BERNARDSTON — The Friends of the Charity Farm Lot have been granted $17,000 from the federal Recreational Trails Program for restoration of the 85-acre park.
The money was granted with the goal of turning the park into a “much-needed recreation destination for the community,” according to information on the grant provided by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The work funded by the grant will include restoration of trails; construction of crossings, stairs and a kiosk; and signage marking the trails and showing which ones are suitable for which activities.
The goal is for the park to have trails for mountain biking, horseback riding, snowmobiling and ATV use, in addition to hiking and walking, said John Lepore, one of the organizers of the Friends of the Charity Farm Lot.
“We want people of all ages at the site and enjoying it,” Lepore said.
The Friends of the Charity Farm Lot have been doing restoration work on the area since being recognized by the Selectboard as an official committee in December 2017. The lot was donated to the town in 1832 by Bernardston resident John Goodale as a resource for firewood and food for needy residents.
As the land was used for financial enterprises, Lepore said, the practice was for loggers to take the best trees and leave the others, inadvertently decreasing the area’s biodiversity and allowing invasive plants and predatory insects to thrive.
Much of the Friends of the Charity Farm Lot’s work of restoring the lot has been to remove the invasive plants. Committee members work on the site every Friday, and occasionally hold public work parties.
With the grant money, the town will enlist help from the Student Conservation Association, a national group that trains students in conservation and works on projects like this one. Lepore described their work as “meticulous,” having seen trails built by them in his own hiking.
“They’ll build a trail and it will look like it’s always been there,” he said.
In the conditions of the grant, the town must provide $4,250 on top of the $17,000 grant. The town’s funding can be provided in kind, with labor instead of money.
Plans for the work to start have not yet been arranged, Lepore said. He said he expects to hear more about the next steps for the grant by October.