Land Trusts

There was a comment posted on one of my blog entries a few days ago asking about land trusts. The author, Cynthia, has roots in Hadley, as I do, and wanted to know a trust to which she could contribute.

This is a great question. On a more general level, there are lots of land trusts in Massachusetts, large and small. See the list compiled by the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition. It's pretty long and fairly comprehensive, I believe.

For the Hadley area, the Kestrel Trust is a good organization that I would recommend to receive your donation(s). They work in Amherst, Belchertown, Granby, Hadley, Leverett, Pelham, South Hadley, Shutesbury, and Sunderland--all towns that need more land preserved against development pressures. Kestrel Trust was very involved in generating awareness of the significance of Hadley's Great Meadow, which is a fascinating landscape on the Connecticut River. Its network of long, thin plots dates back to the 17th century, when the English colonists laid them out, and is "pre-enclosure" in layout, which means that its design is based on medieval farming practices of Europe. Most of the United Kingdom's fields were "enclosed" in the 18th- and 19th-centuries, while this common layout has survived here, directly linked to an older farming style that has practically died out in the "Old Country".

I know that the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is actively involved in land conservation as well, so it would be worth donating to them. They have done a very good job preserving land around the museum and are still working hard at this.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I'll try to answer!