Town Holds Successful ‘Pull Party’ to Help Combat Invasives at Long Pond

Volunteers and Town staff lead successful water chestnut removal effort at Long Pond

Over 20 community members and Town staff participated in a manual effort for water chestnut removal at Long Pond to support the long-term maintenance of the pond last Saturday morning. The “Pull Party” took place on Saturday, July 12 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM starting at the Long Pond boat launch on Whipple Road.

Volunteers and Town staff took to the pond in kayaks, canoes, and other small watercrafts and filled buckets, trash bags, and sometimes their entire canoes with water chestnut. Seven large rolling waste removal carts were filled in just two hours. The goal of this session was to support the long-term maintenance of Long Pond through the manual removal of water chestnut, a prevalent invasive species. Volunteers learned more about invasive species, their effects on the pond’s ecosystem, and met other dedicated community members.

Reports will be available in the coming weeks to document the efficacy and provide valuable data going forward to planning similar events in the future. If you have any questions, please reach out to the Conservation Agent Abigail Mahoney at amahoney@tewksbury-ma.gov

We want to thank all of the volunteers for their commitment to improving Long Pond!