FY2020

The Nan Williams Conservation Area in Rowe, a generous gift of the landowner in 2018, is managed by Franklin Land Trust as a biological reserve for wildlife and research. It is a parcel that is rich in habitat and is particularly noteworthy for the abundant growth of more than sixty varieties of ephemeral plants that…

This year, FLT continued its work to protect wildlife habitat at a former soapstone and talc mine located in the Nan Williams Conservation Area (NWCA). This mine had been a historic hibernaculum – a site where wildlife takes refuge – for three species of bats. During a 2008 survey, 148 little brown, northern long-eared, and…

In the fall of 2018, Franklin Land Trust was awarded a Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) Grant through the US Forest Service (USFS), in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), to be the lead organization in a large-scale tree planting project in Greenfield, Montague, and North Adams. The primary goal of this…

Franklin Land Trust is committed not only to protecting important working landscapes – the farms, fields, and forests of northwestern Massachusetts – but also expanding recreational access to the outdoors for members of our community. Through the Voluntary Public Access (VPA) Program, FLT has partnered with individual landowners to secure both temporary and permanent public…

Westfield landowners Bob and Karen Baker worked with Franklin Land Trust and the Town of Westfield to conserve 42 acres of land on Montgomery Road. In 2004 the Bakers sold a 27-acre Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) to Winding River Land Conservancy — now retired, they wanted to conserve the adjacent wetlands and hayfields not included…

Last summer, Franklin Land Trust added an important puzzle piece to a vibrant constellation of conserved land in Heath through the conservation of the Freeman Farm. Abutting the Crowningshield Conservation Area – a project originally protecting 96 acres south of the West Branch Brook, including designated cold-water fisheries vital to the long-term survival of native…

Thanks to your support, Franklin Land Trust assisted the MA Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to acquire two key parcels for public access and conservation in Plainfield and Rowe. State conservation organizations like the MA Department of Fish and Game often depend on non-profit land trusts to help bring local projects across the finish…

Franklin Land Trust (FLT) recently acquired for conservation 154 acres in Heath abutting its 96-acre Crowningshield Conservation Area (CCA). The 154-acre parcel purchase – which took place on June 25th, 2020 from the Gudell Family – was supported by funding from the MA Dept of Fish and Game; local, State, and National Chapters of Trout…

Conservation minded neighbors in Ashfield have a long history of working together to protect the land they love for the benefit of wildlife. Residents of Barnes, Bailey, and Phillips Roads share a love of the land and the animals that depend on it, and have been taking steps to protect it for the last 25…

Franklin Land Trust received a gift of 24 acres of forested land in Ashfield and Conway, donated by landowners Ed Etheredge of Northampton, and Larry Hott of Florence. This land sits at the intersection of Ashfield and Conway, with views of Mt. Monadnock, Mt. Wachusett, and Mt. Greylock in the fall and winter months. This…