Project Goals Revisited

It occurred to me that since the field work has ended for this academic year, I can expect to welcome a whole new crop of students and service workers next semester;

Since I only started recording this blog in April 2010 and since the project started way back in Sept. 2009, I never did write up anything about the “project goals” that I had initially established last year. Goals are important for many reasons but one reason is that it helps new people understand why things are being done and what happened before they joined the project.

I just took a moment to revisit them and they have stood up very well this year. There were three goals established back in Sept. 2009. All three have been moved forward this last year; These goals are, of course, never ending. They will continue for many years to come but they do form a roadmap for the journey and help us understand where we are going. (BTW: I always liked the saying 'life is a journey not a destination' which internet attributes to both Ralph Waldo Emerson and to Aerosmith but I heard it first from Don Henley of the Eagles)

I think it will be useful to have these GOALS written out for the next set of field workers to think about - so here they are:

Project Goals:

Improve the overall accessibility of the Alley Pond Park Wetland Preserve and make it available to a new generation of visitors and naturalists by improving all trails and trail side conditions.

Enhance the ecological character of the preserve by controlling the most aggressive invasive species, encouraging native plantings, protecting and improving wildlife habitat and repairing the scars from years of neglect and overdevelopment.

Provide modern, safe and improved visitor interpretive services to the public in the form of guided and self-guide excursions throughout the preserve.


These goals still hold up and will provide the directional framework for the project to move forward next year.