Purchase preserves 100 acres in Hadley
Source: MassLive.com, by NANCY H. GONTER
July 03, 2008
HADLEY - More than 100 acres of land were purchased Monday for more than $1.2 million with the goal of preserving them for future generations.
A partnership of eight private and public conservation agencies purchased the six parcels that were all originally owned by Frank P. Scott who died in 1935 and were most recently owned by 14 of his living heirs, according to a press release from the Kestrel Trust, a regional nonprofit land trust that took the lead in arranging the transactions.
"I'm just amazed that the pieces of this puzzle finally came together and that this estate is finally settled," said Alexandra D. Dawson, Conservation Commission chairwoman.
"The town should breathe a collective sign of relief that these 100 acres of our town will not be developed," Dawson said.
The following land was conserved:
24 acres of woodland on the Connecticut River on River Drive. It will be purchased by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and become part of the Connecticut River Greenway State Park.
5.7 acres of shoreline on Lake Warner, which will be owned by the Kestrel Trust and protected with a conservation restriction.
34 acres of active agricultural land at the corner of River Drive and Huntington Road. The Trustees of the Reservations will secure the land, and it will be protected by a state agricultural preservation restriction then resold to a farmer.
24 acres of wooded land on Stockwell Road. It will be privately owned and protected by a conservation restriction.
13.5 acres of fields off Huntington Road. The land will be added to a series of protected woods and fields owned by the Kestrel Trust and other private landowners.
In addition to the Kestrel Trust, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Trustees of the Reservations, groups involved in the effort included the state Department of Agricultural Resources, the Open Space Institute, the town of Hadley and the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum.
"All of the partners spent countless hours over the last two years figuring out the details of this extremely complicated agreement," said Kristin DeBoer, Kestrel Trust executive director.
"Fortunately, every acre of this land was worth the effort. We are grateful to the public agencies and private citizens who donated the funds to make this preservation project possible," DeBoer said.
click here for more information
|
