Big Wins for Land Conservation

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Mass Audubon
Fall scene

The end of 2022 was busy for our land conservation team, who put the finishing touches on protecting over 400 acres.

This volume of projects reflects the strong commitment to land conservation that is articulated in Mass Audubon’s Action Agenda, which calls for accelerated land protection activity both for land acquired as part of Mass Audubon’s sanctuary system, as well as projects assisted by our staff that yield land that may be owned by other land trusts, state agencies, or local cities and towns. 

Here are just a few of those projects.

Cold Brook, Otis 

At Cold Brook, Land Protection Specialist Kate Buttolph completed the purchase of 180 acres of land in Otis and Sandisfield from the estate of Robert Minery. During his lifetime, Mr. Minery had worked with Mass Audubon on an initial acquisition of 58 acres of his land at Cold Brook; with the recent transaction we have now been able to significantly expand Mass Audubon’s ownership to include high priority land on both sides of the Cold Spring Road corridor.  

This was a complex, multi-year transaction that required persistence, patience, and commitment; congratulations to Kate and the other members of the project team at Mass Audubon, and to our project partners at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) on its completion after many years of work, and thanks to the generous private funders that made the project possible. 

The Cold Brook property is not yet open to the public; site restoration activities are underway and the infrastructure necessary for public visitation will be constructed. 

Ipswich River, Topsfield 

© Paul Sullivan

At Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, by contrast, the land conservation team was able to mobilize in a very short period of time to accept a donation of land from a donor who wanted to complete his gift by the end of the calendar year. Land Protection Specialist Andrew Ognibene coordinated the internal review process and the legal and title work required to accommodate the donor’s desired timeframe and we accepted the gift on December 14, with two weeks to spare!    

The land added to the sanctuary expands the base of protected land at Ipswich River, and protects high value wildlife habitat designated as Core Habitat in the newly-updated BioMap analysis by the state Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. 

Whetstone Wood, Wendell 

Whetstone Wood, Mass Audubon’s largest sanctuary, gained an additional 106 acres through two transactions coordinated by Land Protection Specialists Nick Rossi and Kate Buttolph.  

In addition to adding five acres to our ownership at Whetstone Wood, the Leppzer purchase also included a restoration component. We already removed existing structures and will taker further measures to restore the site, allowing the creation of young forest habitat through natural succession, supporting the recovery of the New England Cottontail, New England’s only native rabbit. 

The purchase of the Killay property, in partnership with DCR, expands Mass Audubon’s base of protected land in Wendell to the south and links state water supply land with Wendell State Forest, enhancing the resiliency of this critical forested landscape.   

Whetstone Wood is unusual for Mass Audubon because public access is quite limited. It was the vision of the original donors and founders of the sanctuary, Ina and Mason Phelps, to create a wildlife refuge where human impacts are deliberately kept to a minimum.

Eagle Lake, Holden 

A bequest by the estate of Edna Tilander added 31 acres of land to the Eagle Lake Wildlife Sanctuary in Holden. Ms. Tilander worked with Mass Audubon staff during her lifetime to structure her gift, which was then incorporated into her estate plan. The Tilander property supports two valuable cold-water streams and creates a robust protected link between the Eagle Lake property to the north and thousands of acres of protected land to the south.  

In addition to providing for the gift to Mass Audubon, Ms. Tilander’s will also specified that her house be left to her niece. Nick Rossi worked closely with the estate to complete the subdivision process and allow the separate conveyance of the house. The Tilander project is a compelling example of the power of planned giving to accomplish multiple goals as specified by the donor.   

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State Releases New Resilient Lands Initiative  

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Hillary T.
three tree swallows on wood posts in a salt marsh and water
Tree Swallows

On January 4, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) released the Resilient Lands Initiative (RLI) Vision. We’re thrilled that this framework to protect and improve the quality of life for residents of every Massachusetts community through nature conservation and stewardship initiatives was among the final actions of the Baker Administration. 

EEA engaged with stakeholders across the Commonwealth when it developed the RLI Vision, and it reflects many of the goals defined in Governor Healey’s Climate Plan—namely those focused on Natural and Working Lands. Importantly, it also supports the incoming Administration’s aggressive goals for affordable housing. 

The actions outlined in the RLI Vision will help the Commonwealth achieve its climate goals, reduce vulnerability to climate impacts such as urban heat islands and coastal flooding, improve water quality, and protect wildlife and natural systems. What’s more, RLI used two lenses in shaping its objectives: 1. diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice and 2. climate change.  

Nature-based climate solutions are essential to improving the quality of life for every resident of the Commonwealth and for meeting our 2030 and 2050 Climate Roadmap imperatives. The RLI Vision is an important framework that should be used to ensure that nature does its part in meeting these critical needs.   

As part of Mass Audubon’s Resilient Landscape goal of our Action Agenda, we are dramatically expanding our efforts to protect, restore, and steward the state’s most important natural lands. Working in close partnership with others, we aim to conserve an additional 150,000 acres of the Commonwealth’s most important and biodiverse habitats, bringing the percentage of protected land in the state to 30%. The RLI Vision is another huge step toward achieving this goal. 

There is much work to be done, and we’re thrilled that the “menu-based” approach offers many potential actions to choose from as future capital budgets are developed, legislative agendas and regulatory updates considered, and decisions on policy and programmatic options contemplated. 

Mass Audubon and the hundreds of advocates that participated in developing the RLI Vision stand ready to support and assist the Healey Administration as it implements its ambitious goals and objectives for climate, resilient lands, and affordable housing.