Jill Rusk and Cierra Patrick, City of Groton Trails Committee members
Last July, in the thick of Black Lives Matter demonstrations and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) demands for meaningful change, GCA resolved to act on the festering issue of equity of access to open space in Groton.
GCA contacted John Burt, Groton Town Manager, to ask what’s was being done to make the King-Kolnaski easement property accessible to the people bordering it in the City and in Groton. John said the town hadn’t done anything yet, but asked if we would be willing to help. We had a special interest in the property because GCA, along with two local land trust organizations, had been involved in adding the Birch Plain Creek portion of the King property to the Boulder Heights property as part of the Groton Middle School property swap. We immediately said yes. A group of 10 formed the King-Kolnaski Trails Committee and our first Zoom meeting was held in late October 2020. Days later, we took all interested King-Kolnaski committee members, family and friends out to bushwhack our way from the EB parking lot to the quarry area on the creek. Everyone was stunned by the beauty of the property and the sensation of being in the wild in the midst of Groton. Committee members excitedly chatted about connecting the King property not only to neighborhoods to the east and west, but to green space areas like Crystal Lake to the south and Washington Park to the northwest.
In early December, we commenced tagging a draft loop trail. Good progress was made by the end of January. Mark Berry, director of Groton Parks & Rec., and foreman Jeff Church and his crew have done a phenomenal job of clearing invasive plants and trees from around the trail entrance and around the full loop. Numerous snow storms slowed progress, but before the end of winter the entire trail was cleared. The blue loop trail blazing is almost complete and we hope to have a name for the nature preserve before the end of June. Other projects include deciding on a name, which falls to the Parks & Rec. Commission, and removing the trash that has accumulated over the years on the City/Town property line.