Project Description
The 124-acre Greenways Conservation Area is located along the Sudbury River in Wayland, MA. Adjacent to a segment of the Sudbury that is designated as a National Wild & Scenic River, the conservation area contains property owned by the non-profit Sudbury Valley Trustees (SVT) and the Town of Wayland. In this conservation area, 88 acres are protected in perpetuity and the other 36 acres are managed by the Wayland Conservation Commission for recreational use. The site contains wetlands, wet meadows, upland fields, mixed hardwood forest, and eastern white pine forest. Invasive plants, including glossy buckthorn, multiflora rose and oriental bittersweet, have become established throughout the conservation area, contributing to a decline in the species diversity of butterflies and birds.
To compensate for injuries to migratory birds caused by the Nyanza Chemical Waste Dump, funding was provided to improve open grassland habitat at the Greenways Conservation Area. Glossy buckthorn and other invasives were controlled in the 7-acre North Field over three consecutive years through mowing and herbicide treatment. To eradicate larger buckthorn, glyphosate was painted onto the cut stumps. In 2015, native plants were re-introduced to the field by planting 1,650 plugs among two 30 foot x 30 foot plots protected by deer herbivory fencing. The species introduced included common milkweed, spotted Joe-Pye weed, New England aster, and little blue-stem grass. Along the shrub swamp margin and in the Center and South Fields, invasive species were controlled by mowing and selectively treating regrowth with herbicides. This project had reduced the extent of invasive plants in the fields by about 85 to 90%. The restored grassland areas now benefit field nesting birds such as bobolinks, edge specialist including American woodcocks, and a variety of native bees and butterflies.
Parties Implementing Restoration
Sudbury Valley Trustees; Town of Wayland, MA
DOI Project Representatives
Fish and Wildlife Service