Editorial Board | Greenfield Recorder | December 5, 2019
https://www.recorder.com/Kestrel-Land-Trust-120319-30968163
From atop Mount Sugarloaf, farmland stretches as far as the eye can see — to the distant Seven Sisters range in Hadley and beyond. It’s a beautiful landscape that’s for the most part untouched by large swaths of commercial development. Wooded areas and open spaces afford opportunities for recreation and provide a buffer for busier economic hubs to the south.
This isn’t a coincidence.
The Pioneer Valley’s residents have historically valued its natural landscape and, as such, have taken steps to protect it. Through concerted conservation efforts over decades by a host of local agencies, including the Amherst-based Kestrel Land Trust, thousands of untouched acres throughout Western Massachusetts provide refuge for native wildlife.
The work continues today. Soon, there will be an additional 120 conserved acres in Whately.
The land, known as the Whately Center Woods Project, encompasses Westbrook, Chestnut Plain and Haydenville roads. According to the Kestrel Land Trust, the agency working on the project, small streams run through the property, providing a cold-water habitat for brook trout. They feed into the Mill River, which is considered by The Nature Conservancy to be possibly the most significant river in the state for rare and endangered species. At least one classic vernal pool on the property supports healthy populations of spotted salamanders and wood frogs.
To read the full editorial, click here.