Recent News

Land Trust Works Tirelessly to Preserve Habitats
by Kathy Litchfield, The Republican (Springfield, MA)
Thursday, September 2, 2004

As Author Cass Adams wrote in "The Soul Unearthed," one does not have to travel far from home to find "wildness, - only as far as your own beating heart and the joy you find in life."

This duly adventurous and romantic statement rang true for me recently while exploring land preserved by the East Quabbin Land Trust (EQLT), just 20 minutes from my Petersham home.

Adams wrote: "Wilderness is ... circular, unpredictable, moving and changing. Nature weaves around itself in an unending breath of life ... That which is truly wild spills over the edges - onto our kitchen floors, into our love lives, through the sidewalk cracks and in the form of dandelions and emotional outbursts.

"One way to return to a lifestyle that is more organic and harmonious with the whole of nature is to get outside more often ... to let the unpredictability of wildness touch the soulful longings within yourself. Wilderness is innate to who we are."

Among the 1,500 acres protected by the EQLT are the 125-acre Moose Brook Preserve and the 200 plus-acre Morss property, which includes a lovely place called Mandell Hill. The hill was once overgrown with the invasive plant, bittersweet, and, thanks to the arduous work of heart-strong volunteers, is now cleaned up and maintained by EQLT in eastern Hardwick.

Hardwick is just across the Quabbin Reservoir from Amherst, and is accessible from Route 122 heading south from Route 202.

In addition to playing host to the oldest country fair in the United States each August - complete with two-man handsaw cutting competitions and blue ribbons for the best preserves, hay bales and domestic arts - Hardwick boasts some of the most beautiful, hard-to-find open space of any town in Western or Central Massachusetts.

The streams here flow into the Quabbin Reservoir, which supplies Bostonians with drinking water, and the diversity of species that call this area home is truly magnificent.

The East Quabbin Land Trust was founded 10 years ago by a group of citizens concerned about the loss of farmland and wildlife habitat to unplanned sprawl in and around Hardwick.

In my opinion, one of the most unspoiled places, preserved by EQLT, is Moose Brook Preserve. It offers plenty of marked trails accessible from an inviting dirt road and diverse habitats from which to watch birds nesting on dead trees standing in wetlands. A hot and sticky afternoon recently found me anxious to get out of my muggy office and into the woods.

Not wanting to travel far for my excursion, I opted for Hardwick. I had heard of EQLT and decided to stop by their headquarters - a sturdy house atop a hilly ridge proffering an incredible view of the Ware River Valley below it - to get the scoop.

After a tour of the stone foundations and wildflower gardens of Mandell Hill, formerly owned by the Morss family and donated to the land trust in 2003, I headed for Moose Brook Preserve.

I parked the car on the side of Brook Road and ate leftover sesame string beans while watching twittering birds flit about a massive wildflower pasture that spread out in front of me. It was so beautiful, the early afternoon sunlight sparkling off luscious yellow petals and the sage green fern fronds reaching up to the sky, I could have stayed here all day basking in it.

Instead, I chose a loop trail that led me up a semi-steep, pebble-strewn hill through lush forest and back around to the pasture. The dirt road I came in on curved on sensuously through acres upon acres of protected land and beckoned me to return soon.

I am grateful to organizations like EQLT, who work endlessly and with the help of numerous wilderness-loving volunteers, to keep these prime and diverse habitats in our beloved state enjoyable for future generations.

(c) 2004 The Republican Company. All rights reserved. Used with permission. http://www.repub.com