HEATH — The former Branch View Farm property on West Branch Road, consisting of 47 acres of farmland, forest and a river corridor, will now be permanently conserved.
The Franklin Land Trust completed the purchase from property owners Heidi and Kelly Griswold in mid-May, thus expanding the area of protected land in Heath. This newly purchased property directly abuts the 250-acre Crowningshield Conservation Area, which itself is just south of the 1,800-acre H.O. Cook State Forest.
“The family … needed to sell it because they had moved, so they reached out to us and we were very interested, of course, because it does abut our Crowningshield Conservation Area on the east and south side,” said Franklin Land Trust’s Deputy Director Alain Peteroy. “It also had a third of a mile of Burrington Brook, which is a coldwater fisheries resource, meaning there’s probably native brook trout.”
As this was a purchase by the land trust, the property owned by the Griswolds needed to be bought at its assessed value. Peteroy said this requirement extended the process, as the Franklin Land Trust needed to secure grant funding to make the purchase possible. The land trust received financial assistance from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the Massachusetts Audubon 30×30 Catalyst Fund, an anonymous foundation that gave a grant and multiple supporters.
“We were able to put together the resources needed,” Peteroy recounted. “We were under contract with [the Griswolds] so that we had time to do that — that’s how these projects work, as we need [time to fundraise].”
According to the land trust, more than 18 acres contain prime agricultural soils or soils of statewide importance. Around 19 acres are identified by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program as critical natural landscape, helping to support habitat connectivity and resilience in spite of climate change.
The property, having been purchased by the land trust, will be publicly accessible for outdoor recreation, Peteroy said. According to the Franklin Land Trust, a recently constructed barn on the property will provide opportunities for educational programs, workshops and community events focused on conservation and stewardship.
“It now has full public access, so that includes passive recreation, [such as] hiking, hunting, fishing, trapping,” Peteroy said. “Our plan is to really have environmental workshops out there, just have it open for people to use the brook for fishing and enjoy the grasslands. … We’re thrilled with it. It’s a really important piece. We just wanted to make sure it would stay intact with the rest of the resource.”
In addition to providing public outdoor recreation, the property will continue to support local agriculture. Fourteen of the 47 acres that are now conserved make up a hayfield, which will continue to be hayed by a local farmer.
The protected land will be incorporated into the Crowningshield Conservation Area Forest Stewardship Plan and enrolled in the Chapter 61 tax program.
