Tag Archives: Sharon

Project Update: Bolstering the Rattlesnake Hill Landscape

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Land Conservation

In February 2020, the Town of Sharon and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), with the financial support and encouragement of Mass Audubon, protected the iconic 330-acre Rattlesnake Hill property — an exciting, rewarding conclusion to a decades-long conservation effort.

For Mass Audubon, the successful protection of Rattlesnake Hill by DCR and the Town is part one of a larger conservation outcome. 

The Next Step

Mass Audubon is now working with the Town of Sharon to put permanent protections on 220 acres of abutting Town lands known locally as “Inter Lochen Park”.  Portions of that land have never received full legal protection and remain vulnerable over the long-term.

To remedy that, the Inter Lochen lands will be permanently protected by a Conservation Restriction (CR) that will be acquired and held by Mass Audubon.  This will ensure the perpetual protection of these 220 acres in a similar way to Rattlesnake Hill, where the Town acquired it for conservation and DCR holds the permanent CR. 

Both properties exist within an impressive block of more than 2,000 acres of connected protected land. The land is adjacent to Borderland State Park (fun fact: large portions of the movie “Knives Out” were filmed at the mansion on Borderland State Park) and just a short distance from Mass Audubon’s Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary. 

A Unique and Diverse Landscape

If you have the chance to visit Rattlesnake Hill and Inter Lochen Park, it won’t take you long to realize that it’s a pretty special place, particularly given its location in relatively densely populated eastern Massachusetts.  Beautiful forests, exquisite savannahs, rocky ledges, all intermingle with scattered vernal pools (seven in total) throughout the landscape.  The land is home to a startling array of plants and animals — some of which are rare or endangered. 

Exposed bedrock near the top of Rattlesnake Hill.

And in case you’re wondering, no, rattlesnakes have not been seen on the property for quite some time; although, it would make excellent habitat for them – making it easy to understand where the name came from.

Did I mention the boulders? The land has a wonderful array of massive granite boulders, known to the geologically inclined as “glacial erratics” because they “hitched a ride” and were deposited by receding glaciers.

It is tremendous fun to traipse around this property.  Soon, trails will be officially opened to the top of Rattlesnake Hill which offers lovely views.

For such a special place, it is all the more important to make sure that every square inch of it is protected forever.  We hope to share news of the permanent protection of part two—Inter Lochen Park—soon.

-Nick Rossi, Land Protection Specialist

Another 10 acres in Sharon to be permanently protected

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Land Conservation

Bob Ford, Land Protection Specialist

Fast on the heels of the protection of 72 acres in Sharon through our partnership with the town and Massapoag Sportsmen’s Club, Mass Audubon is working with the town of Sharon again – this time, to place a conservation restriction (CR) on an additional 10 acres.  The CR will insure the permanent protection of an area of woodlands and wetlands adjacent to the 72 acres protected two months ago.  Conservation of the land will further contribute to the protection of Massapoag Brook, which borders the property, and create an extension to a town-wide hiking trail known as the Massapoag Trail. 

A Blizzard of End-of-Year Closings Make for Holiday Treats for All!

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Land Conservation

Bob Wilber, Director of Land Protection

For the second year in a row, we had a flurry of land protection activity in late December.  The fast accumulation of acres resulted in welcomed drifts of cherished conservation land for people and wildlife, sprinkled across the commonwealth.  71 acres in Sharon near our Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, 15 acres in Wendell abutting Whetstone Wood, 8 acres in Wareham at the our newest sanctuary – Great Neck, and 2 acres in Marshfield as part of the North River Wildlife Sanctuary, all arrived on time.  While not all were “gifts”, each brought smiles to boys and girls, and salamanders, birds and turtles across the land! 

Look for more details on these success stories in our next e-newsletter, scheduled to arrive in your inbox in February.  If you don't already receive our e-newsletter, please sign-up here!

Setting up to permanently steward new conservation land

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Land Conservation

John Coolidge, Conservation Restriction Stewardship Specialist

Good conservation restriction (CR) stewardship starts with good baseline documentation.  We try not to do our documentation work in the rain… but there are times when it’s just plain impossible to avoid.  Last week was one of those times because we’ve nearly completed an important project in Sharon involving conservation land owned by the Town and the new protection of land owned by the Massapoag Sportsmen’s Club.  Our goal is to complete all the baseline work prior to the CR being signed by the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs and recorded at the Registry of Deeds.

Of primary importance to the CR, and our ongoing stewardship of it, is documenting the existing condition of the property at the time of the recording.  Identifying the boundaries of the property, locating the survey monuments, and making a record of the type of terrain both with pictures and written descriptions helps in the yearly monitoring both for the landowner or future landowners as well as those that will monitor the CR. Locating the lot corners is critical to the accuracy of our shape files (the basic outline of the property).

At the Sportsman’s Club soon-to-be-protected land, the local surveyor and the conservation administrator for the town were very helpful in finding all the monuments.   Below, Bob Ford and Lindsey Sarquilla confirm that a boundary location is correctly aligned with a beautiful old stone wall assisted by Conservation Administer Gregory Meister from the Sharon Conservation Commission.

BF directing BL