Middleboro Land Protection Project Receives State Funding

This week, we received some most welcome news:  the Town of Middleboro Conservation Commission qualified for a Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity (“LAND”) Grant award from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the Lions Head Peninsula land acquisition project. 

The Lions Head Peninsula Project will preserve 81 acres of diverse woodland, floodplain, and frontage along the lower Nemasket River in Middleboro, just east of the Nemasket’s confluence with the federally-designated Wild and Scenic Taunton River.  The Property is within areas designated by the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program as important habitat areas for two rare species, the Northern Red-Bellied Cooter and the Eastern Box Turtle, and also includes at least two potential vernal pools.   It also includes the unique landscape feature known as the Lions Head, which viewed from above appears to many as resembling the head of a large feline (take a look at the above photo and judge for yourself). 

The project will enable public access for a wide range of passive recreational pursuits.  The Lions Head property contains an existing network of woods roads and footpaths that collectively comprise about one mile, and will link with trails on adjacent properties.   These new linkages will create an expanded trail system near the confluence of the Nemasket and Taunton Rivers, and represent a true community resource. 

Owned by the Jigerjian family for over 30 years, the Lions Head property has been a preservation priority for the Town, the Trust, and others for decades because of its extensive riparian frontage, rare species habitat, and proximity to protected open space parcels along the lower Nemasket River corridor.  Representatives from the Trust and the Town maintained a dialogue over the years with the Jigerjians that eventually culminated in the deal negotiated by Middleboro Conservation Agent Tricia Cassady to preserve the property. 

Around in various iterations since the early 1960’s, the LAND Grant Program provides funding to municipalities for land preservation projects, and is often an essential component of a project’s funding structure.  For this project, the $400,000 LAND Grant award represents half of the $800,000 purchase price, with Middleboro Community Preservation Act open space funds and funding from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation comprising the balance.  The Nature Conservancy also contributed funds for due diligence.

As Tricia noted, “the Middleboro Conservation Commission is excited about receiving a LAND Grant award for the Jigerjian project, which will preserve extensive frontage along the Nemasket River and the distinctive Lions Head peninsula.  The Jigerjian family long wished to see their property preserved, and the LAND Grant award is a critical catalyst toward this outcome.”

The Lions Head property will represent an outstanding and substantial addition to Middleboro’s open space portfolio, and on a larger scale, to the mosaic of conservation lands along the Wild and Scenic Taunton River corridor.  The Trust is pleased to be collaborating with Tricia and the Conservation Commission on the project, and we look forward to co-holding a Conservation Restriction on the property with DCR.  

- Scott MacFaden, Director of Land Protection at Wildlands Trust

Linking up Local Land Conservationists

Why was forester Phil Benjamin presenting in the Trust's Community Conservation Barn earlier this month? And who was in the audience?

For the past few years, Wildlands Trust has brought together southeastern Massachusetts town open space committee members, conservation agents, conservation commissioners, and land trust committees together for quarterly Open Space Forums. These forums are held to help share information about how towns have handled challenges on managing their open space, how they have effectively utilized funding sources, how they have found success with public outreach, and much more.

Not only do Open Space Forums help facilitate open discussion, information sharing, and collaboration, but the Trust invites various professionals to present on relevant and interesting conservation topics. On November 9, over twenty local conservation workers gathered in the Community Conservation Barn to learn about forest stand health and active management, invasive species control, and wildlife habitat from Certified Forester and Director of the Mass Forest Alliance Phil Benjamin. 

Previous Open Space Forum headlining topics have included: Forest Health Management, Trail Design, Signage & Amenities, Social media for Public Outreach, Conservation Partnerships & LAND Grants, Climate Adaptation, and GIS Habitat Mapping. At our next forum we will be presenting on the topic of building ADA Accessible Trails. 

We'd like to thank Phil Benjamin and all of our past presenters and attendees for continuing to make these forums meaningful and useful for local conservation efforts. 

If you are a conservation professional and would like to be included in the invites please contact Ryan Krapp, Community Conservation Program Manager at rkrapp@wildlandstrust.org.

Meet Ryan Krapp - our new Program Manager of Community Conservation

You may have met Ryan at the opening of Wildlands Trust Marshfield Hoyt-Hall preserve where Ryan showcased all the work he did to create a beautiful new trail system.  Ryan first worked as a consultant for Wildlands Trust and in October 2016 the Trust welcomed him on board as a full-time staff member. 

Ryan earned his bachelors and masters degrees in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from the University of North Dakota and has over 15 years of experience working for state fish and wildlife agencies and also as an environmental consultant with various private engineering firms.  He has experience in project management, planning, and natural resource surveys, Endangered Species Act and Wetland Protection Act compliance, permitting, and consultation with federal and state wildlife agencies and local conservation commissions. Ryan has extensive experience in the use of Geographic Information Systems.

Ryan is an avid outdoorsman and takes full advantage of the numerous natural environments in SE Massachusetts including saltwater and freshwater fishing, hunting, hiking and lobstering in the Canal. He is passionate about conservation and recognizes the importance of getting youth involved with outdoor activities. He has won numerous national awards within the Mule Deer Foundation and was honored by Field and Stream Magazine as the 2014 Conservation Hero of the Year.

He will be heading up the new Community Conservation Program at Wildlands Trust which offers consultation and project management to private, municipal, town and other nonprofit organizations.

He currently is assisting LStar Management at SouthField in the design and installation of numerous trail systems within the forest and grassland habitats at the former site of the United States Naval Air Station in South Weymouth. He is also assisting other nonprofit and local municipalities interested developing and maintaining recreational trails and trail-related facilities.

Please contact Ryan if you have any questions about assistance on stewardship projects or any of the conservation programs at Wildlands Trust. 

October Newsletter

Our fall newsletter will soon be arriving in your mailbox.  Read it online here!

Trust-held Conservation Restriction in Hanson Helps Protect Town Water Supply and Riparian Corridor

The Trust partnered with the Town of Hanson to preserve an 11.2 acre parcel which is one of Hanson’s earliest CPA-funded open space acquisitions.  The Town acquired the Property with the Trust’s assistance several years ago, and we completed the Conservation Restriction earlier this year. 

The Property expands a wildlife corridor and green-way along Poor Meadow Brook, a tributary of the Wild & Scenic Taunton River, and helps to protect the nearby Crystal Spring well field.  Thanks to Hanson Open Space Committee Chair Phil Clemons for his outstanding work in helping to advance this project to completion.