SHELBURNE — Mass Audubon has successfully secured the 67 acres it needed to fully protect Patten Hill.
According to a Mass Audubon press release, the conservation nonprofit was able to raise the $442,000 needed to purchase the land, which previously featured an orchard and a farm before the recent owners used it for hay.
“Successfully completing the purchase/protection of the Patten Hill property is a major conservation victory for us — one that would not have been possible without the help of hundreds of donors and our longtime partner, the Franklin Land Trust,” Mass Audubon Director of Land Conservation Bob Wilber said in the release.
Kate Buttolph, the Western Massachusetts land specialist at Mass Audubon, previously explained that the 67 acres were the remaining hilltop acres for the nonprofit to acquire, having already gotten 167 acres of the property in 2016.
Purchasing the farmland, she said, would safeguard the drinking water supply, maintain an increasingly rare grassland habitat, enhance the public trail system and preserve “outstanding views” to and from the property.
The land has views of Mount Greylock to the west, Mount Tom to the south, Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire to the northeast and the Green Mountains of Vermont to the north.
The purchase of the farmland at Patten Hill is part of Mass Audubon’s campaign, “The Future is in Our Lands,” which aims to protect 4,000 acres of undeveloped land, Buttolph explained. If it is not preserved, the land could be sold and developed.
“In addition to the spectacular long-distance views that are now protected for future generations to marvel at,” Wilber noted in the release, “protecting this land will help plants and animals be more resilient to the impacts of climate change by connecting large blocks of existing conservation lands.”
According to Mass Audubon, the land brings Mass Audubon’s High Ledges Wildlife Sanctuary up to 855 acres and expands the overall protected space in the area, which includes the undeveloped 574-acre Shelburne Falls Fire District land and the 221-acre Davenport Farm.
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne