A New Face - Opacum Land Trust

PO Box 233
Sturbridge, MA 01566
508-347-9144
www.opacumlt.org
info@opacumlt.org
March 2015
WORKING IN THE SOUTH-CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS TOWNS OF BRIMFIELD, BROOKFIELD, CHARLTON, EAST BROOKFIELD, HOLLAND,
MONSON, NORTH BROOKFIELD, PALMER, SOUTHBRIDGE, STURBRIDGE, WALES, WARREN & WEST BROOKFIELD.
S H OW IN G A N EW F A CE AT M ON S ON ’ S
F LY NT Q U AR RY L A ND S
By Leslie Duthie, Vice President of Opacum Land Trust and member of the Monson Conservation Commission
Opacum Land Trust and its partner, the Town of Monson,
are showing a “new face” at Monson’s Flynt Quarry Lands
property on Margaret Street. Opacum members and our
friends in town, have commented that they would love to
see the massive walls of the former Monson Flynt granite
quarry, once visible but now concealed by trees and brush.
Driving by the quarry site you would not know the historic,
and beautiful 30 foot high granite walls were there,
marking an important period of Monson’s history. But this
is changing as we re-expose this face of Monson history.
Over the course of the last year, and through 2015, I am
coordinating a grant from the Massachusetts Department of
Conservation and Recreation to create trails and historic
interpretation at this important historic site. With
permission from the Monson Board of Selectmen, and
using grant funding, we are removing the trees and brush
along a 150' section of the quarry wall, returning this local
landmark to public view. According to the foresters doing
this clearing, Scott Gerrish and Harrison Morin, most of
the trees were young and relatively small in diameter. The
cut logs and brush are being used to make brush piles to
attract and shelter wildlife such as rabbits and birds. The
new exposed quarry face will be part of the white-blazed
historic interpretive trail of the Flynt Quarry Lands.
First opened as a quarry in 1809, high-quality granite for
construction (the Springfield Armory) was actively quarried
from this site from about 1865 until 1935. Exquisite
examples of Monson granite can be seen all over town
including buildings such as Memorial Hall, the Monson
Free Library, St. Patrick’s Church and the Unitarian
Church. Stone from this quarry was noted for its evenness
of texture and durability, ranking it as one of the most
valuable building stones in the United States. It was shipped
around much of the east coast and as far as Kansas, Illinois
and Iowa. At its peak, there were over 200 quarrymen and
40 master stone cutters, some of whom came from Italy,
working in the Monson granite quarry. Since closure of the
quarry, the forest has reclaimed much of the site making it
perfect for passive recreation and open space.
Evidence of the quarry operation is still plainly visible
across the site, including drilling holes, split and broken
stone, anchor pins from the booms and other equipment that
would have operated there, and railroad spikes are still
periodically found along the trails.
Today the 165 acre Flynt Quarry Lands property is owned
by the Town of Monson and protected with a conservation
easement held by the Opacum Land Trust. The property is
open for the public’s benefit and I am coordinating efforts
to build and improve the trail system and add interpretive
materials. A new trail guide and interpretive kiosk are in
the planning stages and I want to thank all of you who
helped the town acquire this property and who have been
helping to build and maintain the trails there. You can do
more to help with this on-going project and help support
good things like this in Monson and the Opacum Land Trust
communities by making a donation.
f ro m t h e E x e c u t i v e D i re c t o r
L O TS
TO L O OK F O RWA R D
TO W IT H O PAC UM TH IS
S PR IN G A N D S U M M ER
I
t has been a tough winter, but from all the animal sign we found on our
February 7th hike at Opacum Woods in Sturbridge, wildlife is still alive
doing its best to get by. Board of Directors member Scott Gerrish and
Opacum volunteer Kay Hunt, both of whom have excellent skills “reading” the
forest and tracking wildlife, led 19 Opacum members and guests (all of whom
were wise enough to bring snow shoes) on a winter exploration of this property.
