Land Protection

Help needed! Patterson Property Success in Sight

Charlie Wyman, Senior Land Protection Specialist

Readers of Gaining Ground may recall our entry about the Patterson property in Barre (Thickening Around the Middle, August 2011).  That opportunity—to protect 50 critical acres surrounded on three sides by our Rutland Brook Wildlife Sanctuary—is at hand.  
Agreement with the family has been reached, “due diligence” (title, appraisal and environmental investigations) are complete, and of the total cost of $167,000 to acquire and care for the property, commitments totaling $123,000 are in hand.  The latter come thanks to a Conservation Partnership grant from the Commonwealth and a generous $45,000 contribution from a private foundation, the good news of which arrived in the last couple of months.  

If we succeed in raising the final $44,000 needed, this wonderful mix of pine/oak/hemlock uplands interspersed with swamp and marsh wetlands will be permanently protected and added to the sanctuary.  The property drains to Osgood Swamp, the magnificent swamp/marsh/fen that dominates the southern part of the sanctuary. 

With the aid of a $15,000 challenge grant that will double every contribution received, we are now in search of conservation-minded individuals who understand the importance of protecting large swaths of our natural areas and habitats. Click here to help us protect these important 50 acres.

Berkshire Bat Cave

Bob Wilber, Director of Land Protection

Some of you may have read a blog posting from me on 11/28/11 about an incredible property in northern Berkshire County that we’re trying to protect. I’m pleased to report that we continue to work in close partnership with Berkshire Natural Resources Council and the state Department of Conservation & Recreation to advance the protection of the nearly 1,300-acre gem.

Like so many of the large tracts of land in Massachusetts that have remained undeveloped to present time, this one has many complexities that will take considerable effort to sort out. And, like many of the other large undeveloped ownerships, the prospect of the compelling conservation outcome is very motivating, indeed.

In the 11/28 post, I relayed that this amazing property has so many reasons to refer to it as special. To give you a better idea what I am talking about, there are several bat caves—like the one pictured below—that are inhabited by five or six species of bats! Pretty cool, eh? The conservation partners will continue to focus on getting this spectacular property into permanent conservation. If you’d like to follow along as we head down that path, look for future updates… same bat channel!

A better protected Barnstable Harbor?

Bob Ford, Land Protection Specialist

We can’t say for sure at this point, but it’s looking promising that we’ll be permanently protecting a beautiful piece of important coastal woodland and salt marsh tidal habitat near Barnstable Harbor. The parcel of land to be protected is the last remaining piece of unprotected open land abutting our Barnstable Great Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary. Protection of this key parcel of land would complete the assemblage of the highest priority parcels that have been identified for the Sanctuary. The land also contains walking trails and serves as a home for an array of wildlife including dragonflies, butterflies, terns, and hawks. Stay tuned for more details about this exciting project! 

View of land to be protected at Barnstable Great Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary

 

Up on the Rooftop

John Coolidge, Conservation Restriction Stewardship Specialist

As the year of monitoring winds down and we frantically try to complete all our visits by year’s end, occasionally I’m caught totally off guard by the unexpected. And this year was no exception.

Being one who puts off the best for last, monitoring that is, I saved my visit to Gosnold until now.

Gosnold is a small town located on Cuttyhunk Island, at the end of the Elisabeth Islands, off the tail of Cape Cod. The island has less than 20 permanent residences and a school age population that currently  stands at two—brother and sister ages 8 & 6. Mail comes twice a week along with general supplies to the island, depending on the weather. Winters tend to be very long, cold, and a bit windy (to say the least).

In the summer months (July & August) the population quadruples with summer residents and that doesn’t count the many pleasure boats that visit, passing through on their way to the Cape & Islands.

My visit to Cuttyhunk earlier this week was beautiful, pleasant and cold. But let me back up…

Until age 3 or 4 I’m told I was a real believer in the jolly old man in the red suit, until one day when I discovered my parents wrapping a lump of coal…   

Well, yesterday my belief was restored. Shortly after the ferry docked on Cuttyhunk, I was finishing a hot cup of coffee with the Captain & crew (after all it was quite cold, and none of us wanted to leave the warmth of the ship's galley), when all of a sudden  there was quite a clatter on the upper deck! We all jumped  with wild expectations of what could possibly be going on. We rushed on deck thinking the ship was headed down! And who, to our surprise, was standing there on a pre-Christmas visit to the children of the Island?.... Old Saint Nick!  

And I have the picture to prove he is real:

 

Photo of Santa making a special trip to see the Lynch Family on Cuttyhunk Island!

