The Emerald Necklace Conservancy (ENC) has announced that 300 dedicated long-term and new volunteers came together on Saturday, April 25, to help clean and rejuvenate the Emerald Necklace parks during the 2026 Muddy River Cleanup. Using the beautiful weather to their advantage, these volunteers removed 4,200 pounds of trash and yard debris from the parks—significantly more than last year.
The Muddy River Cleanup is part of the region-wide Charles River Cleanup, held annually in partnership with the Charles River Watershed Association, the Esplanade Association, the Charles River Conservancy and the Waltham Land Trust.
“We are so grateful to all the volunteers who turned out on a sunny spring day to remove trash, gather leaves, and break down brush surrounding the Muddy River, the central waterway of the Emerald Necklace,” shared Karen Mauney-Brodek, President of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. “This annual cleanup is a cornerstone event in our ongoing mission to restore and improve the Emerald Necklace parks for all, and its continued success is proof that these parks matter to so many people. The Emerald Necklace is a vital green space and community connector—and the Conservancy is committed to caring for it with tree care, advocacy, visitor amenities and volunteer events like the Muddy River Cleanup.”
The Cleanup is one of many hands-on opportunities the Emerald Necklace Conservancy provides to care for the parks—alongside monthly “Second Saturdays” stewardship events and weekly “Tuesdays with Roses” activations in the Kelleher Rose Garden. The Conservancy also provides educational programming for all ages, a public visitor center and manages a robust tree care program including pruning, planting and watering. For more information on ways individuals and groups can volunteer and help maintain the health and improving the ecosystem of the Muddy River, please visit www.emeraldnecklace.org/volunteer.
The Emerald Necklace Conservancy is a community-supported non-profit founded in 1998 to steward and champion the Emerald Necklace, Boston’s largest park system of seven distinct parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to connect over a dozen neighborhoods with 1,100 acres of meadows, woodlands, waterways, paths and parkways. Working with civic and neighborhood partners, the Conservancy strengthens parks, people and policy by advocating for the Emerald Necklace and advancing access, maintenance and restoration, park stewardship and education through volunteer and youth programs and inclusive public programming. The parks serve as a healing respite from the city, a valuable commuting connector and a community convener for more than one million residents and tourists each year. www.emeraldnecklace.org