By Nicole Haley/Daily News staff
Daily News Tribune
Thu Dec 13, 2007, 11:52 PM EST
WALTHAM -

For the Waltham Land Trust, protecting the city's undeveloped land means getting the public to use it.

"The best way we can think of to preserve (open space) is to get people out there using them and enjoying them," says Marc Rudnick, the trust's land committee chairman.

To that end, members of the nonprofit organization have been volunteering to work on the Chester Brook Trail - a 2 1/2 mile hiking trail that would connect land from Northeast Elementary School to the 107 acres of conservation land surrounding Stonehurst, the Robert Treat Paine Estate.

Within a few years, Rudnick says, the trail will connect into the Western Greenway, which links 1,000 acres of undeveloped green space in Waltham, Lexington and Belmont.

The trust has been awarded a $1,000 grant from the Kodak American Greenways Awards Program, an annual recognition program administered by the Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit dedicated to preserving land. The Waltham Land Trust was one of 31 groups honored nationwide.

"The Fund is proud to support these thoughtful, action-oriented local initiatives that will serve as models for other communities around the country," said Larry Selzer, fund president.

The Chester Brook Trail runs from Trapelo Road in North Waltham down Lexington and Beaver streets, Rudnick said. Once completed, the trail will connect three public schools - Northeast Elementary, Kennedy Middle School, and Waltham High School. The trail will also go by Chester Brook Gardens public housing and several neighborhoods.

"Every piece of open space has several developers in the background thinking of things to do with that open space," says Rudnick.

He said the trust has been working on the trail with volunteer labor but the grant will help pay for signs, informational kiosks along the trail to tell people about the Western Greenway, and consultants who work with the nonprofit.

"There are places where the trail is there and just needs to be sign-posted, places where it's there but completely overgrown. There are a couple of places where there is no trail and the trail is being made," Rudnick said.

Rudnick said connecting the parcels will not only provide recreational opportunities for residents, but also will benefit the city's wildlife population.

"Wildlife tend to do better when they have corridors of green space to live in rather than isolated little patches," he said.

Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy said the trust has been working hard on the trail and she supports their efforts.

"I'm happy for them (about the award)," McCarthy said, adding that a designated trail will make the open space areas safer and less likely to be illegal dumping grounds that harm the environment.

Rudnick said he is reaching out to volunteer groups, including Brandeis University students and Waltham Cub Scouts to help move the project forward. He said the trust hopes to see the trail finished in less than two years.

Nicole Haley can be reached at nhaley@cnc.com or 781-398-8004.