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Resource Management Plan
Beaver Brook Reservation
(Expanded Beaver Brook Reservation, including the recently-acquired
portions of the former Metropolitan State Hospital
and former Middlesex County Hospital) Towns of Belmont, Lexington and Waltham
Division of Urban Parks and Recreation
North Region, Fells District
The expanded Beaver Brook Reservation consists of the historic
Beaver Brook Reservation (the first Reservation in the Metropolitan
Park System), the recent 254-acre transfer of a portion of the
former Metropolitan State Hospital (MSH) property
and former Middlesex County Hospital. The MSH property
acquisition also includes a 54-acre parcel under a conservation
easement. The expanded reservation is strategically located amidst
a series of open space parcels including Belmont's Rock Meadow Conservation
Land, Massachusetts Audubon Society's Highland Farm, Waltham's Waltham
Woods, Middlesex County Hospital open space, and Lexington's Concord
Avenue Conservation Land. In combination with the open space resources
of DCR’s new park, these properties provide an important network
of wildlife habitat and public recreation opportunities within the
metropolitan region. The MSH site has extensive wetlands and woodlands
which provide prime wildlife habitat.
Project Summary
The primary objective of the RMP is to develop short and long-term
development, programming, and management strategies that will enhance
the recreational, ecological, cultural, and visual resources within
the expanded Beaver Brook Reservation. The protection and enhancement
of the ecological system will be a guiding principle in developing
this plan. Both passive and active recreation opportunities will
be promoted and enhanced, while protecting and enhancing the Reservation
as a living system.
Public meetings and associated public review of the RMP occurred in 2006. DCR renewed the public process with a public meeting on November 17, 2009 and a public comment period that ran until January 8, 2010. The RMP was adopted by DCR’s Stewardship Council on March 5, 2010.
For further information about the ongoing management and maintenance of these properties, implementation of the RMP, or ways to get involved, please contact:
DCR Urban Parks Fells District Manager
Tom Walsh
(781) 233-9328
Thomas.M.Walsh@state.ma.us
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