We saw the tracks for deer, coyote, squirrel, gray fox, mink, fisher, and the highlight, a long path of otter tracks,
including two different slides where they had a great time sliding down steep slopes. Scott and Kay showed us
how other animals were using the well-trod deer paths, and that the deer are using the newly constructed bridge
over Honey Brook (not that they really need to). See photos on page 6.
A month prior to that, on January 3rd, Opacum’s Vice President and Monson Conservation Commission member,
Leslie Duthie, led us over bare ground (remember what that looks like?) at the Flynt Quarry Lands property in
Monson. Back then, there was no snow on the ground, but as we finished our hike, it had begun to fall, sending us
into our current weather pattern. Between the time I write this, and the time you read this, we will have set our
clocks forward an hour for daylight savings time, dramatically marking the inevitable change of seasons , and
spring and summer will soon be here.
And hooray for that, because we have many programs and events to bring us together this spring and summer, and
to get you and your friends out into the woods to learn and experience what nature has to offer us – turn to pages 4
and 5 of this newsletter for a full listing. If you have not signed up to get our email news, please do so by emailing
us at membership@opacumlt.org and just putting in the subject line “sign up for enews”.
That way we can keep you informed of new activities
we may add to our schedule.
I am pleased to welcome Mark Conners of Brimfield as
our newest member of the Opacum Board of Directors.
Mark is an experienced businessman and human resources
manager, bringing critical experience to us, along with his
personal commitment to serving his community and
conserving land.
March 28th is our annual meeting and pancake breakfast –
a fun and informal calling-in of our members and kindred
spirits who enjoy the outdoors and support Opacum’s
efforts to protect just a small part of our diminishing wild
lands. I hope to see you there or at one of our many events
this year!
2014 - 2015
Volunteer Directors & Officers
Jennifer Ohop ..................................... President
Leslie A. Duthie ............................Vice President
Jennifer V. Morrison .......................... Treasurer
Howie Fife ..............................................Director
................................... Stewardship & Properties
Alan F. Smith .........................................Director,
................................................. Nominating Chair
Ed Hood, Executive Director
Scott Gerrish ..........................................Director
Mark Conners..........................................Director
2
f ro m t h e P re s i d e n t
O PA CU M C E LEB RATES
IT S Q U IN D E CE N N IA L !
O
n Sunday, January 23, 2000 a small group of people met at the Holland Town Hall. We were
concerned about how things were happening to the landscape in our community. Large subdivisions were appearing where the woods used to be, and shaded pools once filled with frogs were
now detention basins, or worse, covered in pavement. Progress was happening – not that it is a bad thing –
but we were concerned because there didn’t seem to be anyone speaking out on behalf of Mother Nature
and trying to preserve at least a piece of it.
On that day Opacum Land Trust was born, or actually, it was the
day we picked out a name and got to work. While the land trust
wasn’t formally incorporated until June 20th of that year, that is
the day this land trust became real, an entity that would be
proactive about land conservation in south-central Massachusetts.
It’s hard to believe that we met in Holland fifteen years ago, and
since that time Opacum has conserved more than 1,000 acres of
land in our thirteen town service area. How fitting to celebrate our
15th year, our Quindecennial, back where it all got started - in
Holland!
I hope that you will be able to join us on Saturday, March 28 at
the Holland Community Center. Doors open at 9:00am and we
will be cooking up a plethora of pancakes, accompanied by
homemade fruit toppings, local maple syrup, sausages, coffee and
juice to thank you, our members and donors, who have made and
continue to make Opacum Land Trust successful and strong.
Following breakfast (10:00am) we will hold our annual meeting.
Please come, eat and see what we are up to!
If breakfast isn’t your thing, or, if you just need to fuel up before
you go for a hike on one of Opacum’s trails, how about joining us
for dinner? On April 23 we will be at Table 3’s 420 Main Street
in Sturbridge, surrounded by murder and intrigue. Reserve your
tickets now, a limited number will be sold and this is a popular
and fun event.
