Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 1/3/2024
Organizations in Palmer and Hardwick recently received grants from the state in order to purchase additional conservation areas to protect natural environments and provide access to the public.
For Palmer, these funds were awarded through a $84,350 Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity grant. Specifically, the funds were designated to reimburse the town’s purchase of a conservation area near Red Bridge State Park, Palmer Town Planner Heidi Mannarino said.
Mannarino, who was conservation agent at the time of Palmer’s application for the LAND grant, explained that the funds will cover the cost of purchasing the land as well as any additional costs from the transaction.
She stated that the 13.3-acre area, named Barker Street Conservation Area, will be “cleaned up” to provide residents with trails to walk near the Chicopee River.
If there are no delays, the town hopes to have the area open to the public by the summer of 2024, Mannarino stated. She expressed excitement about finalizing the purchase and making the area publicly accessible, stating that many residents already use the area as if it were public.
In Hardwick, land conservation nonprofit East Quabbin Land Trust received a $15,000 Conservation Partnership grant for a similar purpose; to conserve natural landscapes and protect wildlife, Executive Director Cynthia Henshaw said.
At the end of December 2023, the organization acquired an 8-acre land parcel from a private donation, Henshaw stated. Like Palmer, the grant funds were designed to reimburse the fees associated with this transaction.
Named the “Kingdom of Bale” by the donor, the land parcel was previously part of a farm on North Road and was managed as a hayfield, Henshaw said. In addition to human use, grassland songbirds called bobolinks also used the area to nest.
As a result, the land will be placed under conservation restriction, which prevents future development. The organization will also continue the owner’s delayed hay mowing schedule to ensure that the bobolinks can maintain their breeding cycles, Henshaw stated.
“We tend to forget how we are reliant on the land around us,” she said, emphasizing how “spiritually, mentally [and] physically, we depend on land we can see … People want to live where there are woods and fields.”
Henshaw highlighted the significant advantages of conservation areas and how whether a land is designated to grow local food, make resources publicly available, protect wildlife or support livestock, “we all benefit” from conserved land.