Arboretum, Boston Grow through Wetland Addition

The Arnold Arboretum and the city of Boston last week signed an agreement formally transferring a large parcel of wetland to Harvard's internationally renowned botanical-research institution in the city's Jamaica Plain community.

Known as the Stony Brook Marsh, the parcel represents the first addition to the Arboretum's lease agreement with the city in 101 years as well as the latest fruit of a Boston/Arboretum partnership that goes back to 1882, exactly 10 years after Harvard established what is now the nation's oldest arboretum.

Signing the March 13 agreement were Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Boston Parks Commissioner Patrick Harrington, and Arboretum Director Robert Cook.

Also present for the ceremonies at Boston's Parkman House were Boston Environmental Services Chief Cathleen Douglas Stone and Arboretum Park Conservancy members John Blackwell and Eugenie Beal.

Plans for the deal have been in the works for over eight years. Blackwell and Beal worked through the Conservancy to help make the transfer a reality. Other supporters have included the Boston Natural Areas Fund and the Greenspace Alliance. News of the then-prospective deal made headlines in November 1993.

Located on the South Street side of the Arboretum, the Stony Brook Marsh gives the public direct access to the Arboretum from the Forest Hills MBTA station. A public walkway through the marsh is currently in the works, thanks to a $365,000 ISTEA (Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The project should be completed in 1997.

"It isn't often that cities get to see their parklands grow," Menino said last week. "In this case, we are adding valuable acreage to one of the most beautiful park systems in the United States." The Arboretum sits as the crown jewel in Boston's famed Emerald Necklace of parks designed in the late 19th century by pioneering landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who also co-designed New York's Central Park.

Cook noted that "the Stony Brook Marsh provides the Arboretum with an invaluable teaching and learning resource for our commitment to science education in Boston schools. It also adds a new dimension to the diverse landscapes of the Arboretum." The parcel includes fields, woodland, and marshes that support birds, small mammals, and various plants.

Although the added land consists of 24 acres, Arboretum acreage will actually increase by only 6 units (from 265 to 271), Cook said, because 18 acres of Harvard-owned land were combined with 6 acres of city-owned land to form the new parcel. Under last week's agreement, that parcel has become part of Harvard's thousand-year lease for the Arboretum from the city of Boston.

More than 15,000 trees and other woody plants from the temperate regions of the world grow on Arboretum grounds. While contributing to a spectacular recreational space for the general public, this living laboratory lies at the heart of dozens of major scientific research projects and a variety of educational programs for children and adults. The Arboretum also maintains its own library and herbarium.

In signing their original agreement in 1882 and amending it in 1895, the Arboretum and the city established a unique public/private collaboration that supports all of these activities. Harvard maintains the landscape, curates the research collections, and conducts educational programs. The Boston Parks and Recreation Department, in turn, maintains fences, roads, gates, and walkways, and supplies Boston Park Rangers to conduct interpretive programs for visitors.