Crunch Time in Spencer

Charlie Wyman, Senior Land Protection Specialist

The first two weeks of December are a critical time for our efforts to protect the 352-acre Sibley and Warner Farms.  Any day now, we are expecting word on the state grants that are a needed ingredient in the project’s success.  On December 5th, the state’s Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) Program meets to decide on our application for sale of an APR on the Sibley fields.  Three days later, Spencer Town Meeting will consider a request for a $700,000 appropriation to protect the property, an appropriation that will then go to voters the following Tuesday for approval of the debt exclusion needed under Proposition 2½.  We’ll be nervous wrecks by then!

To learn more about the Sibley and Warner Farms project, visit the partnership’s website at www.sibleyfarm.org and check the blog for the latest news.  Come explore the property without leaving the comfort of your living room: a recent blog entry has You Tube links to an introduction to the natural history of the property with Mass Audubon’s Chris Leahy, or you can join a recent walking tour led by yours truly.  Watch your step crossing the stream!

 

 

An Amazing Berkshire Opportunity Coming Into Focus

Bob Wilber, Director of Land Protection

So what is it that makes a given property important to protect?  It is often a relatively short list that make it compelling for conservation – the property contains great habitat, is the home of rare species, or is located near already conserved land, as examples.  Not surprisingly, the number of reasons to pursue legal protections for a given tract of land is often related to the size of the property – the bigger it is, the greater number of special aspects present. 

Occasionally, one gets introduced to a property with a nearly endless list of special qualities.  That is the case for a property in northern Berkshire County that we have been quietly working on recently with conservation partners, the Berkshire Natural Resources Council and the state Department of Conservation & Recreation.  The property contains extensive limestone geology (botanical diversity), an array of amazing habitats, large numbers of rare species, spectacular vistas, cold water streams, caves inhabited by a number of species of bats, and a sizeable waterfall.  Perhaps most significantly, if protected the 1,000-acre+ property would link two designated Habitat Reserves.  Habitat Reserves, as you may recall, represent the top ten most intact forested landscapes remaining in Massachusetts.  They are the places where plants and animals are projected to have the greatest resilience, as the impacts of Climate Change become more pronounced.

While it is relatively early in the life of this project, I wanted you to be aware of it sooner rather than later.  This is simply one of the most compelling land conservation opportunities existing in this state. Stay tuned for more information regarding this very special place in the coming months.


Photo of scenic vista from property in Northern Berkshire County

Miracle in the Marsh - Great Marsh Conservation Initiative a Huge Success!

Bob Wilber, Director of Land Protection

For the last two years we have been working to protect 75 acres containing valuable salt marsh and upland within the Great Marsh ecosystem in Rowley. The unique location of this land, if protected, would knit together more than 8,000 acres of permanently conserved land.  After a myriad of last minute obstacles were resolved, we finally achieved that long sought goal earlier this week.

 I’ve often remarked that working as a land protection professional is sort of like working in an Emergency Room of a busy hospital. A seemingly endless stream of ‘patients’ come before you—in varying stages of ‘trauma’, generally requiring immediate attention, and with the continued well-being of each one being so very important to someone, sometimes  everyone.  With two polar opposite futures—imminent development and conservation forever—often swinging in the balance, it can get pretty heavy. Emotions can become frayed, physical energy depleted, and relationships sometimes strained from the tension often involved in these high stakes endeavors. 

But when a ‘patient’ is ‘saved’ after a threatening and complicated crisis is successfully unwound a powerful sense of satisfaction arises from being a part of doing something of real and lasting good. That is how we and so many of you who donated funds to make it happen feel about the news that the 75 critically important acres at the Great Marsh in Rowley were finally protected this week.

Because of the Chandler family who played such an important role, so many of you who contributed personal funds, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Open Space Institute(both of which awarded substantial grants to this worthy project) the Town of Rowley, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, and of course our valued conservation partner, the Essex County Greenbelt Association,  the plants and animals—both rare and common—that have quietly thrived there for eons will continue to do so forever.   Thank you all so very much.      

 
 

Two Chili Dogs with Fried Dough and Land Protection on the Side, Please

Charlie Wyman, Senior Land Protection Specialist

Labor Day weekend saw the 123^rd annual edition of the Spencer Fair, billed as the largest fair in central Massachusetts. Those of us who are part of the conservation partnership trying to save the 350-acre Sibley and Warner farms in Spencer (see previous post, An Exciting Opportunity in Spencer) manned a booth to raise awareness and support for the project. It provided a weekend of great conversations and a fascinating perspective on the world.

We were tucked between the toddler’s play-tent and the tent where the dancing girls prepared for the main stage. The stage itself was just a few feet away, not a bad place to be when the entertainment was good, though the children’s karaoke, while cute, was a little painful. Across from us were trailers serving up Lemon Slush, Fried Dough, and Chili Cheese Fries. (Dr. Oz wouldn’t have approved, but thankfully I don’t park my weak resolve near such places year-round or my wife would be collecting my life insurance by now.) A tractor pull, demolition derby, and heart-stopping amusement rides provided the background soundtrack. Our thanks to Jimmy, who let us stash our literature and posters each night at the back of his Singing Vegetables trailer two doors down.

