Each year, we work with volunteers to increase the health and resilience of watershed ecosystems by removing invasive species and picking up trash from parks and paths along the river. During the 2023 stewardship season, we were encouraged to see smaller patches of invasive water chestnut in the Mystic River and fewer invasive bittersweet vines in Macdonald Park than previous years. The continuous effort of dedicated volunteers over the past 10+ years is paying off!
Join us in celebrating some of the highlights from the 2023 stewardship season:
By the Numbers
Volunteer Hours: 2,634
Water Chestnut Baskets: 1,467
Bittersweet Piles/Lawn Bags: 327
Bags of Trash Collected: 452
Corporate Donations Pledged: $48,300
Season Highlights
Staff from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) made a dream team for transporting water chestnut from canoes to the compost. Some of these MWRA team members have been helping with our water chestnut efforts since the beginning in 2014!
Latino Outdoors Boston joined us on the Mystic River to celebrate Latino Conservation Week! We pulled invasive water chestnut from the river and enjoyed a sunny picnic on the riverbanks after a morning of volunteering.
Youth stewards: we love to see youth taking action for their local environment! In 2023, we worked with Somerville National Honors Society, Farrington Nature Linc, Tufts Leadership for Social Change, Tufts Climate Resilience Institute, Groundwork Somerville Green Team, the Somerville Mayor’s Program, and the International School of Boston to bring students out for a day of learning about watershed habitats and working to keep them clean and healthy.
You never know what you’ll see when you’re out in the watershed! Here are our most memorable animal encounters from the season:
We spotted this Eastern garter snake in a tree while removing bittersweet at Riverbend Park in Medford.
Two volunteers got a bonus turtle passenger in their boat at the Arlington Reservoir.
Volunteer with us in 2024!
Interested in joining us for a volunteer day next year?
Subscribe to our monthly eNewsletter to hear about upcoming opportunities!
Corporate group opportunities — contact Elo Deneus (elorpheton.deneus@mysticriver.org)
Non-corporate group opportunities — contact Daria Clark (daria.clark@mysticriver.org)
Thank you to our 2023 supporters and partners!
HelixNano
La Communidad
Largo Clean Energy
Latino Outdoors Boston
LineVision
Mass DCR
Mathworks
Mystic Merfolk
Paddle Boston
Point 32 Health
QurAlis Corp
ROI Solutions
S&P Global | IHS Markit
Smart Bear
Somerville High School
Somerville Mayor’s Program
Takeda
Toast
Tufts Climate Resilience Institute
Tufts CORE Fellows
Tufts FOCUS
Tufts Leadership for Social Change
Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical
Verizon
Vertex Pharmaceutical
ZS Associates
3M
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc
Aspen Technology, Inc.
Avangrid
Bevi
Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA
BNY Mellon/Eagle
Body & Brain Yoga
Boston Cares
Building Impact
Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA
Cerevel Therapeutics, LLC
City Sqaure Wealth Management
Copley Wolf
Encore Boston Harbor
EY
Farrington Nature Linc
Fidelity (Boston Impact)
Friends of the Boston Harborwalk
Friends of the Malden River
Grant Thorton
Greentown Labs
Greystar
Groundwork Somerville
Harvard CBE
