White Pond Cove In Danger
By Kate Blair, Concord Journal, 2013
t’s a hot Saturday morning in July. At the shallow-water cove of White Pond, twenty- three people and three dogs cavort up and down the banks and in the water. One dog marks his territory on a tree by the shoreline; another stops to relieve himself on the bank above. On a spit of land a bit closer to the body of the pond, a family has set up a campsite, with coolers, chairs, and a brazier. A roll of toilet paper sits atop one of the coolers. A little boy tugs at his mother’s hand and points to the woods. She grabs the roll of toilet paper, and hand in hand they retreat to some privacy behind a bush about ten yards in. They come back a few minutes later. No plastic bag is evident. The father is fishing a few yards down the shoreline. Two of his children dig for worms in the dirt about five feet from the shoreline. They do not fill in the hole.
As the day warms, more and more people and dogs fill the shore and line the banks of the cove. They park on nearby streets and parking lots. More enter the water from the boat ramp and swim or paddle across in floats of one kind or another. Most beach their craft, swim and then sit on the shore or scramble up the banks to relieve themselves.
At 3 PM, the cove is in full swing. Fifty- eight people and eleven dogs swim, sun bathe, cook, eat and sleep on the shore line and up and down the banks. Floats dot the shore. Three young men are roughhousing on a nearby private raft. The owner paddles out to tell them that it is private property and to please stop. They reply in Spanish that they don’t understand, and continue their horseplay.
The Town has discontinued the ranger program due to lack of funds. Rangers are no longer hired to intervene and educate visitors about the use of Town land and the importance of protecting the pond and its shoreline or respecting personal property. Word is out that the cove is a place to play with no consequences.
The sky darkens. Rain patters on the leaves, plops in the water. People scurry to pack their coolers and campsites, abandoning cans, bottles, diapers, used condoms, cigarette butts, paper towels and waste. The rain intensifies. Rivulets of water course down the banks, washing the detritus into the pond. Grass and vegetation that once held soil and nutrients has long ago been trampled and decimated by feet eagerly racing to the water.
After the storm subsides, nearby residents clean their waterfronts. They wonder, as they rake up butts and beer cans, what else might be in the water. A call to the Board of Health confirms that it monitors the Associates Beach for fecal coliform bacteria, but that they do not test the cove. The residents wonder how polluted the pond will have to be – covered with algae, lily pads, and weeds, like Warner’s Pond – before anyone in town governance takes notice. Reduced tax revenue from decreased property values due to eutrophication of the pond might finally get their attention. Until then, the cove is a playground for anyone to enjoy and destroy.
t’s a hot Saturday morning in July. At the shallow-water cove of White Pond, twenty- three people and three dogs cavort up and down the banks and in the water. One dog marks his territory on a tree by the shoreline; another stops to relieve himself on the bank above. On a spit of land a bit closer to the body of the pond, a family has set up a campsite, with coolers, chairs, and a brazier. A roll of toilet paper sits atop one of the coolers. A little boy tugs at his mother’s hand and points to the woods. She grabs the roll of toilet paper, and hand in hand they retreat to some privacy behind a bush about ten yards in. They come back a few minutes later. No plastic bag is evident. The father is fishing a few yards down the shoreline. Two of his children dig for worms in the dirt about five feet from the shoreline. They do not fill in the hole.
As the day warms, more and more people and dogs fill the shore and line the banks of the cove. They park on nearby streets and parking lots. More enter the water from the boat ramp and swim or paddle across in floats of one kind or another. Most beach their craft, swim and then sit on the shore or scramble up the banks to relieve themselves.
At 3 PM, the cove is in full swing. Fifty- eight people and eleven dogs swim, sun bathe, cook, eat and sleep on the shore line and up and down the banks. Floats dot the shore. Three young men are roughhousing on a nearby private raft. The owner paddles out to tell them that it is private property and to please stop. They reply in Spanish that they don’t understand, and continue their horseplay.
The Town has discontinued the ranger program due to lack of funds. Rangers are no longer hired to intervene and educate visitors about the use of Town land and the importance of protecting the pond and its shoreline or respecting personal property. Word is out that the cove is a place to play with no consequences.
The sky darkens. Rain patters on the leaves, plops in the water. People scurry to pack their coolers and campsites, abandoning cans, bottles, diapers, used condoms, cigarette butts, paper towels and waste. The rain intensifies. Rivulets of water course down the banks, washing the detritus into the pond. Grass and vegetation that once held soil and nutrients has long ago been trampled and decimated by feet eagerly racing to the water.