Over the course of four days we talked to hundreds of people, from all walks of life. What was gratifying was that not a single one told us they’d rather see the property developed. While people differed in their preferences for how the land should be used and managed (hunting? farming? wildlife sanctuary? horses? snowmobiles?), they all preferred open space uses to private development. Many related experiences of the property growing up: how they hunted the land, or visited the farm with a school group, or still cherish a Sibley milk bottle they have on the shelf, a remnant of the farm’s dairy past.

This slice of public sentiment augurs well for our prospects. We will need an appropriation from Spencer Town Meeting and a strong grass-roots fundraising campaign to succeed. The partnership is hard at work exploring options and trying to fit the pieces together in a way that does well by the land, its wildlife, and the people who care for it.  We continue to work building awareness and support. Walks of the property are scheduled for the fall (e-mail me at cwyman@massaudubon.org if you’d like details). With enough good will, creative thinking and hard work, we hope the pieces will fall into place. Like rings falling on a milk bottle in a booth on the midway, but the prize we hope for is too big to carry home tucked under one arm.

 
Land Protection Specialist Charlie Wyman with project poster and cheeseburger. 

Thickening Around the Middle

Charlie Wyman, Senior Land Protection Specialist

Who among us (of which yours truly is surely one) hasn’t run across an old pair of jeans at the back of the closet and thought “I used to fit into those?!?!” That extra inch or two (or three) around the middle seems as inevitable as the relentless march of time itself.

Today I rise whole-heartedly in praise of “thickening around the middle”, at least as far as land conservation is concerned. Out at Mass Audubon’s gem of a property in Barre and Petersham known as Rutland Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, some much hoped for thickening is lining up to take shape. At 1,874 acres the sanctuary is one of Mass Audubon’s largest, and one of its many virtues is that it contains large blocks of unbroken habitat, which the ecologists tell us are particularly valuable in maximizing the diversity of species that a particular refuge can support.

But Rutland Brook has a narrow waist, leaving it vulnerable to development pressure from its edges. We now have an opportunity to thicken its waist, thanks to the conservation commitment of the family of the late Harold and Hazel Patterson. When Mrs. Patterson passed away last fall, two of her children expressed interest to our friends at the East Quabbin Land Trust in selling the property for conservation, and the land trust put them in touch with us. With assistance from an appraiser and surveyor, we have now reached agreement with the family on the purchase of approximately 50 acres on the east side of the sanctuary’s “waist”. 

The property has much to recommend it.  Its topography ranges from steep, boulder-strewn slopes, through gently rolling terrain, to level flats.  The forested uplands are a mix of white pine, red maple, red oak, and eastern hemlock. Wetlands in the valleys include a hemlock/yellow birch swamp, another dominated by red maple, an abandoned beaver meadow, and small areas of shrub swamp that may provide breeding habitat for vernal pool-associated amphibians. The property drains to nearby Osgood Swamp, the magnificent swamp/marsh/fen that dominates the southern part of the sanctuary. 

We are currently working our way through title and other so-called “due diligence” items and plotting funding strategies, with hopes that we can add this wonderful land to the sanctuary sometime this winter or spring. Stay tuned.
 
Above map shows Rutland Brook Wildlife Sanctuary blue and the land to be added in red.

 
Above photo taken on the Patterson land, which will be added to Rutland Brook Wildlife Sanctuary 

Tying up loose ends

Dinah Rowbotham, Land Protection Program Assistant

Three land protection projects featured on this blog, our project in Norfolk, the Valencia project, and the Almy project, have closed and are now permanently protected! To refresh your memory on which land parcels I’m referring to, here’s a quick run-down on how these three projects enhance Mass Audubon’s sanctuary system:

Our project in Norfolk has brought 7 additional acres to Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary. The land was given to us by the developer of an adjacent parcel, who was motivated by the Planning Board and their new Open Space Subdivision rules. The newly protected land is upland pine-oak woods which partly surround Bristol Pond.

The Valencia project was a gift of 0.70 acres of wetlands mostly surrounded by Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary. The parcel was created when a house was built on an adjacent lot, and this piece was left over as a remnant. The little parcel of land fits beautifully into our sanctuary, and we’re very grateful that it’s former owner donated it to become permanently protected habitat.

Lastly, the Almy project is a new 5.7-acre conservation restriction adjacent to Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary. The protected land consists of upland pasture that was identified as a priority for protection by Mass Audubon in our sanctuary protection plan and consists of both high quality habitat and a scenic landscape.