people can share their love of nature by volunteering. As stated on the DNRT website, “The DNRT could not accomplish all that we do without our terrific volunteers! They help keep our Reserves looking great, our events hugely successful, and our office running smoothly. Moreover, they enjoy wonderful camaraderie and feel good about what they are doing.”

Learn more by visiting dnrt.org.

However a person chooses to experience the wealth of open spaces and parks in Massachusetts, they can be assured that while they may hike alone, they are never alone. Instead, they are wrapped in the loving presence of the community of people who work hard to make these precious spaces accessible to all of us.