In 2015 there will be many opportunities for you to celebrate
fifteen years of Opacum. Your support has enabled Opacum to
ramp-up our ability to offer more events. An event, be it a bird
walk, trail day or dinner, is a way to reach out and make more
people aware of Opacum. They are “friend-raisers” and, of
course, they are fun! Be sure to check out our events listed in this
newsletter and mark your calendar or hang it on the fridge. And
bring a friend!
Opacum has
conserved
more than
1,000 acres of
land in
15
years.
Jennifer Ohop, President
3
Mark Your Calendars Now!!
Opacum’s Fifteenth
Annual Meeting!
Join us for Pancakes
Saturday, March 28th
Murder Mystery Dinner
Coming Again in April
9:00 to 10:30 am
Holland Community (Senior) Center,
27 Sturbridge Road, Holland, MA 01521
We will be cooking up plenty of pancakes,
accompanied by homemade fruit toppings, local
maple syrup, sausages, coffee and juice. Our
meeting will start at 10:00, but we’ll keep
serving pancakes if the hungry keep arriving.
Hear about Opacum’s ongoing work and meet
our new Executive Director, Ed Hood.
We will be joined by a special guest— Wales
Resident and new Chief Operating Officer of
the Massachusetts Office of Energy and
Environment, Mike
Valanzola.
We can’t promise, but we’re
HOPING the ice will be
gone, and the crocuses will
be up!
Please let us know
you’re coming!
How many pancakes shall
we make?
Thursday Evening, April 23, 2015
Table 3 Restaurant in Sturbridge,
6:00 - 9:00pm
Supporting the work of Opacum Land Trust
with a dinner out and a Murder Mystery
program in the beautiful post and beam function
room of Table 3 Restaurant Group in Sturbridge: 420 Main Street, across from The Cedar
Street Restaurant.
Colonel Mustard Presents will perform their
murder mystery “Clueless in Upton Abbey”
while you enjoy an Italian Buffet dinner. Doors
open at 6:00pm with a cash bar. Our program
will get under way just before 7:00pm.
Tickets are $50, or $40 for Opacum members.
Tickets are available at
• Our Annual Meeting on March 28th
• The Bird Store and More,
4 Cedar Street, Sturbridge
• Call us us at 508-347-9144
or email us at info@opacumlt.org
and drop a check in the mail to
Opacum at PO Box 233, Sturbridge 01566.
We will mail or hold your tickets.
Opacum Land Trust programs are free and open
to the public unless otherwise noted. Please
bring your friends and spread the word!
Your donations are always welcome so that we
can continue to offer outstanding events!
4
MORE
UPCOMING
EVENTS
Wild Edible Plants with Russ Cohen
Thursday, June 4, 2015, 6:00 to 8:00 pm
at Running Pines Woods, Brimfield
New England's Changing Landscape:
Past, Present & Future
Saturday April 18, 1:30pm
at the Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary, Wales
(rescheduled from January 24th snowstorm)
Parking is limited, as is the size of the group we can
take, so please RSVP if you intend to join us, to
info@opacumlt.org or 508-347-9144 (please leave a
message), and clearly provide your name and contact
information so that we can get back to you with the
address.
Using archaeological, historical and early
photographic documentation, Ed Hood, Executive
Director of Opacum Land Trust, will provide an
overview of the human impact on the land, and how
the landscape we see in Wales today is the product of
the continuous process of changing human land use.
Using new research from the field of land conservation, Ed will provide insights into the potential look
and feel of towns like Wales in the future – a future
that is being shaped by our actions today.
The Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary is located at
30 Peck Rd in Wales, MA. Please RSVP to
413-267-9654 or via email info@opacumlt.org.
Tornado Hike
Saturday, May 16; 9:00 am to Noon
Co-hosted with the Massachusetts
Tree Farmers Association.
