Light pollution is an ever growing problem as land is continuously developed. Without an eye towards the future, open land conservation, and responsible lighting choices, we’ll lose what little we have left on the planet for truly dark skies.
Visit our page under Resources to learn about the Dark Skies initiative in Southborough.
Recently Daisy Scout Troop #64042 did some trail work at SOLF’s little “Clark Grove” property on Highland St. They even cleaned our sign! We love that we’ve been able to create a small trail for a neighborhood to enjoy. Thank you troop #64042 and leader Phaea Crede !
Southborough Open Land Foundation (SOLF) Board is excited to share with you some of our accomplishments from this past year. Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to support our efforts that help make Southborough such an attractive and unique community.
Open space, with fields and woods, streams, and wetlands, greatly enhances our quality of life here in Southborough, providing diverse habitat and quiet woodland trails. As Fall arrives, the Southborough Open Land Foundation (SOLF) Board is excited to share with you some of our accomplishments from this past year.
Your support is essential to helping us keep up this positive momentum. Now that we are again able to meet in person, we are eager to resume offering some nature-based programs. Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to support our efforts that help make Southborough such an attractive and unique community.
SOLF is a private, non-profit 501 (c)(3) land trust that serves the citizens of Southborough. Since our founding in 1988, we have preserved nearly 200 acres of land. SOLF does not receive any tax-based support from the town or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Trustees of SOLF
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On Monday, November 28, eight employees from the SWCA Environmental Consultants office in Southborough volunteered at Bigelow Wildlife Refuge, spreading wood chips and pulling invasive honeysuckle. Thank you, Ariel and group for thinking of us!
Whitney Beals, president of the Southborough Open Land Foundation (SOLF), led a group of about sixteen on a history walk at the Elaine and Philip Beals Preserve on Sunday, October 16 , 2022.
In the 1950s, Whit’s family purchased land on both Chestnut Hill north of route 30 and what is now the Beals Preserve south of route 30. You can read his entertaining and educational talk, describing the land purchase, the conservation restrictions to save the land from development, the history of the ice pond, and plans to maintain the trails, the forest, and the meadows.
You can read a transcript of his talk here.
Southborough’s “Heritage Day” is Monday from 10:00 to 3:00 on St Mark’s field. We will be there so come by, have a granola bar and learn about SOLF.
Join Whitney Beals and the Southborough Open Land Foundation (SOLF) for a history walk at the Elaine and Philip Beals Preserve on Sunday, October 16 at 10 am. President Whitney Beals will walk and talk about the history of the property. Meet at the kiosk on the south side of the aqueduct. Sign up at the SOLF booth at Heritage Day or send email to info@solf.org to let SOLF know that you are planning to attend. Note there is now a parking lot on Route 30 Main Street. To get directions, more parking information, and a map for Beals Preserve, go to on https://solf.org/beals-preserve/.
We are happy to announce that there is now a small parking area at the Beals Preserve Main Street Field on Route 30. The entrance to the parking area is on the south side of Main Street, between two stone pillars, east of Northborough Road and west of Chestnut Hill Road. Pull into the fenced area (it is currently grass, but will likely be layered with wood chips), and park perpendicular to the road at the stone wall, to the right of the sign post. Walk down the field through the opening in the fence to the lane and then across the bridge over the Wachusett channel.
SOLF trustees and volunteers worked for a few hours Saturday morning September 11 to spruce up the primary entrance of the Beals Preserve: around the kiosk and bridge on the old farm lane that goes down from Main Street. We did this to properly welcome and accommodate the visitors attending the closing and poetry reading of the annual Art on the Trails on September 12.
