The City Nature Challenge, Together-but-Separately
We here at MassWildlife hope that you and your families and friends are safe and well during the COVID-19 public health emergency. We’ve found that a responsible hike in nature is great for both physical and mental health. We suspect that’s also true for anyone who uses iNaturalist and welcome you to participate in the City Nature Challenge (April 24-27th) at a nearby Wildlife Management Area (WMA).
This year, the City Nature Challenge is focused simply on looking at nature, wherever you’re able to be. MassWildlife had hoped to be leading public walks for the Boston and Pioneer Valley Challenges, but we have cancelled those events for the safety of the public and our staff. However, a number of MassWildlife staff will be going out to iNaturalize sometime during the Challenge period and we hope you will, too.
All of MassWildlife’s (WMAs) remain open to the public. Please remember to keep a distance of 6 feet or more between you and other visitors. MassWildlife encourages the public to visit lesser-known spots and explore the outdoors close to home. If crowded, choose a different location or time to visit. Please click here for the latest guidance and recommendations regarding COVID-19.
We hope you visit one or more of the WMAs during the City Nature Challenge, particularly the WMAs we support as projects in iNaturalist. For the Boston City Nature Challenge area, those iNaturalist project WMAs are:
Martin Burns WMA
J.C. Phillips Sanctuary
Wayne MacCallum WMA
Part of Bolton Flats WMA
Burrage Pond WMA
Southeast Bioreserve
Frances Crane WMA
For the Pioneer Valley City Nature Challenge, the iNaturalist project WMAs are:
Montague Plains WMA
Herman Covey WMA
Poland Brook WMA
For maps of these areas – or any of our WMAs across the state – you can visit our on-line Lands Viewer. These maps also show the official parking areas, where those are available. As always these days, if a parking area or a trail or lakeshore is crowded with people, go somewhere else to hike and explore.
Any observation you upload to iNaturalist from these WMAs during the Challenge period will automatically be collected in both the appropriate Challenge project and in the appropriate WMA project. All you have to do is get out and enjoy the natural world. We hope you do get out, and we hope you find a bit of beauty and peace in nature.