Stewardship Makes a Difference ... You can, too!

If you’ve been out to Ives Farm woodlands recently and expected a good hike through the over 80- acre forest tucked behind the fields off Cheshire Street you were probably disappointed.

You might have crawled under branches, pushed through thickets, climbed over fallen trees, and forded a couple streams hoping that there might be a well- maintained trail somewhere along the way.

Unfortunately for those who have attempted the challenge of hiking at Ives Farm woodlands recently, chances are you turned around within the first 10 feet. This trail system has not been maintained and nature has filled in the gaps where trails once were.

All groups, especially all-volunteer non-profits like Cheshire Land Trust, face challenges in membership numbers. There are cycles when you do not have sufficient people-power, volunteers who will steward and maintain trails for instance.

However, new things are happening and Cheshire land Trust has seen a revitalization with an uptick in its volunteer stewardship committee.

As volunteer stewards continue to join CLT, the Ives woodlands trail system is now getting the makeover it deserves. Many other properties under CLT’s stewardship are also seeing improvement.This past August, CLT started on a mission to reopen the trails and improve its facilities and potential recreational opportunities. We will be remapping, re-blazing, installing new bridges, erecting new kiosks, and when it’s all done we will be maintaining it for years to come.

With the help of our amazing team of volunteers our plan is to complete this in time for the 50th Anniversary of the Cheshire Land Trust a little more than a year a way.

We invite anyone interested in helping improve these trails to come to our work parties. Bring your tools if you have them and if you don’t we’ll provide them.

Stewardship work parties will be posted on our events calendar, along with Facebook and Twitter. If you would like more information about the Ives Farm trail system or joining the Cheshire Land Trust Stewardship Team please contact us at CheshireLandTrust@gmail.com or go to CheshireLandTrust.org.

Author Nick Motmans is a Lyman Hall student liaison on the Cheshire Land Trust board.