Opinion: Rail Trail Threatens Reedy Meadow's Endangered Wildlife

A Letter to the Editor from Chris Martone (Lynnfield), Melissa Sovay (Wakefield), Andrea Bean (Peabody),Dave Williams (Reading), Denise Young (Lynnfield) and Jim Dillon (Lynnfield):

Over the past several years, the Lynnfield Marsh Survey Team of the Brookline Bird Club has spent hundreds of hours on the rail bed in the Lynnfield Marsh (Reedy Meadow), now considered for rail trail conversion. We are against a rail trail that puts this protected wetland at risk of losing the rare and endangered marsh birds which require large areas of undisturbed fresh-water marsh as well as the birds that nest, roost and hunt along the rail bed. We have recorded calls of King Rail and American Bittern in the marsh near the rail bed as well as songs of Marsh Wren nesting only a few feet away from the rail bed.

Long-eared Owls once over-wintered in the dense almost impassable trees on the rail bed past the island. Their roost was destroyed in late 2014 as part of a rail trail feasibility study when rail bed trees south of the island were cut, and they became the first sensitive species to be directly impacted by the proposed rail trail.

The Lynnfield Marsh was registered as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1972 and designated by Mass Audubon as an ‘Important Bird Area’ (IBA) in 2008. It is one of the largest freshwater cattail marshes in Massachusetts with 179 bird species documented to date on eBird (https://ebird.org/hotspot/L207382 ). The importance of the marsh to endangered marsh birds was recognized by the Mass. Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) in 2017 which designated all of the marsh north of the King Rail Golf Course as “Priority Habitat” for threatened and endangered marsh birds. Unlike other nearby freshwater marshes which have been taken over by invasive phragmites, cattail marsh with tussock-forming grasses used by nesting marsh birds still predominates in Lynnfield Marsh.

Last fall the culvert removal project to open up Beaverdam Brook removed part of the rail bed. Since most of the rail bed is now cut off by Beaverdam Brook and no longer accessible from the Lynnfield side, the rail bed south of Beaverdam Brook has become a sanctuary for marsh birds, Rusty Blackbirds, and many other species of concern including Blue-spotted Salamander.

Between March and May, the Lynnfield Marsh hosts the largest number of migrating Rusty Blackbirds in New England. This species has undergone steep population declines and the rail bed has been an accessible location for us to monitor these birds in recent years. Our annual spring migration survey has raised awareness of the importance of the Lynnfield Marsh as a major migration stopover for Rusty Blackbirds and one of the only locations in the northeast where Rusty Blackbirds can be reliably observed.

We are particularly concerned about increased access to the island on the rail bed. Rail bed island (Turtle Island) has been the site of parties where fires were lit and firecrackers set off under trees filled with Rusty Blackbirds. Encouraging access to rail bed island will disturb sensitive species, add to the risk of fire, and worsen the accumulating litter problem and dog waste problems we see in more accessible areas of the marsh.

In nearby accessible marsh areas like Partridge Island, we have removed fireworks, a lit flare, Ziploc bags, hundreds of bottles and cans and other litter from the trails and boardwalks. Removing litter in the marsh along boardwalks is impossible once out of reach, and will be virtually impossible from a raised boardwalk on the rail bed.

In the most recent fire on the western side of the marsh in May 2015, 65 acres of marsh burned in a wall of 20-foot flames that required the services of multiple fire departments. The cause of the fire was likely a carelessly discarded cigarette at the former viewing tower on Partridge Island. The remaining viewing platform at Partridge Island has been repeatedly vandalized with fires set on the platform and the sides torn off. Cameras installed by the Conservation Commission in an attempt to monitor Partridge Island were also vandalized.

There is also an increasing need to side step dog waste at Partridge Island trails and boardwalks. One of our survey team members describes her experience with dog waste and the loss of wildlife on the Peabody bike path, the closest bike path to Lynnfield.

I live 1/4 mile from the Independence Greenway, known as the Peabody bike path. From the very beginning, off-leash dogs and dog waste the entire length of the bike path, both on the sides of the path as well as directly on it, have been issues. The discarding of the bags, when used, is also a problem, as the dog walkers who use them just leave the filled bags on the side of the pathway. Although there is signage, barrels, and, at one time, pooper scooper bags, the dog waste and off-leash dogs entering the ponds and marshes have continued to be a major problem.

These are impossible issues to monitor and enforce, and once the rail trail goes through, impossible to mitigate. The loss of wildlife at the Peabody bike path is something we will never get back. The intrusion was too great, and the adaptable species like the Canada Goose and Mallard end up moving in in such numbers that whatever does try to stick around, soon gets pushed out. In the last 3 years, I no longer see Pied-billed Grebes in any of the ponds along the path, and Marsh Wren are completely gone.

We feel strongly that new access to Reedy Meadow should not be at the expense of the rare marsh birds and other species sensitive to disturbance that deserve our protection. Enacting and enforcing rules critical for a protected wetland (no dogs, no bikes) is unlikely on a high traffic bike path. The risks from careless use of open flames, contamination, dogs running into the marsh, dog waste, increased noise, movement and many other unforeseen impacts are too great.

We appreciate this opportunity to share our concerns over the proposed rail trail extension through Reedy Meadow.

Chris Martone (Lynnfield), Melissa Sovay (Wakefield), Andrea Bean (Peabody),
Dave Williams (Reading), Denise Young (Lynnfield) and Jim Dillon (Lynnfield)