Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 4/12/2022
WESTHAMPTON – Don’t like those sweltering 100 degree days? Add 23 more every summer. That’s the commonwealth in 2050.
That shocking statistic was presented at a visioning session staged by the Open Space and Recreation Committee on April 6. One of the planners of the event, Laurie Sanders, had to put out more chairs to accommodate 36 residents who came to discuss how to protect the town against the impacts of climate change.
Residents were told to expect another five to seven inches of precipitation per year, another startling prediction for 2050 that emphasized the threat. The good news? The town already has great natural resources that just need to be preserved.
“People came with a really positive attitude about the way things already are and a lot of enthusiasm about where this could go,” said Jennifer Milikowski, a Clapp Road resident. “It was also great to hear people’s new ideas about how to more intentionally utilize those resources, and intentionally plan for what resources we might want to add.”
The visioning process was made possible by a state Municipal Vulnerability Action grant. The session was one effort among several to raise awareness of climate change. According to Teri Anderson, a Selectboard member, along with an open space and recreation plan the two-year action grant underwrites the first master plan for the town, curriculum development at the regional high school and inclusion and diversity workshops for town employees, facilitated by Human in Common.
The visioning session, led by consultants Peter Westover and Christopher Curtis, broke into smaller discussion groups. Anderson was a member of the group focused on acreage.
“I was in the land protection working group,” Anderson said. “There was a trails group, water resources group and a recreation group.”
Each group looked at a map that showed existing protected lands in Westhampton. Participants used colorful dots on the map to show spots they use and love, and areas of concern. They described the town’s assets, the challenges and threats, goals for the future and any funding ideas.
Land preservation, as it relates to wildlife, was a prime topic. Milikowsky, a newer town resident, understands that some of her larger wild neighbors need room to travel.
“Moose are on my property not only because the land behind my house is forested, but there are miles and miles of forest beyond my property,” Milikowski said. “It’s really important to keep these large tracts intact because I alone, my property, will not keep those moose here.”
Sanders said the open space and recreation planning will take into account forests, which store carbon and stabilize temperatures, actions that protect water quantity and quality – but the town will also have to spend money to update culverts and other watercourses.
“Under current projections,” Sanders said, “we will have more frequent storms, and more severe storms, and … how can we become proactive?”
Anderson commented on Westhampton’s lush water resources, the north and south branches of the Manhan River, and Pine Island Lake, that “are of good quality and originate within the town.”
Anderson said. “We have areas that have been identified as important regional wildlife corridors. We have water resources in town that, like the north and south branches of the Manhan River, Pine Island Lake.”
She commented that farming is an important piece in protecting open space, habitat corridors, and hiking options. Discussion revealed that working farms preserve open spaces for everyone.
“The greatest interest was in hiking trails, having hiking trails,” said Bill Tracy, a local farmer. “That can happen … We’ve got the environment, we already have that, we just have to keep it so that everyone can use it…If we keep a good relationship, we have thousands of acres.”
Tracy sounded the call of community, an appeal to residents to deal with the steadily increasing dangers of climate change not as individuals, but as a community. The closing comment by one of the town’s older residents inspired Milikowski, one of its newest residents.
“He said we’re really lucky that Westhampton has a strong community and this really beautiful landscape,” Milikowski said. “It can continue to be like that, but it didn’t happen by accident. These things don’t happen by accident, they happen by community.”