NORTHFIELD — A 10-acre pasture on Old Wendell Road is the latest piece of land in Northfield to be designated for conservation.
For about 10 years, the pasture has been used by Northfield farmer Walter Jaworski as part of his cattle’s rotational grazing program and now he’s got strong assurances the land can continue for grazing cattle.
Jaworski’s herd — ranging from about 18 cattle in the winter to about 26 in the summer — grazes at the pasture for three days at a time, then is moved to another of the 16 paddocks Jaworski uses. He doesn’t bring them back for at least 30 days to give time for the grass to grow back.
Until now, the pasture was owned by the First Light power company, which leased it to Jaworski. About a quarter of the pasture is a wetland, expanded and maintained by First Light in compensation for partially removing a different wetland near the Turners Falls power canal about two years ago.
Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust came into the picture to help preserve the farmland, Northfield Conservation commission Chairman Bill Llewelyn said.
First Light donated the pasture to Mount Grace, which registered a conservation restriction on the land with the Conservation Commission, guaranteeing that the land cannot be developed.
“Our whole mission is to support land conservation,” said Jay Rasku, land stewardship director for Mount Grace. “That certainly includes conserving farmland, pastures, fields, so they’ll always be here to appreciate and use. Anything we can do to support local agriculture, we’re going to be interested in that.”
The agreement also allows Jaworski to continue using the land for his cattle.
“They really wanted to keep it the way it was,” Jaworski said. “It’s got a nice meadow feel to it, and some of the grassland birds use that for nesting, too. It’s a win-win for everybody. … I would have to cut back the number of cattle I have if I couldn’t use that pasture. I’m grateful Mount Grace has it and they’re amenable to keep a lease with me for doing this.”
“Working with a power company to protect a pasture used by a neighboring farmer isn’t the most obvious pathway to conservation,” said Mount Grace’s Director of Land Protection Sarah Wells, “but it works.”