After the storm subsides, nearby residents clean their waterfronts. They wonder, as they rake up butts and beer cans, what else might be in the water. A call to the Board of Health confirms that it monitors the Associates Beach for fecal coliform bacteria, but that they do not test the cove. The residents wonder how polluted the pond will have to be – covered with algae, lily pads, and weeds, like Warner’s Pond – before anyone in town governance takes notice. Reduced tax revenue from decreased property values due to eutrophication of the pond might finally get their attention. Until then, the cove is a playground for anyone to enjoy and destroy.
What is White Pond's Future with the Bike Trail?
by Robert Gerzon, Concord Journal, 2013
The construction process for the Concord section of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (BFRT) is funded and scheduled to begin in 2016. The Rail Trail will bring wonderful opportunities to Concord but also some challenges. The current plan calls for the BFRT to end at Powder Mill Road near White Pond. When Sudbury residents approve an extension into their town, the Trail will pass next to the Pond.
Without limiting access to White Pond and having a comprehensive and effective people management plan in place to protect it, the increased and unregulated influx of people could be devastating for one of Concord's most valuable resources. Thoreau loved to walk along its shores and wrote, "White Pond and Walden are great crystals on the surface of the earth, Lakes of Light."
I offer below a fictional account of Jake, a fit, nature-loving, adventurous 25-year-old, riding the new BFRT into Concord. My hope is that by picturing a possible dystopian future now, it will help us prevent it from becoming a reality during the next few years. I believe Concordians can benefit from a well-designed, actively-used BFRT and also preserve this beautiful blue "crystal" and its green setting for future generations.
My name's Jake and I've been riding the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail for years. When the new Concord section opened up in June, I hopped on my bike to check it out. It's a great ride through some beautiful scenery. When I arrived in West Concord Center I stopped and got an ice cream cone and loaded some organic snacks into my backpack. Then I rode through a rural agricultural area and a big wetland. All too soon I arrived at Powder Mill Road where a sign said, "End of Bruce Freeman Rail Trail." But the trail did not actually end there. I saw people riding on and followed them along the picturesque old rail bed.
In less than a minute, this breathtakingly beautiful pond appeared on my left. There were a couple signs saying "Private" and "No Swimming." It was a hot day and I decided to check it out. Turns out this was White Pond and one of the best kept secrets around. I went in and rode my bike down this gully and saw some folks playing in the water. I leaned my bike against a tree and jumped in. The water was so clear and refreshing! I'm never going back to Walden Pond to swim again.
I facebooked about my great ride and posted some photos. The next time I met a bunch of friends down there. We discovered a secluded beach in a cove just a little father along the shore. The best thing is that even though there is a sign saying "No swimming, no alcohol, no fires," nobody ever hassles you. Nobody seems to care.
Once an older man showed up at the beach right by the rail bed and said, "This is private property owned by our neighborhood association and there is no swimming allowed." One of the swimmers replied, "If this is really private property then how come everybody's swimming here? This looks like a public recreation area to me. Why don't you call the cops and report all of us for trespassing?"
Once a Concord police officer did come down to the other beach at the cove and told everyone that this was town conservation land and no swimming was allowed from the shore. Some people started to leave, but then a guy in the water shouted to the officer, "This is a Massachusetts State great pond and by law I have the right to swim in it." I guess he was right because the officer left without writing anyone a citation. After he left a lot more people came.
This has got to be one of most beautiful swimming holes in the area and it's completely free. I love Nature and try to take good care of the pond while I'm there. "Carry in and carry out." But not everyone has the same philosophy.
On weekends you get lots of families with kids and also folks partying with their friends. Unfortunately there are no sanitation facilities or trash receptacles here. People leave soggy diapers, cigarette butts, take-out containers, beer bottles and vodka bottles. I have to watch out for broken glass when I swim now which is a real bummer.
When it comes to the basics, you can always do #1 while you're swimming in the pond. For #2 you have to find some bushes further back in the woods and cover it up with leaves. But with so many people using this as a recreation destination it's getting a kind of gross back there.
Plus the old dirt trails around the pond are eroding fast with people walking and biking on them. After the last heavy rain there was so much silt in pond that the water got really murky when I waded in.
I stop off at the pond sometimes on my way home from work on hot summer evenings. I got some tips on where to park by asking some folks at the beach and looking up "White Pond swimming" on the web. There are "No Parking" signs in the immediate area but there's plenty of free parking a couple blocks away on neighborhood streets and at a nearby school.
By the end of the summer things were starting to get a little out of hand -- just too many people here on a hot day. Before this pond was off the beaten path. It was hidden away, invisible to passing motorists. Now that this popular, heavily-used trail goes here, hundreds of people ride here. Not everyone stops to hang out and swim, but a lot do.
