Transforming Millers Meadow
Greening Greenfield is collaborating with the City of Greenfield, Youth Climate Action of Franklin County, and residents to restore the former Wedgewood Gardens Trailer Park between Colrain Street and the Green River in order to address the climate and biodiversity crises and create a new area for everyone to enjoy.
May 11, 2025 volunteers planting. Photo credit: Athena Lee Bradley
On November 8, 2025, volunteers planted the 650th tree in the Millers Meadow project.
From May to December, 2025, the Millers Meadow Project Team joined with members of Youth Climate Action of Franklin County (YCAFC) and 140 additional community volunteers to plant three quarters of an acre with trees and shrubs, both on the hillside next to Colrain Street, and in the floodplain where the access road enters the property. This work was made possible by support from a Municipal Vulnerability Project (MVP) grant, which also enabled us to prepare the soil where we will plant a 1.5-acre pollinator meadow. All of this will transform the property by building native habitat, sequestering carbon, and reducing erosion and flooding in this floodplain property.
In 2026 we will wrap up Phase One of the restoration of Millers Meadow by planting an additional 50 hickory trees and continuing the preparation of the soil for the fall planting of a pollinator meadow.
Explore the history of Millers Meadow from geologic times to the present and a vision of this project in a story map by Peter Wackernagel, founder of YCAFC. Building Resilience Through Habitat Restoration
For more about the MVP grant and this project see City of Greenfield Planning and Development Department.
WHAT’S NEXT?
While preparing to apply for the MVP grant, several of us met with Nicholas Miller of Field Geology Services, who said, “Millers Meadow has great potential! We can reduce flooding hazards and build climate resilience while improving recreation, river access, native habitat for pollinators, and water quality for aquatic species.” To explore these ideas, Nic offered to take us on two field trips.
GO HERE to learn about those field trips, the visions they inspired, and grants we are presently applying for in order to continue restoring Millers Meadow.