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Rockfall Forest Invasive Plants Work Party

November 15, 2020 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

A team of volunteers has committed to restoring the health of Rockfall Forest, adjacent to Wadsworth Falls State Park, by removing invasive plants that are overgrowing. More volunteers are needed to help clear invasives so that native trees, and with them the native fauna, can thrive. Bring clippers and gloves if you have them; a limited supply will be available. Tick repellant suggested. Meet at 12:45 in the Big Falls parking lot, 25 Cherry Hill Rd. in Rockfall. Safety protocol for COVID-19 will be enforced. To ensure compliance, volunteers are required to pre-register. Please fill out this registration and waiver form here before arriving. Heavy rain cancels. Thank you for your help!

What is Rockfall Forest?

The trails in Rockfall Forest provide an important entry point to Wadsworth Falls State Park, connecting the orange Main Trail from Cherry Hill Road into the Park, and offering the yellow Laurel Grove Brook Trail. The history of these two properties link Colonel Wadsworth’s Legacy and The Rockfall Foundation. From potato farm to wild forest to outdoor classroom, Rockfall Forest has a story to tell.

Colonel Clarence S. Wadsworth founded Rockfall Corporation (now The Rockfall Foundation) in 1935 “to establish, maintain, and care for parks and forest or wild land for the use and enjoyment of the public”. One of the Colonel’s land holdings was a large plot in Middlefield and Rockfall. He entrusted the land to Rockfall Corporation, with a small section known as “The Captain’s Field” retained for use by his son, Seymour Wadsworth. In 1941, after Colonel Wadsworth’s death, the largest portion of the land, 267 acres known as the “Great Falls Region” was donated by Rockfall Corporation to the Connecticut State Park and Forest commission. The State still maintains this land, the present day Wadsworth Falls State Park. Adjacent Captain’s Field, in the meantime, was leased out by Seymour and used for potato farming in the 1940s and 1950s. After Seymour’s passing, Captain’s Field was transferred to Rockfall Corporation for preservation. To this day, The Rockfall Foundation continues to protect these remaining 16 acres of land, which has reverted to forest since farming was abandoned. No longer a field, The Rockfall Foundation adopted the name Rockfall Forest in 2020.

Please join our efforts to clear invasive plants in Rockfall Forest so that native trees, and with them the native fauna, can thrive. These efforts will also help clear space to use the forest as an outdoor classroom.

Details

Date:
November 15, 2020
Time:
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Venue

Rockfall Forest via Wadsworth Falls Parking Lot
Waterfall parking, 25 Cherry Hill Rd.
Middletown, CT 06457
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