More than 700 acres in Worthington and Huntington, enough space for about 540 football fields, have been added this month to the state’s stockpile of land that will be permanently protected for conservation.
Permanently protected land surrounding Jackson Brook in Worthington will nearly double under a partnership between the Hilltown Land Trust (HLT) and the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (DFG), preserving a diverse habitat that is home to bobcats, beavers, great blue herons and sandhill cranes.
The state awarded $314,430 through the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ Landscape Partnership Grant Program to protect 483 acres of largely intact forest within the brook’s watershed. The acreage expands already conserved land, creating 1,000 contiguous acres.
Just southeast of Worthington’s border in Huntington, 230 acres of forestland and 6,100 feet of Westfield River frontage have also been purchased by the Northeast Wilderness Trust (NEWT) for permanent conservation. The property will be known as the River’s Edge Wilderness Preserve.
The project was supported by $425,000 from the state’s Forest Reserves Grant Program, along with a $310,000 grant from Mass Audubon’s Catalyst Fund.
Jackson Brook
“Wildlife conservation is the top highlight,” HLT Executive Director Sally Loomis said in an interview, referring to the benefits of preserving forests in Worthington. Loomis added that the conserved lands will not negatively impact the town’s tax roll since the majority of land is interior forests and is “complicated to develop.”
The newly protected land spans the Worthington-Chesterfield town line, although all of the acreage included in the conservation project is in Worthington.
The project will create a north-south corridor for wildlife, allowing animals to move between habitats, said Loomis. The corridor is especially important for species seeking warmer or cooler climates as temperatures shift because of climate change.
Meanwhile, the land will serve as a sponge, slowing stormwater runoff for downstream communities and providing protection during intense precipitation by buffering against flooding.
According to HLT, the preservation also brings economic benefits by expanding public access to hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and other low-impact recreation on state-owned land.
“By protecting forests, clean water, and public open space today, we’re ensuring future generations can enjoy them while strengthening our environment and local economy,” said Sen. Paul Mark, D-Becket, in a statement.
State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, who serves Worthington, said she was grateful to those who made the project happen, noting that it will help “ensure these landscapes are protected for generations to come.”
Currently, HLT holds three conservation restrictions while the state acquires four parcels for its Wildlife Management Area system. An additional land transfer from the trust to the state would consolidate ownership and simplify long-term management.
‘River’s Edge’
The Huntington property was owned by Hull Forestlands and used for commercial timber harvesting before NEWT, a regional land trust with holdings across New England and upstate New York, acquired it.
NEWT officially closed on the purchase July 29, acquiring the property for $1,157,000. The land is located about a mile southwest of Knightville Dam and due east of Littleville Lake. It is also northwest of C.M. Gardner State Park.
“As of yesterday, July 29, Northeast Wilderness Trust now owns the land in perpetuity and is working to establish a conservation easement on River’s Edge with the Amherst-based Kestrel Land Trust,” said Colby Galliher, a spokesperson for NEWT. “That two-layer protection — ownership of the land by Northeast Wilderness Trust and a conservation easement atop it soon to be held by Kestrel — will make the land ‘forever wild,’ ensuring that it will never be logged or developed.”
Galliher said funding from the state and Mass Audubon was “critical” to the purchase, which was also supported by private funds. The land will now be maintained passively with “little to no management,” Galliher said.
