Bates Land is the oldest parcel stewarded by the Groton Conservation Trust. It is a beloved area for picnics and hiking up Indian Hill for sweeping views of Groton Hill Music, the Groton School church tower, even Mt. Monadnock and Temple mountain in the distance.

In 2022, the Trust updated the area to address several key areas:

• Expansion and reconfiguration of the existing non-paved parking area to accommodate increased parking. 

• Replacement of the existing crossing of James Brook with and open-bottom box culvert of equal open area.

• Construction of an accessible path.

• Removal of invasive species and restoration of existing meadows to increase the presence of native grasses and wildflowers.

Now with all the construction complete, the Harvey Whitehill Memorial picnic area has become a beautiful park. It is full of natural wildflowers and grasses. These support many native pollinators such as butterflies of all varieties like the Red Spotted Purple below; bumble bees; accidental pollinators like dragonflies; even the intriguing Hummingbird Moth. It is full bloom now, with accessible paths mowed through. With the iNaturalist app on your phone, see how many plants and creatures you can find.

GCT Trustee Bob Pine, Director of Environmental Planning and Engineering at Pine & Swallow, an environmental engineering firm he helped found in 1987, was the mastermind behind the restoration of the meadows.

“For many years, the GCT regularly mowed the meadows,” said Pine. But as the mowing became less regular, the woody plants began to invade and the meadows deteriorated. The motivation for this major renovation, said Pine, was the need to replace the bridge over James Brook. 

The GCT was able to secure a CPA grant to replace the bridge. Additional funding enabled creation of accessible paths and a picnic area. “However, the CPA money could not be used for meadow restoration,” said Pine. “We were fortunate to receive an additional grant from the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts for the meadows to complement the money the GCT invested as well.”

But the meadow restoration did more than provide a beautiful park environment. It provided an equally important ecosystem. “Groton has many forested areas,” said Pine. “But the meadows are needed to support a wider ecology.”

This ecology includes pollinators of many kinds which help fertilize and spread local plants. Pollinators at Bates include bees, butterflies and moths, even the intriguing Butterfly Clearwing Moth. As visitors move among the mowed paths, these buzzing, busy insects are in action right in front of your eyes.

Meadows evolve in response to climate and soil conditions, as well as the presence of remnant seed banks in the soil, noted Pine. Native grasses tend to be the most likely to prevail in the long run, but hopefully some of the wildflowers will continue to thrive, perhaps with the assistance of occasional over-seeding. 

“And nature is natural,” adds Pine. “So sometimes we see things there we never planted.”