A small patch of city-owned land got a much-needed scrubbing last Saturday as the Parks and Recreation Department hosted a cleanup of Willowwood Rock, an “urban wild” that sits in a heavily residential Dorchester neighborhood near the Mattapan line. A mix of city workers and volunteers removed littered objects ranging from soda cans to pieces of twisted metal to a handheld vacuum cleaner. One person found a wrench with a seedling growing from its head.

Nick Long, urban wilds foreman for the department, said the cleanup was a step toward restoring the land to its natural state. Individuals also removed some Rosa multiflora, an invasive plant species.

“We want these sites to be self-sustaining to the extent that they can be,” Long said. “They would invite native animals, pollinators, birds, things like that, for shelter and forage.” 

His team organized the event alongside the city’s Environment Department, and they were joined by volunteers from the newly established Youth Green Jobs Corps.

The property is tucked into a steep incline of mudstone outcropping near Woodrow Avenue. Taking up about half an acre, it’s one of the smallest green spaces in the city’s park portfolio.

The presence of mudstone hints that the site, like much of Boston, may have once been underwater. In restoring the land, Long said, the city must be mindful of its delicacy and adhere to the expression “Don’t fight the site.”

Lynette Griffeth has lived near the lot for 30 years. A member of the Woodrow Avenue Neighborhood Association, she brought face masks and shields for anyone who needed them on Saturday.

Before the cleanup, vegetation on the property was overgrown, Griffeth said, with people thinking it was a dog park. The neighborhood already has its fair share of residential development, she added, and she is not interested in having a contractor building on the site.

“Just to have a place to just walk and feel safe and just enjoy the greenery and the natural beauty that’s right here in our community,” Griffeth said. “To be able to have a green space right in the heart of our community — it’s a blessing.”

Taylor Powers and Davo Jefferson run the Youth Green Jobs Corps, which will begin training Boston residents for opportunities within a climate-justice economy. They volunteered to help clean the lot and are preparing their program to accept its first cohort of up to 30 students next month.
Powers brought along his 10-year-old son, Thomas, to help with the cleanup. At one point, Thomas carried an object approximately his height downhill to be discarded. His favorite part of the morning was finding salamanders.

Erinn Rowell recently moved from Atlanta to Dorchester. A grandmother, she wants every child to have the opportunity to experience nature.
“I’m just sitting here thinking of the things I can do this summer with the kids,” she said. “If you can find dead possums and salamanders, I am the coolest thing going.”

There are 29 urban wilds managed by the city and about 12 future cleanup partnerships set between the Environment Department and Parks and Recreation Department, a city spokesperson said.

“It just shows how little effort you have to put in and make your space beautiful,” Rowell said. “Somebody who drives by here every day, they’re going to drive by here on Monday and say, ‘Hey, somebody cleaned out the lot.’”