Land Protection

120 acres neighboring Waseeka and Broad Hill Wildlife Sanctuaries to be protected

Dinah Rowbotham, Land Protection Program Assistant

The Town of Ashland has signed an official Purchase and Sale agreement with Northeastern University to buy the Warren Woods property, 120 acres very close to Mass Audubon’s Waseeka and Broad Hill Wildlife Sanctuaries (check out our previous blog post on this project).  The agreement was signed just before Town Meeting last month.  The agreement includes a provision to delay closing the sale until this year's Local Acquisition for Natural Diversity (LAND) grant winners are announced. If the town is awarded the grant, it could bring in up to $500,000 toward the land’s total purchase price of $5 million. The project is now within a 60-day exploratory period that provides the town with the needed opportunity for environmental studies, title and deed searches, and surveys.  Mass Audubon has been assisting the town with various aspects of the purchase including appraisals and technical assistance and has pledged to contribute $150,000 toward the project.  It is anticipated that over 100 acres will be covered by a conservation restriction that will permanently protect the land's natural conservation values.    

An abutting 23 acre portion of Northeastern University’s land in the neighboring town of Holliston is also being considered for protection by Mass Audubon and other conservation partners.

 
Land protected by Mass Audubon CR, near soon-to-be-protected Warren Woods land. 

Updates, updates, and more updates!

Bob Ford, Land Protection Specialist

Warren Woods
Preservation of 120 acres in Ashland took a huge leap forward with the successful town meeting vote on November 27 to appropriate $5 million of CPA funds for the purchase of the land from Northeastern University. The very high attendance at town meeting was nearly unanimous in its vote. Mass Audubon is assisting the Town in various ways, financial and technical, and it is anticipated that a substantial portion of the land will be permanently preserved. Warren Woods is adjacent to a vast corridor of important open space, state forest, Ashland reservoir lands, and Mass Audubon’s Waseeka and Broad Hill Wildlife Sanctuaries. For more information on this initiative, visit www.savewarrenwoods.org.

 
Above: Warren Woods in Ashland, photo by Cindy Shields

Bechtold
Mass Audubon has recently been informed that generous landowners in Marshfield intend to add more land by gift to a previous 10 acre acquisition that expanded the North River Wildlife Sanctuary. The land contains important upland wildlife habitat.

Ocean Shores
In another Marshfield project, Mass Audubon expects to receive a CR within the next few weeks on nearly 30 acres of rare species habitat adjacent to Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary.  The CR is in the final stages of review at the State and here at Mass Audubon we’re finishing up the baseline report in preparation for closing.

Great Marsh Conservation Initiative
Our effort to preserve 80 acres of pristine salt marsh and associated upland in Rowley is advancing according to schedule with real estate due diligence inspections coming to completion. Mass Audubon will be meeting with the Rowley Conservation Commission next week to further discuss our plans for establishing the new wildlife sanctuary at the Great Marsh. 

Above: Great Marsh in Rowley, photo by Mass Audubon staff