Parrish Dobson

It is rare that you can reach wilderness by subway, but the Alewife Reservation in Cambridge Massachusetts is just such a rarity. Inner-city schoolchildren come here to learn about nature. People of all ages take walks here.  Coyote, otters, muskrat, ducks, swans, possum all make their homes here. People in the constant traffic on nearby Route 2 pass by this land without even knowing its secret beauties.  Bordering the reservation was a Silver Maple Forest, another lovely section, often called the “Belmont Uplands.”  Sadly, after long years and many efforts to save it, these adjacent acres were leveled to build a substantial condominium complex. Development shrank this small bit of  “urban wild.” These photographs look the surprising beauty of this sliver of conserved land and the areas which were destroyed.