Foothills Preserve

The Foothills Preserve, a former cranberry agricultural site, was restored to native conditions in 2021 after acquisition by the Town. As part of this restoration, approximately 1 mile of brook was restored, and 58 different plant species comprising over 20,000 individual plants were placed throughout the site. These include important pollinator species such as: Blue Vervain (Verbena hestata), Early Goldenrod (Solidago juncea), Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea), multiple Milkweed species (Asclepias spp.), Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea), Swamp Azalea (Rhododendron viscosum), and flowering shrubs such as Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) Blueberry species (Vaccinium spp.), Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), and Winterberry (Ilex verticillata).

The Town was also fortunate to partner with MassAuduon at Foothills to help reestablish potential habitat for the Frosted Elfin (Callophys irus), a butterfly in decline in Massachusetts. This included creating six separate locations on the property where thousands of the Elfin’s host plant, Yellow Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria), were planted with the help of dozens of volunteers. As part of this project, drill seeding also took place to establish populations of numerous other native species, include the pollinator species of Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis), Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), Ox-eye Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides), Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) and Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa).