BELCHERTOWN — Four years after an online petition garnered more than 5,200 signatures in favor of Massachusetts returning 430 acres of state-owned land in Belchertown known as the Lampson Brook Farm to the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band, a new House bill proposes giving the tribe authorization to steward a majority of the farm and forestland.

The Belchertown-Nipmuc Farm Conservation Alliance — a group of Belchertown residents and social justice allies collaborating with the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band to preserve the Lampson Brook Farm and forestland — wrote the bill, which was filed by state Rep. Aaron Saunders as a citizen petition.

Alliance members moved forward with the new legislation to amend a bill passed in 2021 outlining a process to select a permanent steward of the land. Confusion about the legislation’s implementation over the past year stalled further progress.

The new legislation would not only be a step forward in correcting centuries of displacement of Indigenous people, alliance members say, but would support state and local sustainability goals by conserving healthy forestland and creating an agricultural community for low-income families.

“We’re all concerned about the future with climate change,” said Cheryll Toney Holley, sonskq (female leader) of the tribe. “We’re also concerned not only with our own people, but with the land itself because we’re in relationship with land. It’s a relative, it’s part of our family, and so are the other occupants of the land. Our culture says that we need to return to that or else we’re not going to survive.”

Currently, the Lampson Brook Farm property off Jackson Street is under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM). The state agency leases the land to New England Small Farm Institute. The property includes a 240-acre forest parcel, a 120-acre commercial agricultural parcel, a 44-acre community farm parcel, a 10-acre enterprise zone parcel and the 16-acre historic Jepson farmstead.

If the legislation is approved, the Nipmuc Indian Development Corp. (NIDC), a nonprofit promoting economic and cultural development of the Nimpuc community, would manage all but the Jepson farmstead parcel, which would remain with the Small Farm Institute.

Under the new legislation, farmers with leases would continue their agreements, with the option to renew leases every 10 years.

“The Nipmuc understand what it’s like to be kicked off of land that you have a relationship with, and they don’t want to do that to anyone,” said Molly Merret, a Belchertown-Nipmuc Farm Conservation Alliance member. “So they want to honor the current leases of the farmers that are farming the land.”

She said the alliance has been trying for the past couple of years to write new legislation that addresses the fact that the 2021 legislation didn’t consider the needs of the various stakeholders who would have been important to have at the table, particularly any Indigenous people.

“This piece of farmland is on their traditional homeland,” she said.

If the land is transferred to the care of the Nimpuc, Holley said the tribe would establish an “agrihood” where families partake in community agriculture. An old dairy farm on the site, currently in disrepair, would become affordable housing units for families who wish to farm the community and commercial farmland. The tribe would also build a communal kitchen to process and preserve food for the colder months.

Additionally, Holley said the Indigenous people would create a land stewardship plan that prioritizes protecting native species, restoring forestry health and preserving agricultural land for the tribe’s food sovereignty.

The plan would be akin to one she has crafted for the 500 acres of Sunderland forest given by W.D. Cowls Inc. to the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Bandat the beginning of January. The forested land is connected to Mount Toby in Sunderland, west of Route 63.

“We’re combining western science with our own traditional methods,” Holley said, “mostly because climate has changed before, but normally that happens slowly so we were able to watch and monitor and make adjustments in a timely manner, but now it’s happening quicker. We’re using western science as well to help us to move along a little bit faster than our ancestors might’ve done.”

A sudden development

In 2021, the state passed a bill outlining a process to select a permanent steward of the land, including the establishment of a Lampson Brook Farm Board to select a responsible owner or lessee of the land. Last year, the state capital asset agency told the board that it cannot carry out the legislation due to a flaw in the language, leaving the natural land and degrading agricultural buildings to further fall into disrepair.

“For the past year, (Sen. Jake Oliveria) and Saunders have maintained that the Lampson Brook Farm Act is fine, while DCAMM has disagreed, saying amendments are needed,” said Tammy Ryan, a Lampson Brook Farm Board member, during a Jan. 28 meeting. “This has obviously led to a yearlong impasse.”

Merret said the Belchertown-Nipmuc Farm Conservation Alliance reached out to both Oliveira and Saunders to discuss the legislation, but faced continuous delays. Without the support from legislators, the alliance decided to file its bill by citizen petition in mid-January. Legislators often file proposed legislation on behalf of constituents even if they don’t sponsor or support the measures.

“We really thought that we could get Oliveira or Saunders to file this legislation, and they kept stalling us and saying they would meet with us and then not responding to messages,” Merret said. “We realized that there was a Jan. 17 deadline, and that if we didn’t file, we would have to wait two years. None of this really went down in a very ideal way.”

Oliveira’s office, when asked why the senator did not sponsor the bill, said in a statement that the “board holds full authority to ensure that Lampson Brook Farm remains preserved as agricultural property” under the current legislation.

Saunders responded to the same question with a similar statement.

“I was happy to file by request a resident’s suggested language for conveying the Lampson Brook Farm,” he wrote to the Gazette. “The Lampson Brook Board has been hard at work and I look forward to them completing their efforts, which includes a fair and impartial process to convey the parcel.”

Holley and Merret confirmed that the Belchertown-Nipmuc Farm Conservation Alliance reached out to the Small Farm Institute for comments and edits on the draft legislation, but representatives for the institute did not respond in time. The majority of the Lampson Brook Farm Board only found out about this development after the fact, and some have expressed concern about the process used by the alliance.

“I think there are concerns around the process that was pursued here and a lack of transparency with the board,” said Vanessa Farny, a Lampson Brook Farm Board member. “Many members of the board have expressed to me some concern about whether this action essentially undermines the ability to continue to work on perfecting the legislation we have right now under Chapter 355.”

However, the draft legislation can change as it moves forward, and the Belchertown-Nipmuc Farm Conservation Alliance has invited stakeholders to provide feedback on the legislation.

Despite the board’s frustration, residents of Belchertown and Hampshire County continue to voice support of efforts to transfer the land to the tribe. An online petition started by Merret in 2021 currently has over 5,200 signatures of support. During the most recent Lampson Brook Farm Board meeting at the end of January, four Belchertown residents expressed their support for the new legislation and its role in preserving the farm and forestland for future generations.

“I believe that this legislation is not only a wonderful opportunity to right historical wrongs, but represents a powerful mutual cause,” Belchertown resident Charlotte Cassidy said. “One that connects Belchertown and the Nipmuc in the shared vision of a sustainable and climate resilient future.”

It’s rare that bills submitted by citizens petition receive a legislative sponsor, Merret said. So while the bill is officially filed, Merret encourages residents who support the bill to reach out to representatives and ask them to sponsor the bill before it gets assigned to a committee.

“From our perspective, every decision we make now affects the people seven generations from now,” Holley said. “It’s important for us to do what we can to prepare for the future, and right now.”

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.