Walk with foresters, birders, ecologists and Opacum
Land Trust members and friends to get an up-close
look at the damage caused by the June 2011 tornado
and to see how the woods are recovering from the
storm. This is peak time to look for migrating birds,
bring your binoculars or just take in the scenery of the
tornado-scarred landscape of Brimfield!
We will meet at the pull-off and parking from the
east-bound lane of Route 20, just east of the turns for
Dearth Hill Rd and Monson Rd.
Google map reference: 193 Palmer Rd., Brimfield,
MA 01010, 42.117419, -72.237382
Opacum will provide coffee and some light
refreshments to get our guest energized for this
program.
Sturbridge’s Changing Landscape:
Past, Present & Future
Thursday, May 28, 7:00 pm,
The Publick House, Sturbridge
with the Sturbridge Historical Society.
Watch for more information.
Russ has just completed his 40th year of teaching
courses about wild edibles. This past year, he led over
three dozen classes/walks for over two dozen
different organizations.
All You Can Eat Buffet Feast at the Publick
House, Sturbridge, to benefit the Opacum Land
Trust and The Sturbridge Lions Club
Monday, June 15, 2015
Seating One: 4:30 - 6:15pm
Seating Two: 6:30 - 7:30pm
Each Monday the Publick House gives back to the
community by hosting a delicious fundraising feast
for local organizations. Casual Dining, Open Seating,
No Reservations. Tickets, however, can be purchased
in advance: $13 for adults, children 4-12, $5.
Tickets can be purchased from any Opacum director
or by calling 508-347-9144 or emailing
info@opacumlt.org
A Hike and Tour of the
Tantiusques Reservation,
Site of the historic Sturbridge Leadmine
Saturday, June 20th, 2:00 to 3:30
The tour will be led by our Executive Director Ed
Hood, an archaeologist and a Corporate Trustee of the
Trustees of Reservations.
Meet at the parking lot for the Tantiusques
Reservation (park carefully along Leadmine Road, if
needed). More information about the site and its
location can be found at the Trustees of Reservations
web site,
http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/centralma/tantiusques.html.
For additional information or to RSVP,
call 508-347-9144 (please leave a message)
or email Opacum at info@opacumlt.org.
5
Opacum Woods Winter
Walk on February 7th.
Below: Kay Hunt and Scott Gerrish with
Jackie Kulig (center), who won our woods
and wildlife trivia contest, but just barely –
it took a “sudden death” question round
for her to achieve final victory!
Above: Scott Gerrish identifies the types of
woodpeckers who have been foraging on a
dead tree by the type of damage they create in
the wood.
JUMBLE...
Be the first to solve
this word jumble and get
an Opacum T-Shirt!
Unscramble the smaller
“jumbles” on the left; use
the circled letters to
complete the final answer
to the riddle!
Email your response to
membership
@opacumlt.org
using WORD JUMBLE for
the subject line. We’ll
use the email time stamp
to determine the winner!
We’ll announce the
winner at the Annual
Meeting!
6
L A N D O WN E R T O O L F O R C O N S E RVATI O N :
C H A P TE R 61 C U R R E N T U S E P R O G R A M
Fletcher Clark, Service Forester for the North Quabbin Region, Department of Conservation and Recreation
M
assachusetts is the 3rd most densely
populated state, but is also ranked 8th in the
highest percentage of forest cover in the
country. Our woods provide invaluable benefits to the
community by filtering water and air, giving us a sense
of place and rural character, and providing wildlife
habitat, wood products, and periodic income to
landowners. Unfortunately, changing economic and
land use patterns, and rising property taxes, are forcing
farmers and forest landowners to consider selling their
land to alleviate those tax burdens.
To help ameliorate the loss of our forests, agricultural
and open space lands in Massachusetts, legislation has
authorized three programs which reduce the tax assessments of certain types of privately owned lands. In
return for a lower property tax rate, the property owners
make a commitment to keep their land in one or more
of these uses—forest, open space, or farm lands. The
three current use programs are Chapter 61A –
Agriculture, Chapter 61 – Forestry, and Chapter 61B –
Open Space and Recreational Land.
