Project Description
To compensate for the loss of recreational uses, the Nyanza Trustees allocated $168,000 in settlement funds to improve pedestrian access along the Red Maple Trail, a popular walking trail at the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (GMNWR) that overlooks the Sudbury River and its associated wetlands. To make the trail compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards, six inches of the existing trail bed was excavated and the material was replaced with gravel and stone dust matching the existing contours. In addition, AmeriCorps crews and other volunteers helped construct a 1,400 foot wooden boardwalk through a forested wetland, and a wildlife observation platform with a 40 foot wooden walkway on the edge of a buttonbush marsh along the Sudbury River. Two educational signs were installed near the observation platform: one featuring the legacy of the Nyanza Superfund site and the other on the importance of buttonbush marshes along the Sudbury River. After completion, a dedication ceremony was held on May 13, 2017 and the newly renovated Red Maple Trail was reopened to the public.
Restoration Land Ownership
Fish and Wildlife Service
Parties Implementing Restoration
Massachusetts Audubon Society, Inc.; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
DOI Project Representatives
Fish and Wildlife Service