summer 2014 update - Winding River Land Conservancy

SUMMER 2014
UPDATE
Mission: To preserve and protect natural open space and farmland in
Western Hampden County for present and future generations
Dear Supporters:
The board members are thankful for your past and continued support of our efforts to
protect land in the region. It is a testament to how much you care about its farms, rivers
and streams, drinking water supplies, meadows, animal and plant habitat, scenic vistas,
orchards, mountains – well, you get the idea. We are so fortunate to live in this special
place, and we need the support of those who share our hopes to preserve and protect it.
We currently monitor seven conservation restrictions, give landowners advice about
preserving their land and actively pursue land protection for critically important
properties. With your support, our all-volunteer board and part-time administrator have
been able to do this work at a modest cost.
Your continued gifts year after year inspire us. It means so much to have so many friends
out there who care and contribute. If you haven’t given in recent years, we hope you will
reconsider, then reconnect with us both financially and with your ideas. Many thanks for
your time and your financial support.
Sincerely,
Rosemary Arnold
Rosemary Arnold, President
Winding River Land Conservancy
windingriverlc@gmail.com
Winding River Land Conservancy • P.O. Box 1836 • Westfield, MA 01086 • Telephone: 413-562-1386
Checking In At Noble View
If you have never visited the Noble View Outdoor
Center in Russell, operated by the Appalachian
Mountain Club, you’re missing one of the most
beautiful views around. Not only does the
property afford a wonderful look at the valley
below, it has hiking trails through lovely woods,
babbling brooks and rustic cabins for rent. Go to
www.nobleviewoutdoorcenter.org for
more information.
Bridge reconstruction, part of Phase II of Columbia Greenway project
Columbia Greenway
Touches Conservation Land
In 2006, 32 acres of wooded land bisected by
Little River was donated to the Winding River
Land Conservancy, Inc. in memory of Brian
Murphy who was lost on September 11, 2001.
Today, the Columbia Greenway and Bike Path
runs along this property, where bicyclists and
pedestrians can enjoy the green shade and
vistas along the trail.
Winding River Land Conservancy was
instrumental in bringing together local and state
agencies to purchase a conservation restriction
to ensure the land is preserved in perpetuity.
Winding River partnered with the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive
Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs,
Town of Russell, Springfield Water Commission,
Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and AMC
staff and volunteers to put a conservation
restriction on May 24, 2008.
The property, formerly farmed by Richard
Fowler, has regenerated from farm field to
succession regenerative forest, which provides
bird and animal habitat. This property forms an
important link to the Mary Noble land
(approximately 30 acres) donated to the City of
Westfield some years ago.
The conservation restriction permanently protects
most of Noble View’s 358.5 acres from
development, and the CR generated $675,000
in funding to the AMC to help maintain the
buildings, paths and grounds. Even if you don’t
have time to hike the trails, go check out
that view!
Monitoring
Three Winding River board members attended
a spring workshop on using GPS for monitoring
visits. They were guests of Kestrel Trust, which
has generously allowed Winding River board
members to take advantage of its training
offerings. Instructors showed how to use site
maps to identify the locations of iron pins and
other boundary markers, then deploy GPS to
walk the property, looking for encroachments,
effects of severe weather and other changes.
Ideally, photos are taken at the same locations
each time the property is walked, preserving a
history of land conditions. Winding River is
stepping up its monitoring program, putting it in
stronger position to defend against illegal
activities or encroachments.
Winding River president Rosemary Arnold also
attended a Kestrel workshop on invasive
species. It’s not always easy to identify
invasives, but the earlier they’re spotted, the
easier it can be to remove them.
Networking And
Continuing Education
It’s great to read articles about conservation
issues, but there’s nothing like meeting leaders in
land preservation, networking with others who
also save land in Massachusetts and coming
home inspired and energized to save more land.
Four Winding River board members took part in
the March 2014 Massachusetts Land
Conservation Conference in Worcester. They
attended workshops and presentations on new
legal developments in conservation, where trusts
can find funding, how to build partnerships and
too many other topics to list. It was very helpful
to put our local challenges into a
larger perspective.
With its memberships in the Mass. Land Trust
Coalition and the national Land Trust Alliance,
Winding River can call on expert colleagues,
reference reports and studies and keep an eye
in developing issues in conservation.
Did you know?
Today, 80 percent of New England is
covered by forest or thick woods. That is
a far cry from the mere 30 to 40 percent
that remained forested in most parts of the
region in the mid-1800s, after early
waves of settlers got done with their vast
logging, farming, and leveling operations.
Oriental bittersweet is just one of the many invasive species in
our region.
To learn more about invasive species in this area,
check out the Westfield River Watershed Invasive
Species Partnership (WISP) on Facebook.
According to Harvard research, New
England is now the most heavily forested
region in the United States. That said,
there will always be a need for
conservationists to preserve land
threatened by development. Thank you
for being an advocate for our farms and
natural areas.
Catching Up With Winding
River Board Members
At the May 2014 annual meeting, the members
of the Winding River board were appointed.
Your board members are:
Rosemary Arnold, Holyoke
Gary Forish, Westfield
Seth Kellogg, Southwick
Claire Kenna, Southwick
Mark Kassis, Southampton
Mary Martin, Blandford
Mark Noonan, Westfield
Your officers for 2014-2015 are:
Rosemary Arnold, President
Seth Kellogg, Treasurer
Mark Noonan, Secretary
The board and officer positions are unpaid.
Winding River has been very fortunate, since its
founding in 1998, to be led by such devoted
conservationists.
Meet Gary Forish
Gary Forish, one of Winding
River’s newer board members,
is no stranger to conservation
and land protection. He was
instrumental in the protection of
the Kelley farm located on
Provin Mountain and the successful efforts to
save Noble View from threatened sale and
conversion for development. Gary has a
background in commercial construction, but he
has always been inspired to put his skills to work
for causes dear to his heart. He spent three
years as president of Greater Westfield’s
Habitat for Humanity, where he trained
volunteers, managed projects and helped build
two homes.
He has a family connection to the Noble View
Outdoor Center in Russell through his
grandfather, who worked as a tenant farmer in
the early 1900s at Noble View. Gary has
volunteered at Noble View for more than fifteen
years and was Chair of the Appalachian
Mountain Club’s Berkshire Chapter. He still works
on site every week mowing, clearing brush,
maintaining trails, and making facility repairs, to
name a few of his volunteer contributions. Gary
received the AMC Distinguished Service Award
for his longtime work for AMC and Noble View.
Gary’s willingness as a volunteer to get his
hands and boots dirty helps the AMC stretch its
resources and keeps Noble View a crown jewel
in our region.
We are lucky to have Gary bring his
commitment to local agriculture, conservation
and the environment to his work on the board of
Winding River.