One Year Later – This is what we’ve learned about Breakheart Reservation’s recovery from the August 2022 fires that burned 80 acres

By Laura Eisener

Last year at this time, Breakheart Reservation was gradually recovering from fires that caused its closure for a couple of weeks. Fires first broke out on August 16 and continued to burn for several days despite water being dropped by helicopters and other efforts to control several separate blazes. On August 19, the reservation was closed to visitors. By the end of the fire, 80 acres had been burned.

Other fires in Lynn Woods also caused drifting smoke to waft through Saugus, so much of the late summer and early fall last year was characterized by the smoky atmosphere. The drought last year further stressed trees, so between fire and drought many trees in our woods died.

There is certainly some new green evident now in the burned areas, but there are still burned trees evident. Many hazardous ones have been removed, but charred branches and soil can still be clearly seen. There are dead trees that are still in the process of being removed. The stack of logs near the Visitor Center has grown considerably this year.

According to the park supervisor, the most abundant plant to sprout in the burned areas is a non-woody plant known as American burnweed (Erechtites hieraciifolius), also called pilewort. It commonly sprouts in recently burned areas and can grow up to six feet tall.

This year’s much rainier spring has helped the growth of new plants, and burning actually releases phosphorus in the soil, which can encourage growth of some plant species.

Typical timelines for burned forests to recover from fires vary. The first things to come in will be non-woody plants like the burnweed, followed in a few years by grasses. Eventually, the grasses will be shaded out by pioneer tree species. which grow from seeds already in the soil or seeds which may be brought in by birds or wind from nearby trees. It takes many decades of changing species for trees to grow back, and by the time it is stable again the forest may not be made up of the same mix of species as before the fire.

Learning from the storywalk

A visit to Breakheart this fall could include taking in the “storywalk” set up along the Lodge Trail, which features the book “One Small Place In a Tree,” written by Barbara Brenner and illustrated by Tom Leonard. This book follows the creatures that make use of decaying trees and logs to make their homes and is an educational and upbeat topic for a year when there are likely to be more decaying logs than usual, not only in Breakheart but in our neighborhoods and gardens.

The storywalk project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont, and expanded upon by the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, also of Montpelier, Vt. Breakheart has set up different storywalks for several summers, designed particularly for families with children to enjoy reading and connecting with the natural landscape. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation and the Massachusetts Department of Interpretive Services provided this particular storywalk at Breakheart Reservation.

The storywalk was set up by park Visitor Services Supervisor Jessica Narog-Hutton, who plans and coordinates all events and programs at Breakheart Reservation. The storywalk will remain up until October, with a sign-up sheet in the gazebo to the right of the Visitor Center. I really liked how Jessica positioned each of the storywalk pages near actual logs and decaying trees so people could make the connection between the story and what was happening on the site.

According to Jessica, “I chose that book because it really fit into the park, showing that just because a tree is decaying doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a lot of life left in it and how important a decaying tree is to our park, and all parks.”

She lives close to Wakefield’s entrance to Breakheart Reservation and often brings her two-year-old into the park to play and run around. While the storywalk is especially intended for children and their caregivers, in my opinion it is also a very enjoyable feature for adults unaccompanied by children!

Visitors may also enjoy the Pollinator gardens, which have many flowers in bloom and which are frequently visited by bees and butterflies. One is near the small bridge to the left of the Visitor Center, and another adjacent to the large rock across the parking lot. They have been in bloom throughout the summer, and several species, such as the asters (Symphiotrichum spp.), black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta) and ‘Blue Fortune’ hummingbird mint (Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’) can be expected to bloom for several more weeks.