Walden Woods includes the former Concord Landfill. The 35-acre Concord landfill directly abuts The Walden Pond State Reservation, which was just voted the favorite state park in MA; visited by over 600,000 people every year.
Iconic and internationally-revered Walden Pond and the woods surrounding it are a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
ON MAY 1ST, THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION WILL MAKE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT WALDEN POND AND MINUTE MAN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.
PLACING A CELL TOWER RIGHT ON THE BORDER OF THE WALDEN POND STATE RESERVATION WOULD CAUSE MAJOR VISUAL IMPACTS TO THOREAU’S WALDEN WOODS AND WOULD SET A PRECEDENT FOR FURTHER HARMFUL INTRUSIONS INTO WALDEN WOODS.
For over three decades, The Walden Woods Project (WWP) has been leading the effort to preserve the historic and ecologically significant land that inspired the life, literature and thinking of Henry David Thoreau. While Walden draws visitors from around the state and around the world, the people of Concord have the most to lose if this beautiful national treasure is demeaned. Few communities can boast of such a famous natural and recreational resource within their borders.
The vital importance of protecting the former landfill site was recommended in the Town of Concord’s 2015 Open Space and Recreation Plan, which states: “This large natural area of about 1,180 acres extends from the Town Forest southward across Brister’s Hill, Route 2, the former landfill, Walden Pond, the Robinson Well site, and Fairhaven Woods. Efforts should continue to find a mutually beneficial solution to protect the former landfill site in harmony with existing uses as an important linkage within the internationally significant Walden Pond area.”
Thoreau was one of the first in our nation to call for setting aside land in its natural state. His writings and philosophy, largely based on the time he spent in Walden Woods, profoundly influenced the creation of our national parks system. Walden Woods and Walden Pond are widely acknowledged to be the birthplace of the American conservation movement. This place is where Thoreau developed much of his thinking for his essay Civil Disobedience, which influenced Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Tolstoy and other leaders of social reform.
Walden Woods is approximately 2,680 acres with Walden Pond at its center. The Walden Woods Project has protected and stewards nearly 200 acres of land in historic Walden Woods abutting the Pond and State Reservation. The vast majority of this protected land is located in Concord and enjoyed by Concord residents.
The Walden Woods Project is strongly opposed to ARTICLE 38 (proposed as a Petition Article and not by the town) to construct what would likely be a 90-100 foot cellular tower at the former Concord landfill property – a cell tower that would not even provide all of the necessary cellular service for Concord Center and the high school campus, and would require state and local permitting that could take over a year. There are other site options that would address the Town’s urgent coverage needs, would not involve lengthy permitting, and, most importantly, would not degrade a National Historic Landmark.
The Walden Woods Project’s highest conservation priority is the 35.4 acre site of the former Concord landfill. When a cellular tower was slated to be built by AT&T in 2003, AT&T shelved their plans when they learned that the tower would impact Walden Pond State Reservation.
In 2013, Concord voters resoundingly defeated a Warrant Article at Town Meeting that would clear the way for building a school bus depot at the border of the Walden Pond State Reservation in the same area where the cellular tower is proposed.
The Walden Woods Project and town residents successfully worked together when a massive development threat faced the historic Brister’s Hill site directly across Route 2 from the landfill. The landfill site itself sits closer to the Pond and needs protective measures, not a cell tower – a cell tower clearly visible from Brister’s Hill. These measures begin with halting the siting of the cellular tower!
Brister’s Hill was named for Brister Freeman who was enslaved in Concord for the first 30 or so years of his life. After his freedom in the late 1770’s, he became the owner of property on the subsequently-named Brister’s Hill and was mentioned in Thoreau’s writings.
In 1990, a 147,000 square foot office building with parking for over 500 cars was proposed for Brister’s Hill. The Walden Woods Project stepped up and raised millions of dollars to buy the property and stop the office park. Imagine how different the Walden area and Concord would be with a huge office park on Brister’s Hill, today. Fortunately, Brister’s Hill and its lovely interpretive trails are still enjoyed by Concord residents.
THE SAME RESULT CAN HAPPEN ON THE LANDFILL WHILE STILL USING THE LANDFILL FOR SOLAR PANELS!
Amidst much local opposition, the Concord landfill was sited in 1958 at its current location on land that abuts the Walden Pond State Reservation. At the time it was opened, it was expected to be a temporary landfill under the terms of a town commitment to restore the area to its natural condition. A large swath of Walden Woods was cleared to make way for the landfill. A pond that Thoreau referred to as Ripple Lake was permanently filled in.
In 1994, The Walden Woods Project successfully advocated for the permanent closure of the landfill. In subsequent years, the landfill was capped in compliance with state regulations. The Walden Woods Project donated $140,000 to the Town of Concord to pay for native tree and grass plantings on the landfill to help re-naturalize the denuded, landfilled area.
Brister’s Hill, the former Concord landfill site, the Hapgood Wright Town Forest, the Walden Pond State Reservation, the Bay Circuit Trail along with hundreds of acres purchased by the Walden Woods Project itself, and other nearby conservation lands form an important wildlife corridor and a valuable natural/recreational asset for local residents and visitors alike.
PLEASE VOTE TO PROTECT THE WALDEN POND STATE RESERVATION AND HONOR THOREAU’S ENVIRONMENTAL LEGACY BY VOTING NO ON ARTICLE 38.
