Celebrate Earth Day with SVT

Earth Day calls us to love the planet that we call home, as we are reunited with her warmth and light. 

Signs of spring abound along your favorite trail. Trilliums and trout lilies bloom.  

Wrens and warblers return. Salamanders and spring peepers rejoice. Bears and bats emerge.  

It is evident that nature is beautiful and essential.

This Earth Day, we invite you to celebrate the earth the SVT way: Get out on the land, watch a bird from your window, plan a pollinator garden, or read “Firefly” (a poem by Jacqueline Woodson), as you wait for still warmer days to arrive.

Below, we list our Volunteer Programs and Earth Day Programs, shine our Earthling Spotlight on an adorable salamander, and emphasize the need to support Environmental Justice in our region. Plus, you'll learn how to earn your own Habitat Hero patch--our special gift to Monthly Members.

Volunteer with SVT

Each spring, Earth Day reminds us that protecting the places we love takes all of us. Volunteering is one of the most direct and meaningful ways to care for the land—whether you’re pulling invasive plants, building and maintaining trails, or introducing new members of our community to the joys of the outdoors. Every hour given restores native habitat, supports local wildlife, and ensures that our conserved lands remain healthy and accessible for generations to come.

When you volunteer with SVT, you’re not just giving back—you’re making a lasting, visible impact on the land right here at home. Check our upcoming volunteer events below; you can register for them through our Program Calendar.

• Tuesday, April 7, 5:30 p.m.:  Volunteer Orientation and Kickoff, Wolbach Farm, Sudbury
• Saturday, April 18, 9:00 a.m.:  Invasives Pull and Walk, Smith Conservation Land, Littleton
• Saturday, April 18, 10:00 a.m.: Garlic Mustard Pull, Cowassock Woods, Framingham
• Sunday, April 19, 10:00 a.m.:  Garlic Mustard Pull, Cowassock Woods, Framingham
• Sunday, April 19, 1:00 p.m.: Invasives Pull, Gowing's Swamp, Concord
• Monday, April 20, 10:00 a.m.:  Weed Warrior Pull, Cowassock Woods, Framingham
• Wednesday, April 22, 2:00 p.m.:  Earth Day on the Trails, Sawink Farm, Westborough
• Saturday, April 25, 9:00 a.m.: Invasives Pull, Gowing's Swamp, Concord
• Saturday, April 25, 10:00 a.m.:  Clean-up and Trail Build, Centennial Place, Framingham
• Saturday, April 25, 2:00 p.m.:  Weed Warrior Pull, Cowassock Woods, Framingham
• Wednesday, April 29, 9:00 a.m.:  Weed Warrior Pull, Smith Conservation Land, Littleton
• Thursday, April 30, 1:00 p.m.: Invasives Pull, Gowing's Swamp, Concord

Earth Day Programs All Month Long

SVT has planned an array of free programs for the month of April. Join with us to spend time on our trails, learn about nature, and celebrate the success of land conservation. Please register through our Program Calendar.

• Saturday, April 4, 10:30 a.m.: Guided Nature Walk, Gray Conservation Area, Sudbury
• Tuesday April 7, 3:30 p.m.:   Frog and Toad Storytime, Wolbach Farm, Sudbury
• Sunday, April 12, 2:00 p.m.:  Ecopoetry for Everyone, Wolbach Farm, Sudbury
• Saturday, April 18, 10:00 a.m.:  Storytime, Wolbach Farm, Sudbury
• Saturday, April 18, 10:00 a.m.:  Beavers, Upper Mill Brook, Wayland
• Saturday, April 18, 10:00 a.m.:  Nature Walk, District 9 Schoolhouse, Upton
• Tuesday, April 21, 10:00 a.m.:  Nature Walk, Elliott Concord River Preserve, Carlisle
• Wednesday, April 22, 10:00 a.m.:  Celebration of Earth Day, Nobscot Scout Reservation, Sudbury
• Thursday, April 23, 1:00 p.m.:  Natural and Geological History Walk, Forty Caves, Clinton
• Friday, April 24, 10:00 a.m.: Guided Nature Walk, Forty Caves, Clinton
• Friday, April 24, 2:00 p.m.:  Nature Walk, Walkup & Robinson Memorial Conservation Area, Westborough
• Sunday, April 26, 10:00 a.m.:  Vernal Pool Salamander and Frog Search, Smith Conservation Land, Littleton

Earthling Spotlight: Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

This critter is in a group called “mole salamanders” and spends a lot of time underground in rodent burrows (it isn’t particularly good at digging). The marbled salamander relies on vernal pools in a curious and uncommon way. 

In late summer/early fall, the marbled salamander migrates to the dry bed of a vernal pool to mate and lay eggs, which the female guards until an autumn rain refills the pool. Larval salamanders (lovingly called “sallywogs” by some) emerge from their eggs within hours or days after contact with water. They remain in the ephemeral pond through winter, until March or April, when they lose their gills and move onto land in their adult form. They grow to about 3 to 5 inches long and can live 5 years or more. 

Unfortunately, in Massachusetts these gorgeous little guys are a threatened species of greatest conservation need. The protection of wetlands, water quality, and the delicate vernal pools they rely on to breed are the most important pathways to recovery for the marbled salamander.

Earth Day and Environmental Justice

Earth Day celebrations began in 1970 when a senator from Wisconsin organized a nationwide protest on college campuses in response to environmental disasters, including an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. In our current decade, environmental disasters occur almost every day and adversely affect our neighbors and friends right here in the 36 communities that SVT serves. 

Environmental Justice (EJ) is the concept that everyone has a right to clean air and water, access to green space, and freedom from the devastating health impacts of pollution and toxins. In our region, marginalized communities—including low-income people, Indigenous peoples, people of color, people whose first language was not English, and people with physical and mental disabilities—are disproportionately impacted by the burdens of environmental destruction and pollution, and they have less access to the benefits nature provides. 

Earth Day offers an opportunity to stand with communities experiencing environmental injustices. In the SVT Region, 20 of our municipalities are home to state-recognized Environmental Justice communities. SVT is working collaboratively with people affected most by environmental injustices and is actively prioritizing stewardship and land protection in EJ communities.

Want to help? Join us at the Centennial Place volunteer workday in Framingham on April 25 (see our Program Calendar for details).

Become a Monthly Member—Snag Your Habitat Hero Patch

Recurring monthly donors to SVT will now receive this amazing iron-on patch. Plus, if you keep your monthly giving streak going, we will send you a new patch with a new fun design every year!

Monthly gifts provide steady, dependable support for our land stewardship and conservation work. Even a modest monthly donation adds up to meaningful, long-term impact—helping SVT protect habitats, maintain trails, and respond to emerging needs as they arise. Reliable, ongoing support allows SVT to plan ahead with confidence, budget responsibly, and care for conserved lands in every season. By becoming a monthly donor, you create lasting stability for the places and wildlife we all cherish.

Visit svtweb.org/support to become a Habitat Hero today! (And to current monthly donors, keep an eye on your mailbox for your 2026 Habitat Hero patch coming soon. Thank you for your dedicated support!)