Kayakers and canoers in north-central Massachusetts can look forward to a new launching area and other amenities at the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, thanks in part to a federal grant announced in August by the National Fish and Wildlife Service. The boat launch is one of several improvements under way in the Devens section of the refuge that lies within Harvard’s boundaries.
The Oxbow Refuge received $365,000 from the Public Lands Highway Discretionary Program to improve safety, roads, and parking. According to Susan Russo, who is the visitor services manager at the refuge, the first phase of the project will involve creating safer access by road to the launch area off Hospital Road in Devens.
“Public safety is a big component of this project,” Russo said.
An amphitheater for nature presentations to scouting groups and others is also in the planning stages. It will be reachable by a trail that meets the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, so as to be accessible to as many people as possible.
The boat launch and amphitheater will join the new Visitor Contact Station that is currently under construction and is expected to open in late October. The station was designed by Oak Point Associates of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which has also designed the amphitheater.
Russo explained that the project was planned in cooperation with MassDevelopment, the quasi-governmental agency that oversees Devens. Under its unified permitting system, MassDevelopment granted permits for the Visitor Contact Station and the other projects for the refuge.
The Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge stretches along the Nashua River for about eight miles, covering 1667 acres of wetlands and forest. It was formed in several stages between 1974 and 2001. Most of the land came in a series of transfers from the U.S. Army, with the last 120 acres from the Watt Farm in Still River.