The shoreline is quite narrow and gets crowded on a hot day. There's a lot of swimmers and rubber floats in the water and no lifeguards. Occasionally people get into fights over the limited beach areas. The way things have gone this summer, I'm not sure I want more people to find out about this great swimming hole. But the word is out.
The construction process for the Concord section of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (BFRT) is funded and scheduled to begin in 2016. The Rail Trail will bring wonderful opportunities to Concord but also some challenges. The current plan calls for the BFRT to end at Powder Mill Road near White Pond. When Sudbury residents approve an extension into their town, the Trail will pass next to the Pond.
Without limiting access to White Pond and having a comprehensive and effective people management plan in place to protect it, the increased and unregulated influx of people could be devastating for one of Concord's most valuable resources. Thoreau loved to walk along its shores and wrote, "White Pond and Walden are great crystals on the surface of the earth, Lakes of Light."
I offer below a fictional account of Jake, a fit, nature-loving, adventurous 25-year-old, riding the new BFRT into Concord. My hope is that by picturing a possible dystopian future now, it will help us prevent it from becoming a reality during the next few years. I believe Concordians can benefit from a well-designed, actively-used BFRT and also preserve this beautiful blue "crystal" and its green setting for future generations.
My name's Jake and I've been riding the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail for years. When the new Concord section opened up in June, I hopped on my bike to check it out. It's a great ride through some beautiful scenery. When I arrived in West Concord Center I stopped and got an ice cream cone and loaded some organic snacks into my backpack. Then I rode through a rural agricultural area and a big wetland. All too soon I arrived at Powder Mill Road where a sign said, "End of Bruce Freeman Rail Trail." But the trail did not actually end there. I saw people riding on and followed them along the picturesque old rail bed.
In less than a minute, this breathtakingly beautiful pond appeared on my left. There were a couple signs saying "Private" and "No Swimming." It was a hot day and I decided to check it out. Turns out this was White Pond and one of the best kept secrets around. I went in and rode my bike down this gully and saw some folks playing in the water. I leaned my bike against a tree and jumped in. The water was so clear and refreshing! I'm never going back to Walden Pond to swim again.
I facebooked about my great ride and posted some photos. The next time I met a bunch of friends down there. We discovered a secluded beach in a cove just a little father along the shore. The best thing is that even though there is a sign saying "No swimming, no alcohol, no fires," nobody ever hassles you. Nobody seems to care.
Once an older man showed up at the beach right by the rail bed and said, "This is private property owned by our neighborhood association and there is no swimming allowed." One of the swimmers replied, "If this is really private property then how come everybody's swimming here? This looks like a public recreation area to me. Why don't you call the cops and report all of us for trespassing?"
Once a Concord police officer did come down to the other beach at the cove and told everyone that this was town conservation land and no swimming was allowed from the shore. Some people started to leave, but then a guy in the water shouted to the officer, "This is a Massachusetts State great pond and by law I have the right to swim in it." I guess he was right because the officer left without writing anyone a citation. After he left a lot more people came.
This has got to be one of most beautiful swimming holes in the area and it's completely free. I love Nature and try to take good care of the pond while I'm there. "Carry in and carry out." But not everyone has the same philosophy.
On weekends you get lots of families with kids and also folks partying with their friends. Unfortunately there are no sanitation facilities or trash receptacles here. People leave soggy diapers, cigarette butts, take-out containers, beer bottles and vodka bottles. I have to watch out for broken glass when I swim now which is a real bummer.
When it comes to the basics, you can always do #1 while you're swimming in the pond. For #2 you have to find some bushes further back in the woods and cover it up with leaves. But with so many people using this as a recreation destination it's getting a kind of gross back there.
Plus the old dirt trails around the pond are eroding fast with people walking and biking on them. After the last heavy rain there was so much silt in pond that the water got really murky when I waded in.
I stop off at the pond sometimes on my way home from work on hot summer evenings. I got some tips on where to park by asking some folks at the beach and looking up "White Pond swimming" on the web. There are "No Parking" signs in the immediate area but there's plenty of free parking a couple blocks away on neighborhood streets and at a nearby school.
By the end of the summer things were starting to get a little out of hand -- just too many people here on a hot day. Before this pond was off the beaten path. It was hidden away, invisible to passing motorists. Now that this popular, heavily-used trail goes here, hundreds of people ride here. Not everyone stops to hang out and swim, but a lot do.
The shoreline is quite narrow and gets crowded on a hot day. There's a lot of swimmers and rubber floats in the water and no lifeguards. Occasionally people get into fights over the limited beach areas. The way things have gone this summer, I'm not sure I want more people to find out about this great swimming hole. But the word is out.