Home » News » Key W.D. Cowls forestland protected in $3.25M deal
Nine years after completion of the largest contiguous private land conservation arrangement in the state’s history, additional W.D. Cowls forestland totaling 2,038 acres between North Amherst and the Quabbin Reservoir is being permanently protected.
On Wednesday, state officials announced the creation of the Walter Cowls Jones Working Forest, which supplements the 3,486-acre Paul C. Jones Working Forest and will serve to protect water supplies locally and for Boston, preserve extensive wildlife habitat and promote continued production of timber.
The conservation restriction was purchased for $3.25 million, or $100,000 less than the appraised value, with public funding coming from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and U.S. Forest Legacy Program, the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, which will hold the conservation restriction, and private funds raised by Kestrel Land Trust from the Jo
Key W.D. Cowls forestland protected in $3.25M deal
Walter Cowls Jones SUBMITTED PHOTO
Forestland adjacent to the Atkins Reservoir in Shutesbury. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Beaver pond in the Walter Cowls Jones Working Forest near the Quabbin Reservoir. SUBMITTED PHOTO
SUBMITTED PHOTO SUBMITTED PHOTO
Spear Macomber beaver pond is part of theland being conserved under an agreement announced Wednesday. SUBMITTED PHOTO
SUBMITTED PHOTO SUBMITTED PHOTO
Nine years after completion of the largest contiguous private land conservation arrangement in the state’s history, additional W.D. Cowls forestland totaling 2,038 acres between North Amherst and the Quabbin Reservoir is being permanently protected.
On Wednesday, state officials announced the creation of the Walter Cowls Jones Working Forest, which supplements the 3,486-acre Paul C. Jones Working Forest and will serve to protect water supplies locally and for Boston, preserve extensive wildlife habitat and promote continued production of t
From a site visit to Horse Mountain in Hatfield for the LAND grant. MARK GELOTTE
Published: 12/31/2020 7:30:42 AM
Fifty years ago, in December 1970, a group of Amherst residents who were members of the first Town Conservation Commission came together to form The Kestrel Trust.
Janet and Toby Dakin, two engaged civic leaders who also helped establish the Dakin Humane Society and Hampshire College were Kestrel’s driving force for the first decade. Inspired by the first Earth Day that launched the modern environmental movement and wary of new waves of sprawling development, they wanted to ensure that the area’s natural lands and waterways were conserved as Amherst grew into a bustling college town.
Hadley looks to rein in riverside campsites
The Connecticut River as seen from the Hadley dike, Monday, April 9, 2018. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
By SCOTT MERZBACH
HADLEY Many of the cities and towns with Connecticut River frontage prohibit recreational vehicles and campers to be set up at the edge of the waterway for any length of time.
But with Hadley, unlike Northampton and Hatfield, continuing to permit campsites along the river for the warm-weather months, the presence of trailers and motorhomes has continued to grow in these flood-prone areas.
“So they all come to Hadley, and what was a few trailers is in the hundreds, sometimes,” Joseph Zgrodnik told his colleagues at a Planning Board meeting this week.
Snowdrops help me put winter in perspective Getty Images/iStockphoto
Published: 10/5/2018 10:07:59 AM
As I write this, there are still plenty of flowers in the garden and green leaves on the trees. But fall is definitely in the air, a bittersweet time for those of us who dread the winter that’s not far behind. Thinking ahead to next spring’s flowering bulbs helps me put winter in perspective. A season to let things sleep underground. A season to marvel, and shiver, at meteorological extremes. A season that might seem endless but will, in fact, draw to a close as snowdrops (Galanthus) emerge.