Alewife Reservation

Just Released!
The Alewife District Community
Health Action Plan

The Alewife District is a unique and complex place. At the heart of the District is the Reservation, a park which stretches across the boundaries of five cities and towns (Belmont, Cambridge, Arlington, Somerville, and Medford). It is a rich socio-ecological system providing habitat for wildlife and places for diverse communities of people. Within the Reservation lies the Alewife Brook, a tributary to the Mystic River and part of the larger Mystic River Watershed. 

This Alewife District Community Action Plan builds off decades of advocacy and attempts to create a strategic path forward, outlining what steps Green Cambridge and others can take to restore the ecological health of these 136 acres, make it more climate resilient, and ensure that it is an accessible resource. We hope that this document serves as a launching point for collaborative advocacy, and look forward to the continual improvements and enrichment of the Alewife District.

Announcing Restore Corps, launching in summer 2025!

Using the Alewife Reservation as an outdoor classroom and workforce training ground, our paid ecological restoration program connects youth aged 16-18 to this 136 acre shared landscape owned by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Across 8 months, seasonal cohorts focus on removing invasive species, planting natives, working across municipal lines, stakeholder development, mapping and design, and implementation of aspects of projects previously identified in master plans.

Our guiding documents are the Alewife Master Plan and the Alewife District Community Health Action Plan we’ve developed over three years in partnership with the National Park Service, along with local, state, and national partners.

Youth participants will learn to:

  • Define ecosystem restoration, its processes, principles, and importance

  • Integrate Alewife Brook Reservation wetland restoration in the context of large-scale initiatives and agreements, both locally and beyond

  • Learn the steps and activities involved in developing a plan for ecosystem restoration based on community needs and stakeholder participation

  • Identify and eliminate causes of degradation for long-term sustainability

  • Reestablish natural processes and native biodiversity

  • Integrate the ecosystem into the larger landscape of the Alewife District

A Comprehensive and Integrated Curriculum Covering:

  • Historical Context: the Alewife District

  • Place-based Solutions

  • Ecosystems, Biodiversity & Human Impacts

  • Climate Resilience and the Restoration Process

  • Natives, Invasives and Wildlife

  • Site Assessment and Planning

  • Data Collection and Analysis

  • Adaptive Management

  • Stakeholder Development

  • Community Engagement and Citizen Science

  • Art, Design, and Storytelling

Learn about and help maintain this unique 136 acres of urban wild conveniently located at the Alewife T stop. Sign up your group for one of several sessions a year, or participate in our annual summer multi-week session through the Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program. If you're interested in your group volunteering with us on the Alewife Reservation, email alewife@greencambridge.org.

The Alewife Reservation is a unique natural resource for the communities of Cambridge, Arlington, Belmont, Somerville, and Medford and is home to hundreds of species including hawks, coyotes, beavers, snapping turtles, wild turkeys, and muskrats!

Through our programming, we protect and restore this wild area and the surrounding district. We maintain paths for recreation and use the space as an outdoor classroom.

 

River Restore

Restoring a Landscape through Education

Learn More About River Restore

 

The banks of Little River are serving as an outdoor classroom for Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program participants and other volunteers.

In summer 2021, we kicked off the first of at least three year project to restore the riverbank between the Alewife Stormwater Wetland and the Little River. Partnering with Parterre Ecological to provide expertise in the field, and working in collaboration with Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Cambridge Conservation Commission, we're creating new native habitat by removing invasives and planting shrubs and trees.

Initiated in 2015 by the previous incarnation of Friends of Alewife Reservation, and funded in part through Ellen Mass, former FAR president, this 28,000 square foot site prone to flooding and dogged by pollution will be ameliorated via biodiversity plantings that builds on the native plantings of the Stormwater Wetland area.

Green Cambridge Mayors Summer Youth Program

If you are a current high schooler or a rising freshman looking for opportunities in nonprofit work and environmentalism, our Mayors Summer Youth Program is a great way to make connections and experience a professional environment.