West Springfield Environmental Committee

Clean Up Day 2026 recap.
Another successful town wide clean up. At least 100 volunteers from elementary aged to senior citizens took to the town's public areas removing litter and bulk.

Volunteers are what make this event a success. Taking pride in the community and helping maintain a healthier environment.

This year there were approximately 30 sites that received a clean-up. Some light duty and others heavy duty.

Thank you to Councilor LaFlamme, Connor, Forfa and Coyne for helping as well as Mark Noonan from the WS Conservation Department. DPW is a huge asset picking up what's collected and working with us to acquire gear such as safety vests, gloves and litter grabbers. Park & Rec provides us a home base to set up at, this year it was the middle school. Custodian "Rich" at the middle school shadowing us for the day ensuring we were well taken care of.

Village Pizza provided pizza for lunch, Donut Dip for morning donuts and coffee, Costco manager Jon Hager for a $50 gift card for cases of Snapple and juice.

Moose near Westfield State University.
Not West Springfield, but it's a neat sighting. I spend a lot of time in the woods and have never encountered one in person. Several years ago night hiking on East Mountain in Bear Hole I heard one vocalizing. Bear Hole's forester, Mary Wigmore, treks the guts of Bear Hole's forests and sees moose evidence.

They're more or less in our backyard.

photo c/o Mike Clark on the Westfield Community Forum

You've probably heard both...opossum vs possum. What do we have in North America?

Answer: Opossum. Opossums live in North America; Possums live in Australia/Asia and they look quite different. Only the North American Opossum is known for "playing possum" / playing dead. They may not be cute, but they're great for nature.

Image: Opossum on the left, Possum on the right.

A rare find because they're elusive, spotted salamander. Found Wed March 18th, 6:30pm at the Bear Hole / Holyoke boundary. This yellow spotted salamander is not endangered or a protected species. Their biggest threats is habitat loss and human irresponsibility. 11 salamander species in MA, 3 are protected under the MESA (MA Endangered Species Act).