Many of the lands enrolled in these programs are small
woodlots or farms near urban or suburban areas. As
town services expand, so do the taxes on these lands.
Chapter 61 programs allow many parcels to remain
undeveloped as a direct result of reduced property
taxes. Likewise, the benefits to protecting these lands
have a long lasting positive environmental, social, and
economic impact both locally and regionally.
Chapter 61 programs require an initial 10 year
commitment and re-certification every 10 years
thereafter. Each program assesses the land according to
its current use rather than its development potential. To
qualify for Chapter 61A classification there is a 5 acre
minimum and the land must be used for agricultural
purposes and demonstrate sales of farm products
produced on the land equal to $500 per year. The
landowner must file with their town assessor’s office
every year. Eligibility for Chapter 61 – forest land
classification, requires 10 acres of continuous forest
cover. Chapter 61 requires a 10 year forest
management plan approved by a state forester that
includes some level of forest management activities.
The management plan only needs to be filed once for
the entire 10 year period. For those more interested in
open space, recreational use, and a more passive
approach to their land, Chapter 61B offers another
opportunity for landowners to reduce their tax burden.
Like Chapter 61A, there is no requirement for a forest
management plan (unless one decides to conduct a
timber harvest). There is a 5 acre minimum and the
Chapter 61 status needs to be filed with the town
assessor’s office every year. The Department of
Conservation and Recreation Service Forestry program
acts as the state agent certifying forestland under the
three separate programs.
Landowners are allowed to switch between programs
without penalty. However, if one were to opt out of the
program, sells for another use, or changes to another
use not consistent with these programs, they are subject
to a Conveyance Tax or a Roll-back Tax. Additionally,
a condition of enrollment into any of these current use
classification programs is that the town has the
opportunity to exercise the right of first refusal if the
property is to be sold and converted to a different use
(i.e. development).
If you or a friend are interested in maintaining and
protecting your land, and reducing its tax burden, then
the Chapter 61 programs are a great opportunity for the
landowner, and a good step in protecting and
conserving the farms, forests, and open space of the
Commonweatlh.
For more information on Chapter 61 programs visit the
DCR Service Forestry Program online at
http://masswoods.net/landowner-programs/chapter-61current-use-tax-programs
7
Mark Your Calendars Now!
Opacum’s Annual Mtg March 28
Murder Mystery Coming Again!
PANCAKES, COFFEE, FRIENDS
CLUELESS IN UPTON ABBEY
Saturday morning, March 28th, 9:00 am
Holland Community (Senior) Center
Thursday Evening, April 23rd, 6:00 - 9:00pm
T 3 Chefs & Catering in Sturbridge.
Pancakes, homemade fruit toppings, local maple
syrup, sausages, coffee and juice! What more
could you ask for??
Have fun while supporting the work of Opacum
Land Trust with a dinner out and a Murder
Mystery production in a beautiful post and beam
function room.
Our meeting will start at 10:00. Hear about
Opacum’s ongoing work and meet our new
Executive Director, Ed Hood.
We can’t promise, but we’re HOPING the ice
will be gone, and the crocuses will be up!
Remember, the pancakes are on us!
The Colonel Mustard Presents will perform their
murder mystery Clueless in Upton Abbey while
you enjoy an Italian Buffet dinner with a cannoli
bar for dessert.
If you missed last year, don’t make the same
mistake this year!
See details on page 6.
PO Box 233, Sturbridge MA 01566
info@ opacumlt.org 508-347-9144
www.opacumlt.org
Opacum Land Trust is a non-profit conservation organization. Founded in
2000, our mission is to conserve, protect and preserve, in their natural
condition, the lands and waters of South Central Massachusetts for the
benefit of present and future generations. All donations are fully tax
deductible, annual memberships start at $25.