|
FIELD NOTES
Mandell Hill History Featured on WFCR
September 11, 2009
FIELD NOTES
Beef and Birds: Mandell Hill Featured on WFCR
September 15, 2008
On Monday morning, September 15th, 2008 the East Quabbin Land Trust’s Mandell Hill property was featured on the local NPR station, WFCR. It was very exciting to hear Laurie Sanders’ Field Notes as it highlighted the land stewardship practices at Mandell Hill, specifically the combination of agriculture and ecological values!
Laurie Sanders spoke about visiting the Mandell Hill Farm in Hardwick which was like stepping back in time; the stillness, the breathtaking view, old stonewalls, foundations, and fences.
East Quabbin Land Trust board member, Chris Buelow, elaborated on the recent clearing projects which have helped create habitat for a variety of grassland birds, including bobolinks, meadowlarks, and savannah sparrow which are in trouble here in New England. Open fields have grown up into forests or been developed into house lots, and in the fields that still exist, the birds face the risk of haying activities, which does not give them enough time to finish raising their young.
Local farmer Ridge Shinn’s grass-fed beef cattle graze the lands on Mandell Hill. His management practices include pasturing his cattle in the fields on the property that have good forage for cows, but are too small for grassland birds to use. Then, once the nesting season is over, he moves his cattle on to these bigger fields that are 10 acres or more in size.
Chris Buelow noted “One of our major intentions of this property is also to work as a model for the community. To show how working profitable agriculture can be compatible with sustainable ecology, especially with grassland birds. A lot of these farmers who were very skeptical of what we were doing back in 2003 and 2004 and who said they couldn’t work with a lease like this, are now approaching Ridge and approaching us, and saying you know I’ve been watching what you guys are doing and we’re starting to see how this could work.”
If you would like to hear the entire interview you can go to http://www.wfcr.org/field_notes/index.html.
Printed Interview
|
