Connecting People with Nature: Meet the New Trails Chair

By Sally Lincoln Vogel

No question about it, Joel Blumstein, the new chair of Andover Trails, is eager to highlight all the ways the organization helps people get out on the trails. And on the water. And on bike routes.

​“Andover Trails is under the radar in the way it enhances the experience of living in Andover,” he said. “People are not aware of all the things that we do.”
           
Just recently, for example, he was out with members re-painting the capital “A” that marks the roadway of the two biking trails the organization has created through town. The trails, a shorter 10-mile and a longer 25-mile route, wind through scenic parts of town and parts of Harold Parker state forest. The route, created by committee member Steve Golden, maximizes right-hand turns to prevent riders from cutting across traffic.

“Mapping is just one of the many activities provided by Andover Trails”, he added. “Not just bike trails, but the hiking trails through Andover Conservation Commission properties and properties owned by Andover Village Improvement Society (AVIS). Under the guidance of member Jane Cairns, Andover Trails works closely with AVIS to update and distribute the popular Andover Trails Guide, now in its seventh edition. “The booklet is a ‘must’ for anyone living in Andover,” Blumstein said.
           
The third type of trail the committee oversees is a watery one: the Shawsheen River, which wanders through town and is a wonderful resource for kayakers and canoeists, Blumstein said. It would not be passable without the work of two Andover residents - Ken Doran and Mike Dempsey - who go out with chainsaws periodically to remove obstructions like downed trees. “This keeps the river open and safe for paddlers,” Blumstein said.

Andover Trails Committee helps folks get out on the river by holding free paddle days in conjunction with Joe Connelly of the Andover Recreation Department, and by maintaining canoe racks at various access points, he said. The Committee also works to keep river access points tidy.
           
The Shawsheen River was Blumstein's original entree into outdoor recreation in Andover. About eight years ago, he served on the Shawsheen Greenway Committee, which eventually merged with Andover Trails Committee. Committee work in town is not new to him. A longtime leader in the Town of Andover, Blumstein served on the Andover School Committee from 2014-2020 and currently chairs the building committee overseeing construction of the new West Elementary School/ preschool.
           
Part of his job as chair of Trails is to formally acknowledge monetary gifts to the Trails Committee, which gets no funding from the Town of Andover, he said. Another aspect of the position is working with the various groups in town, formal and informal.
           
“We regularly work with the Conservation Department and really hope to build on our working relationship with them,” he said.
           
Blumstein is not the kind of outdoors person who grew up camping or hiking with family. He was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey. His parents were not at all into the outdoors.
           
“For them, the outdoors was the Bronx Zoo,” he said, laughing. When he was in college at University of Pennsylvania, however, he got involved in outdoor adventures with friends, and majored in the then nascent field of environmental science. He became an environmental lawyer for the Environmental Protection Agency in its Boston office, working on Boston Harbor cleanup and superfund sites. His work in environmental issues carries over another way in Andover, where he has mentored Andover High School students doing environmental internships. The outdoor adventures continue too, whether it is biking from Andover to Crane Beach or going further afield, like hiking at Mont Blanc, rafting the Grand Canyon (after hiking down to its bottom!) or visiting the Galapagos with his wife, Judy. In past years, they traveled to many U.S. national parks with their two daughters.

But, Blumstein, soft-spoken and an active listener, is more eager to talk about the Trails Committee activities than about himself. Recently, for example, Trails held the Youth and Family Treasure Hunt, spear headed by committee member Amber Brand, he said.  Over 100 families used the educational clues, got out on the trails in Andover. A five-year-old and a three-year old found the prize, which was in the Hammond Reservation. (Blumstein said he had no knowledge of where it was hidden!)

Another activity he highlighted is the Trails Committee’s involvement in the herring count on the Shawsheen, a project that biology professor and Andover Conservation Commission member Jon Honea leads. Once dams were removed on the Shawsheen River, herring have started returning upriver to spawn. Organizing volunteers to count the herring as they swim upstream is a way to track the project’s impact.

For Blumstein, whether it’s on the water, trail or roadway, there is plenty for Andover Trails to work on and get involved with.
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“I like challenges,” he said.