New England is losing 65 acres of forest per day to development, according to a Harvard Forest report. This loss isn’t only a threat to wildlife, clean air and water, and recreation, but as science now shows, forest loss threatens our global climate as well.
The good news is that protecting our local forests not only safeguards rural heritage and protects wildlife habitat, it is also a natural solution to the climate crisis. Trees capture and store carbon in their roots, trunks, branches, and leaves. Conserving more forests globally could capture roughly half of the carbon needed to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius or less, a 2017 study found.
Large blocks of forest in our region are critical to this effort. That’s one of the reasons why Hilltown Land Trust partnered with Kestrel Land Trust, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, four towns, and seven willing landowners to conserve nearly 1,000 acres in Westhampton, Williamsburg, Chesterfield, and Northampton. The lands lie within a 6,000-acre expanse of mostly undeveloped forest, considered among the top 10% of forestlands to protect in Massachusetts. As one of the last such unbroken forests in the Commonwealth, conserving it protects an important network of connected woodlands and wildlands.
The project also includes permanent public access to lands cherished for recreation by local communities, and landmarks such as stretches of Brewer Brook, the side of Hanging Mountain, the top of Old Wolf Hill, and multiple large wetlands. Being at the edge of the densely populated Pioneer Valley, however, this area faces increasing threats from development.
The Brewer Brook Land Conservation Partnership project was conceived when landowner Patricia Lewis approached HLT Executive Director Sally Loomis about conserving her 67-acre property. Knowing the importance of conserving land in this area, Sally recognized the opportunity to protect even more land by creating a partnership with other conservation groups.
“When organizations with similar missions work together, we can be much more effective. Creating this partnership with other land trusts and public agencies meant that together our organizations could conserve much larger, connected pieces of critical landscape faster and more effectively than any of us could have done on our own.”Sally Loomis, Hilltown Land Trust Executive Director
Hilltown Land Trust conserved three properties, totaling over 340 acres, with assistance from the Westhampton and Chesterfield Conservation Commissions. Kestrel Land Trust protected 349 acres in Westhampton and Williamsburg and facilitated the acquisition of another 119 acres in Northampton by the City of Northampton. MassWildlife protected two properties—one in Chesterfield and one in Westhampton.
Total project costs amounted to nearly $1.6 million with 50% of the funds coming from a Massachusetts Landscape Partnership Project grant. This grant is offered by Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs as an incentive for private and public agencies to come together to protect at least 500 acres of contiguous conservation land. The remaining funding was contributed by the Open Space Institute, MassWildlife, the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation, Amelia Peabody Fund, The Beveridge Family Foundation, the Fields Pond Foundation, and gifts from private landowners.
This project provides permanent public access to thousands of acres of recreational land and protects habitat vital for wildlife, forest health, water quality, and climate change resilience. Ecologically, the Brewer Brook forest serves as a centralized core connecting several state and municipal conservation areas, and is part of a key flow corridor for wildlife. It is identified by The Nature Conservancy as one of the last minimally fragmented forests in Massachusetts. As our climate changes, wildlife species have an increasing need to move over larger areas. This project will ensure such areas remain undeveloped. In addition, the project area protects valuable drinking water resources in Williamsburg, Westhampton, and Northampton.
Permanent protection of this land will formally open a large area to hunting, fishing, and passive recreation while preserving and improving management of valuable wildlands and woodlands. It will also formalize existing trails on several properties, connecting established trail networks in Williamsburg and Westhampton.
Such benefits were also recognized by participating landowners. Patricia Lewis of Westhampton explained that:
“it always made sense to me to conserve land, not just for wildlife habitat, but also for humans to have space to be with the land. And knowing that the gift of my land would be matched kept me going through the long process of conserving this land. It was like a little lever to allow other land to be conserved.”
Next Steps for Brewer Brook Forest
There are thousands more acres of forest in the Brewer Brook area that could be protected for the benefit of wildlife, climate, and recreation, and several additional landowners in the immediate area have expressed interest in conservation. With more participating landowners, a planned Phase 2 of the conservation effort could connect the core Brewer Brook forest to other large blocks of protected land including the Dead Branch State Forest and Knightville Dam and Recreation Area to the west; the Mineral Hills, Saw Mill Hills, and Marble Brook Conservation Areas to the east; and Petticoat Hill Reservation to the north. This larger area has been identified as a Forest Core and Priority Connectivity Area for the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage Regional Conservation Partnership.
You can support conservation projects like this one by donating to Hilltown Land Trust during #GivingTuesday on December 3, or anytime!