A swath of Berkshires' past saved for future - Spectacle Pond Farm Purchase

[YankeyMCC]

(snip)
In one of the largest and most ecologically significant public conservation deals in recent years, the state has acquired a 900-acre parcel in the southern Berkshires that contains pristine old-growth forest, including Eastern hemlock trees that predate the Pilgrims' arrival at Plymouth.
(snip)

(snip)
"Finding large blocks of unprotected future conservation land is increasingly difficult, and this is a really important parcel because it connects these properties to the south and north in an uninterrupted corridor of habitat," Bowles said.

Some of the hemlock trees on the property are among the oldest trees in Massachusetts, said Bob Wilber, director of land protection for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, which played a critical role in securing the deal.

"They sprouted out of the ground about the time Shakespeare was writing," he said.
(snip)


(snip)
The land is part of the New Marlborough Forest Block, an 82,000-acre, largely roadless forest that has been left mostly undisturbed over time, state environmental officials said; only 45 such "core forests" remain from Virginia to Maine.

Within that forest is a tract of old-growth forest, a significant piece of ecological history, said Robert T. Leverett, executive director and cofounder of the Eastern Native Tree Society and an expert on old growth forests.

"It's a little like discovering part of your history through your grandparents and great-grandparents in an attic in a trunk," he said. "These old forests connect us to the Massachusetts and the Northeast that existed before Europeans came over and changed the land beyond recognition."
(snip)



http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/06/a_swath_of_berkshires_past_saved_for_future/


This is really good news

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Hell yes!

:bounce: As a born and raised Western Masshole, this makes me so so so happy. Nothing beats the beauty of our rural landscape out there. I say that as someone currently living in the concrete jungle of Quincy x(

[marzipanni]

2. Thanks for some good news. I looked up the area on Google satellite maps.

I live in Northern California, but I grew up in Massachusetts, and my family are all Nature Conservancy supporters and Walden Pond frequenters, so any preservation of land (and another pond!) is welcome news.

[momzno1]

3. I was so happy to hear this too

live in Great Barrington, about 2 towns away. And I really love it when we can preserve the beauty here. It has already changed so much since the 80s when I got here. McMansions and Quality Inns.
GRRRRR