New England News Releases

USACE, MassDOT, and FHWA Sign Agreement for Sagamore Bridge Replacement
10/4/2024
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the...
PUBLIC NOTICE OF INTENT TO CONDUCT A FIVE-YEAR REVIEW OF THE OSBORNE POND FORMERLY USED DEFENSE SITE (FUDS) AT JOINT BASE CAPE COD
8/27/2024
Interested parties are hereby notified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District (USACE) is conducting a five-year review (FYR) of the Osborne Pond Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS)...
HOP BROOK LAKE RECREATION AREA TO REMAIN CLOSED FOR 2024 SEASON
8/26/2024
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District announced that the recreation area at Hop Brook Lake will remain closed to vehicle access for the rest of the 2024 season, through the official...

Top Rotator

Local bird watchers descended upon West Hill Dam armed with pen, paper and a few binoculars to participate in West Hill Dam’s annual Backyard Bird Count.
Construction of the System Management Engineering Facility (SMEF), the 40,000 square foot, 2-story addition, is well underway and progressing rapidly.
For vessels wanting to enter Plymouth waters, dredging to remove shoals from the Plymouth Harbor federal navigation project in Massachusetts is currently underway and on schedule.

News From Around the Corps

McNary turns 70!
10/7/2024
As the population grew in the Pacific Northwest, communities formed around the Columbia and Snake rivers. Back then, the currents were temperamental and hard to navigate. However, there was a vision...
ERDC partners with UW-Madison and NPS to advance historic preservation
10/15/2024
A team of experts from ERDC's Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the National Park Service is using advanced fiber optic technology and 3D scanning...
Seawall will raise quality of life for shore communities
10/7/2024
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District has a coastal storm risk management plan in place that will help reduce coastal impacts along Staten Island’s east coast during future coastal...

Feature Stories

West Hill Dam hosts Butterfly Story Walk

USACE, New England
Published Nov. 2, 2015
Parents read the story panel to their young child as they made their way through the story walk.

Parents read the story panel to their young child as they made their way through the story walk.

Park Ranger Viola Bramel shares the excitement of a young visitor before the story walk at West Hill Dam, Massachusetts on September 13, 2015.

Park Ranger Viola Bramel shares the excitement of a young visitor before the story walk at West Hill Dam, Massachusetts on September 13, 2015.

Butterflies are fascinating to adults and children alike.  Their fluttering wings bring giggles from children and smiles from adults.  West Hill Dam, in conjunction with the Building Bridges Community Outreach for Early Education Program and the Uxbridge Police Department Interagency Office, held a Monarch Story Walk Sept. 13 at the dam.

About 10 families totaling 45 people attended the hour and a half event.  West Hill Dam Park Ranger Viola Bramel and Emily Murray of Building Bridges took residents through the walk.  Panels of the book, “A Place for Butterflies,” by Melissa Steward were posted for the families to read during the walk.  “The panels were beautifully illustrated and were original prints from the book,” said Bramel.  “Worcester Senior Center volunteers sealed the panels with a high gloss, moisture resistant varnish and mounted on storyboards that attached to the post they provided.”

Bramel said the story was very appropriate as Monarchs are being considered for the endangered species list.  “Silver Streaks are already on the list,” she said.  “We have a few Silver Streaks at West Hill.”

In addition to reading the story panels, participants explored the dam’s milkweed plants for Monarchs or their larvae which are a very prevalent population in the West Hill Dam area.  Bramel said that everyone had a wonderful time.  “They were so excited and had walked three quarters of a mile without realizing it,” she said.  “We saw so many other things including hawks.  One little girl giggled the whole time, which made the walk all the more enjoyable.”

Some families had three generations – grandparents, parents and children – spend the day together at the dam, enjoying the story walk, the butterflies and the beautiful grounds at the project.  “Families and even adults without children told us how much they loved the story panels,” said Bramel.  “It was a grand family time.”


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