The Newton Conservators will host a webinar — Fish, the Missing Link in Suburban/Urban Conservation — presented by Bob Mallard on Thursday, November 13 at 7PM. Sign up here.
Growing up in Newton Highlands in the 1960s and 70s, Bob Mallard was fascinated with the network of streams near his home. These streams wove their way through Cold Spring Park, Newton Cemetery, Newton Free Library, Newton City Hall, and Albemarle Park, behind houses and businesses and under roads, parking lots, schools, and playgrounds. He learned to connect the subterranean and above ground, or daylighted, sections of stream by exploring, peering into storm drains, and studying maps. These streams have been straightened, dredged, moved, walled in, and buried. They are subject to municipal stormwater inputs as well as other pollution. But there is still life in these heavily manipulated and often overlooked waters, including fish. Bob will discuss the importance of native fish, the impact of nonnative fish, as well as what the Native Fish Coalition has learned about Cold Spring Brook and Cheesecake Brook.
Bob Mallard was born and raised on Lake Avenue in Newton Highlands. A lifelong angler, he owned and operated a fly-fishing shop in Maine for 15 years after retiring from high tech. Bob has written hundreds of articles on fish and fishing, as well as five nationally distributed fly-fishing books. In 2017, Bob helped found Native Fish Coalition of Maine. Today, NFC boasts 21 state chapters from Maine to Arkansas, including Massachusetts, and northwest to Wisconsin, with Bob serving as the Executive Director.
