2023 Stewardship Council Community Grant Awards
In 2023, the Stewardship Council awarded $27,718 in grant funding through its Community Grants Program. The following projects received funding:
People of Ayer Concerned About the Environment (PACE) - $4,490 for “AYER Community PULL! A
Campaign to Remove Water Chestnuts at Grove Pond.” This grant will fund the second year of a
community-wide removal program of invasive water chestnuts. In addition, it will fund the acquisition
of two canoes for use by volunteers.
Groton Trails Committee - $2.500 for “Nashua Riverwalk Educational Signage.” This grant will fund an
accessible .2 mile extension of an existing .2 mile accessible section of the John Tinker Trail in the J.
Harry Rich State Forest. In action, two rest areas will be provided and five educational signs created and
installed at the observation area at the end of the trail.
Town of Harvard - $1,050 for “Harvard Waterways and Watershed Awareness.” Grant funding will be
used to 1) collect data on culverts and catch basins using the Stormwater app and 2) with this data,
create a town-wide map of this infrastructure. This is the first step in a long-term project to restore
hydrologic connectivity by upgrading or replacing culverts.
Harvard Conservation Trust - $2,425 for “Harvard Crescent Valley Boardwalk Project.” Funds will be
used to build a 48-foot long boardwalk crossing ecologically sensitive wetlands on the Crescent Valley
Trail. The trail borders Bowers Brook, a tributary of the Nashua River, and provides connection to
additional Town conservation lands.
Pepperell Invasive Native & Plant Advisory Committee (INPAC) - $3,000 for “Invasive Plant
Management Support.” The grant will support three projects. The first, culvert maintenance, will
continue removal of invasive plants along four town culvert ditches. The second will support garlic
mustard removal along town roads and on private land. The third project will fund a town-wide mailing
to raise general awareness of invasive plants.
Shirley Select Board - $5,225 for “Fredonian Park Riparian Restoration Project.” Funds will be used to
fund the second year of the 2022 grant to remove invasive plants along the banks of Fredonian Pond
and the Catacunemaug Brook. Funds will also be used to replant cleared areas with native plantings to
stabilize the banks.
Town of Townsend - $2,263 for “Townsend Non-Native Invasive Plant Training at Adams Dam Area.”
This grant will fund the third year of a multi-year effort by the Town to improve the Adams Dam Area by
training Town employees and volunteers on identification and removal of invasive plants.
World Farmers, Inc. - $6,315 for “Restoring the Natural Flow of Floodwaters Off Flats Mentor Farm
onto Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area.” Funds will be used for the engineering and planning
required for possible installation of culverts to restore the natural flow of seasonal flood waters off
Mentor Flats Farm into the Still River, a tributary of the Nashua River. Mentor Flats is used by
immigrant, small-scale vegetable farmers.
Grant funding is provided by the Stewardship Council through the National Park Service under CFDA:
15.962 – National Wild & Scenic Rivers System.
People of Ayer Concerned About the Environment (PACE) - $4,490 for “AYER Community PULL! A
Campaign to Remove Water Chestnuts at Grove Pond.” This grant will fund the second year of a
community-wide removal program of invasive water chestnuts. In addition, it will fund the acquisition
of two canoes for use by volunteers.
Groton Trails Committee - $2.500 for “Nashua Riverwalk Educational Signage.” This grant will fund an
accessible .2 mile extension of an existing .2 mile accessible section of the John Tinker Trail in the J.
Harry Rich State Forest. In action, two rest areas will be provided and five educational signs created and
installed at the observation area at the end of the trail.
Town of Harvard - $1,050 for “Harvard Waterways and Watershed Awareness.” Grant funding will be
used to 1) collect data on culverts and catch basins using the Stormwater app and 2) with this data,
create a town-wide map of this infrastructure. This is the first step in a long-term project to restore
hydrologic connectivity by upgrading or replacing culverts.
Harvard Conservation Trust - $2,425 for “Harvard Crescent Valley Boardwalk Project.” Funds will be
used to build a 48-foot long boardwalk crossing ecologically sensitive wetlands on the Crescent Valley
Trail. The trail borders Bowers Brook, a tributary of the Nashua River, and provides connection to
additional Town conservation lands.
Pepperell Invasive Native & Plant Advisory Committee (INPAC) - $3,000 for “Invasive Plant
Management Support.” The grant will support three projects. The first, culvert maintenance, will
continue removal of invasive plants along four town culvert ditches. The second will support garlic
mustard removal along town roads and on private land. The third project will fund a town-wide mailing
to raise general awareness of invasive plants.
Shirley Select Board - $5,225 for “Fredonian Park Riparian Restoration Project.” Funds will be used to
fund the second year of the 2022 grant to remove invasive plants along the banks of Fredonian Pond
and the Catacunemaug Brook. Funds will also be used to replant cleared areas with native plantings to
stabilize the banks.
Town of Townsend - $2,263 for “Townsend Non-Native Invasive Plant Training at Adams Dam Area.”
This grant will fund the third year of a multi-year effort by the Town to improve the Adams Dam Area by
training Town employees and volunteers on identification and removal of invasive plants.
World Farmers, Inc. - $6,315 for “Restoring the Natural Flow of Floodwaters Off Flats Mentor Farm
onto Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area.” Funds will be used for the engineering and planning
required for possible installation of culverts to restore the natural flow of seasonal flood waters off
Mentor Flats Farm into the Still River, a tributary of the Nashua River. Mentor Flats is used by
immigrant, small-scale vegetable farmers.
Grant funding is provided by the Stewardship Council through the National Park Service under CFDA:
15.962 – National Wild & Scenic Rivers System.
Contact Us
Copyright © 2023