Land Purchase

For Immediate Release

contact: Susan Mitchell Hardt, president of ACT,
Acton Conservation Trust PO Box 568, Acton, MA
Email: mitchell-hardt@comcast.net
Phone: 978 369-9264
Web: http://www.actonconservationtrust.org

Conservation Vision Takes A Big Step Forward

The Acton (Massachusetts) Conservation Trust (ACT) is pleased to announce that it has recently purchased a 16 acre parcel from the Whitcomb Family Trust near the Stow/Acton border, as part of a larger effort to preserve undeveloped land in the Heath Hen Meadow Brook corridor.

This beautiful wild region in Acton and Stow is cited in the Sudbury/Assabet/Concord Watershed Biodiversity Protection and Stewardship Plan written by Frances H. Clark in 2000 as "one of the largest red maple swamps and stream systems in the watershed with only two road crossings and over 3 miles of relatively unfragmented streams with low density residential development." Her report raises concerns about the potential effect of increased development on such environmentally sensitive areas.

The land in this region is held by a variety of private and public land owners. ACT President Susan Mitchell-Hardt stated "We owe a debt of thanks to Peter Whitcomb, whose family has held this parcel for generations, for agreeing to sell it to ACT for conservation land. ACT looks forward to continuing to work with land owners and our organizational partners, such as the Acton Land Stewards, the Sudbury Valley Trustees and the Stow Conservation Trust, to extend the protection for the thousands of acres in the Heath Hen Meadow Brook region and increase public awareness of its special characteristics."

ACT Treasurer Hartley Millett expressed the Board's gratitude to ACT's members for their ongoing support, which helped make the Whitcomb land purchase a reality. Depending upon the availability of easements, grants and additional fund-raising opportunities, future possibilities for ACT's new conservation land include a winter-time extension to the Heath Hen trail system, and in the longer term, a series of boardwalks to allow a trail system to connect Stow and Acton conservation areas.

For more information contact: Susan Mitchell Hardt, president of ACT,
Email: mitchell-hardt@comcast.net
Phone: 978 369-9264
Web: http://www.actonconservationtrust.org

Photo Information: This photo show the purchased land on the Acton/Stow border in an aerial view: http://actonconservationtrust.org/images/markedAerial.jpg