On January 29, 2021, Mass Audubon received a donation of 2.73 acres of land next to its Museum of American Bird Art (MABA) in Canton, Massachusetts. The new addition, called the Carroll property, features a lovely series of rapids, or cascades, of Pequit Brook that runs along the Main Loop Trail.  Most of the land is a vibrant red maple swamp teeming with various species of native plants and animals. This donation of land will be added to the art museum’s existing 121-acre wildlife sanctuary, established by the bequest of Mildred Morse Allen in 1989. Map of the Museum of American Bird Art ..read more

Mass Audubon has received a generous donation of land next to West Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary in Plainfield, one of the Hilltowns of Western Massachusetts.  Small in acres, but large in impact, the landscape is entirely forested,  with a small stream running through it.  Conserving this property helps sustain inland flood resilience, as well as maintain regional connectivity for wildlife. A forest of ferns on land recently donated at West Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary The donor of the property, Tristan Arsenault, owns a home down the road and sought to protect these 2.2 acres in ..read more

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Mass Audubon’s Land Conservation Department is very grateful for all the support we receive to carry out our mission of protecting nature for people and wildlife.  We held our annual Giving Thanks for the Land event online this year, and if you missed it live, the recording is available here. It features: The Year in Review A message from new Mass Audubon President David O’Neill A story about Sam Lovejoy and his life’s work in conservation The opportunity to preserve the Bear Hole Landscape While it was certainly an interesting challenge to create videos and ..read more

In 2000, Joan Wattman was interested in purchasing a Plainfield property.  It had a wonderful farmhouse, almost 200 acres of woods and fields, and abutted hundreds of acres of preserved land including Mass Audubon’s West Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary. Ed Kohn, a conservation planner, moved to Plainfield in 1983 and was instrumental in helping Mass Audubon acquire the original 1500-acre property that is West Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary.  When the property Joan was interested in came up for sale, Ed made sure that conserving the land with Mass Audubon was part of the deal.  So, whe ..read more

About 4 years ago, I received a call from a landowner in Hampden about a possible donation of some land next to Laughing Brook Wildlife Sanctuary.  We talked about the process and the costs involved. It was helpful information for the landowner to have, though not the right time for him to act. In the middle of March this year, I got another call—it was the right time!  Springing into Action Despite the challenges of working from home, with limited ability to travel and do site visits, the landowner and Mass Audubon agreed on a donation of seven acres, leaving him with his house on ..read more

On June 30, 2020 Mass Audubon acquired two new properties on Cuttyhunk Island totaling almost 30 acres and containing roughly 1.25 miles of coastline. This is the final stage of a multiyear endeavor to complete the acquisition of land left to Mass Audubon by bequest of our longtime conservation partner on the island, Muriel Ponzecchi. For those unfamiliar with Cuttyhunk, it is the last and smallest of the Elizabeth Island chain just northwest of Martha’s Vineyard.  The island is about two miles from end to end.   There is a small, picturesque community (Gosnold, MA) comprised ..read more

Working in partnership with the City of Northampton, Mass Audubon added 5.72 acres of state-designated “Critical Natural Landscape and Core Habitat” to the Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary.  It is strategically located along the eastern boundary of the Manhan Meadows and adds to the extensive wetland systems, grasslands, shrublands and forest that make up the 730-acre Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary.  View of meadows that provide nesting habitat for bobolinks. The sanctuary is known to host approximately twenty state-listed rare species.  Arcadia is a designated Important Bird Area, suppo ..read more

Almost a year ago, thanks to the support of many, generous donors, Mass Audubon acquired the 110-acre former Sacred Hearts property abutting Great Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Wareham. Here’s an update on what’s been happening since then: First, we had a celebration! Friends and donors gather to celebrate a remarkable fundraising effort and the successful protection and acquisition of the former Sacred Hearts property.Sister Claire speaks to the audience about her long involvement with the Sacred Hearts Healing Center at Great Neck and the sanctuary the land will continue to provide under Mass A ..read more

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On April 29, 2020, Mass Audubon acquired a Conservation Restriction (CR) on a former golf course in Northampton.  Purchased in February by the City of Northampton, the property adds 105 acres to the southwestern section of a large forested area known as the Rocky Hill Greenway. The Greenway has been the target of a conservation partnership between the City of Northampton and Mass Audubon over the last decade. In addition to this latest success, the partnership previously protected three adjacent parcels.  The conserved area of the Greenway is currently over 200 acres. Bird ..read more