The Emerald Necklace in the News

15,000 Volunteer Hours Provided in One Day by 3,000 Blue Cross Employees

Business Wire - September 20, 2011 will be a day like no other in the nearly 75-year history of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA). Instead of engaging in a typical work day more than 3,000 BCBSMA employees, known as "BlueCrew" volunteers, will fan out across the state to provide 15,000 volunteer hours to nearly 30 schools, parks, and other community organizations. The event, known as continue reading...

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Tuesdays with Roses in the Fens

Sara Brown, Boston.com Town Correspondent - After a car accident crushed his leg a few years ago, it took Joe Bergeron a year to be able to walk from his Fenway apartment to the Kelleher Rose Garden. Often, he said, he would have to stop to rest every few blocks. But during his recovery, he would make it to the rose garden every day, he said, to enjoy the blooming roses. Continue reading...

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Significant damage in Emerald Necklace; officials warn of hanging branches

Matt Rocheleau, Boston.com Town Correspondent - While there is no count of the number of trees and tree limbs downed along Boston's Emerald Necklace park system from this past weekend's storm, officials today called the damage significant and cautioned parkgoers to watch for loose hanging branches. "They can come down very quickly and can be lethal," said Emerald Necklace Conservancy senior project manager Ray Olaeado-Johnson continue reading...

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Emerald Necklace Maintenance Collaborative

City Parks Alliance - The Emerald Necklace Maintenance Collaborative provides two crews of 8 minimum-status inmates from the Boston Pre-Release Center to participate in a bi-weekly landscape skills training program, and work in the parks four to five days a week. The program instructor and guest lecturers teach the crew horticulture techniques, plant and soil sciences, maintenance skills, and cultivation of flowers and vegetables. Continue reading...

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The New Olmsteds

Hartney Greymont Leaflet - Looking at a skinny maple tree staked miserably beside a traffic-clogged street, it's easy to believe that cities and nature are simply incompatible. But some people refuse to accept that, and have been willing to undertake extraordinary, logic-defying projects to keep nature in the urban picture. The Back Bay Fens and Boston's Emerald Necklace were created at a time when continue reading...