When Mike moved to the Middlesex Fells area, he was immediately drawn to it. The Fells was a peaceful, yet lively patch of land. It was intensely rocky with a few major trails circumnavigating the wood. He soon learned the history of the unique urban forest. It was not usable for farming which explained its historic push for recreation and preservation. As for wildlife, it was a magnificent paradise to view wildlife. Though the area was in its early stages of recovering from industrial pollution, the lack of human use of the land allowed for foxes, coyotes, and other larger fauna to use the space. Birds have always been an active part of the ecosystem of the Fells. Mike recounts a territorial battle between the herons and bald eagles at the center of Spot Pond: a large body of water in the Fells.

Over the years the geological features have not changed but a lot of other things have. There has been a recent issue with fragmentation. This is the process of people creating new, unmarked paths that may hurt life in the Fells especially because it calls for walking over plants and animal habitats. To remedy the issue, during his time as the head of the Friends of the Middlesex Fells has worked to mark trails more clearly for people to not get lost on the trails and to know what is and what is for human use. The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is the organization that the Friends has been working with to create this change. Foxes are much less common in the area, though coyotes are still present in and around the Fells.

In earlier years, many used the land for walking and enjoying serene nature. Mike misses times where people could enjoy the Fells calmly and peacefully. He enjoyed walking or running in the Fells with his wife and taking pictures of the wildlife. Many people used the space for doing the same. There were no mountain bikes until the 80’s and few people even used the trails for running.
The uses of the Fells have greatly diversified. Mountain bikes, he says, have added an element of fear and disturbance to the area. They can scare the wildlife and erode trails more easily. They can also come upon a hiker very quickly and scare them. More people have brought their dogs to the Fells which he thinks is another reason that the Foxes have seemed to disappear. Trail runners are much more frequent. There is generally more use of the area. There are positives as well as negatives to this. More people get to enjoy the wonderful natural world, but there are problems when it comes to trail erosion.