Local Links for Biodiversity—Worcester, Massachusetts

Museums and Nature Centers:

Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary
500 Walk Hill Street
Mattapan, MA 02126
Phone: 617-983-8500
www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Boston/
An urban sanctuary, the Center contains more than two miles of scenic trails and boardwalks that skirt wetlands, woods, and open fields. Native wildlife includes hawks, wild turkey, and pheasants. On site, the Clark-Cooper Community Gardens, Boston's largest community gardens, are the source of fresh produce for hundreds of Bostonians.

Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary
414 Massasoit Rd
Worcester, MA 01604
Phone: 508-753-6087
www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Broad_Meadow/index.html
The Broad Meadow Brook Sanctuary hosts educational programs for 150,000 students each year and encourages sound local, state, and federal environmental policies. As the largest urban sanctuary in New England, visitors may trek over 400 acres of woods, fields, streams and marsh. It is home to 78 different species of butterflies and owls. The Center also contains a visitor information site for the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.

John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
One Depot Square
Woonsocket, RI 02895
Phone: 401-762-0250
www.nps.gov/blac
In 1986, U.S. Congress designated the Blackstone Valley as a National Heritage Corridor. The Corridor is a partnership park that stretches from the headwaters of the Blackstone River in Worcester, Massachusetts to the Narragansett Bay in Providence, Rhode Island. It covers 400,000-acres and is home to 500,000 people.

New England Aquarium
Central Wharf
Boston, MA 02110
Phone: 617-973-5200
www.neaq.org
The Aquarium attempts to initiate public understanding of aquatic life and environments, and to encourage the preservation of water and the sustainable use of aquatic resources. The Aquarium’s exhibits and education, conservation, and research programs seek to achieve this goal. Exhibits feature the diversity, importance and majesty of aquatic life and habitats and critical aquatic conservation issues. Programs feature species, habitats, and issues pertinent to New England.

Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary
30 Peck Road
Monson, MA 01057
Phone: 413-267-9654
www.norcrossws.org/norcross.htm
The sanctuary is dedicated to the conservation of habitat for the well-being of both Massachusetts’s wildlife and its local citizens. This mission includes collecting and growing wild plants, preserving birds and all forms of animal wildlife, and conserving land and water. The sanctuary covers almost four thousand acres of wooded hills, lakes and streams. Varying terrain and moist conditions permit a wide variety of native plants to thrive. Additionally, Norcross’s museum contains illuminating photographic studies of plants and flowers. The sanctuary has three miles of marked footpaths winding through a variety of habitats and wildflower gardens. Throughout much of the year, the sanctuary holds educational programs that include guided nature walks, terrarium-building, and animal tracks and signs-identification workshops.

Quinsigamond State Park
10 North Lake Ave.
Worcester, MA 01603
Phone: 508-755-6880
www.gwlt.org
Quinsigamond State Park consists of two sites, Regatta Point and Lake Park, located on Lake Quinsigamond. The 25-acre Regatta Point area includes facilities for swimming, sailing, picnicking and fishing. Sailing and rowing crew regattas frequently use the park. The 2,000-meter rowing course established on Lake Quinsigamond is internationally recognized as one of the best courses in the world. The Lake Park area provides a picnic area, swimming beach, and tennis courts.

Wachusetts Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary
113 Goodnow Road
Princeton, MA 01541
Phone: 978-464-2712
www.gwlt.org
Wachusett Meadow is an eleven-mile network of trails that includes a 200-acre beaver pond with beavers, mink, otters, wood ducks, and herons. The sanctuary is located at the foot of Wachusett Mountain, the summit of which is the best hawk watching area in New England. In late spring and early autumn, large numbers of hawks flock to the sanctuary. Deer, coyotes, bluebirds, and bobolinks also inhabit Wachusett Meadow’s 1,000-acre property.

The Worcester County Horticultural Society: Tower Hill Botanic Garden
11 French Drive
P.O. Box 598
Boylston, MA 01505
Phone: 508-869-6111
www.towerhillbg.org
Tower Hill Botanic Garden, the Worcester County Horticultural Society’s headquarters, displays several distinctive gardens. Visitors explore nature as they hike the Garden’s woodland trails. The Wildlife Garden's "Birdhouse for People" viewing station allows participants to observe wildlife and plants in an undisturbed, natural environment. The Tower’s man-made pond and the sloping land surrounding it provide the moist conditions that the Garden’s aquatic insects, amphibians, mammals, birds and fish need.

Zoo New England
One Franklin Park Rd.
Boston, MA 02121
Phone: 617-541-LION
www.zoonewengland.org
Zoo New England hosts many interactive educational programs covering such topics as: Adaptations, Biodiversity, Habitats, Lifecycles, The Web of Life, Wild Careers, and Wildlife Conservation. Other programs include Zoo Encounters, in which a zookeeper, naturalist, or horticulture specialist teaches students about the zoo’s plant and animal collections. ZooCamp participants explore the natural world of animals and their habitats within the zoo’s facilities.