Preserving the Blue Hills for Future Generations

Judy Lehrer Jacobs has been the executive director of the Friends of the Blue Hills since 2004. She talked with columnist Julie Fay about enjoying the Reservation today and preserving it for the future.

Who are the Friends of the Blue Hills?
The Friends of the Blue Hills have been around for more than 30 years. We want to make sure people today and in future can enjoy the Blue Hills, with its wonderful views, healthy forests and amazing opportunities to play. We feel like the only way to make sure park is protected and taken care of is for lots of people to take care of it. The Department of Conservation and Recreation (the state agency charged with the care of the Blue Hills Reservation) does a really great job, but it’s sorely underfunded. DCR needs help maintaining the park and making sure it’s there for future generations.

How do you “take care of the park?”
We just completed a strategic plan that has three parts: to develop creative, fun programming to engage people within the park; to engage volunteers in leadership positions like the Board of Directors; and to engage the community by finding out what people care about, making connections to what’s important to them and improving the park based on that information.

What are some examples of current programming?
We engage more than 100 people a year in our trail maintenance program. Once a month, we go to an area of the park to cut brush and make repairs to drainage structures like water bars. A lot of work is diverting water from the trails off into the woods, to protect the topsoil from being washed away, destroying the forest habitats and exposing rocks, which can be dangerous for trail users.

We also have about 30 people who have adopted part of a trail. They are responsible for the upkeep of their part of the trail. We also work closely with DCR to pull invasive species that threaten an endangered habitat, and introduce people to native and non-native plants.

What about programming in the future?
We’re talking with DCR about expanding on their programs, maybe doing a fun family festival. We know that once people get into the park, they’re going to love it, and once they love it, they’ll care about it. We encourage people to play and enjoy it. It’s such an amazing resource, with skiing in winter, swimming in the summer, picnicking grounds and great views.

Why are the Blue Hills important?
The Reservation gives people something they’re not going to get anywhere else. The connection to the natural world is something that’s really vital to all of us. If we paved over the Blue Hills and put in shopping malls, we would get more tax revenue, but that would be such a loss to all of us and our quality of life, and it would be a loss forever. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. There’s no way of getting seven thousand acres back. This is a gift to our generation and we want to make sure that future generations can enjoy that gift.

How can people get involved?
We’ve just started a contest on our website, a fun way of sharing our memories of the Blue Hills with each other. It’s called ‘Remember When,’ and we’re encouraging people to write in their favorite memories of the Blue Hills and upload their photos. All of us who love the Blue Hills have had great experiences there, and all of us sharing our experiences will show how wonderful it is.

For more information on the ‘Remember When’ contest, including eligibility requirements and prize information, visit http://friendsofthebluehills.org/?p=860.