Desert In Marlborough To Undergo Restoration With State Grant

MARLBOROUGH, MA — You may not see any cactuses or rattlesnakes there, but Marlborough does have its own regional type of desert.

The city's Desert Natural Area and the corresponding portion in Sudbury is a type of pitch pine and scrub oak barren with sandy soil. Mass Wildlife this month awarded Marlborough a nearly $27,000 grant to conduct restoration at the 900-acre tract, an effort that will help enliven the endangered ecosystem.

Due to its sandy soil — the leftovers of ancient glacial Lake Sudbury — the desert area east of the intersection of Concord Road and Mosher Lane hasn't seen much development. But the area has been disturbed by railroad development in the 19th Century, and the construction of the Tenneco pipeline in the 1960s, according to the Sudbury Valley Trustees.

The Conservation Commission will use the Mass Wildlife grant to thin white pine trees in a 21-acre section of the area, and clear log piles and create fire breaks. The city will also have to conduct a controlled burn, a natural and healthy part of pitch pine development.

The Mass Wildlife grant came from a special fund set up to help strengthen the forests and other natural areas against climate change, according to state officials.