 |
Partnership Preserves 102 Acres on Agawam River
April 21, 2005 CONTACT: Mark Rasmussen, Executive Director The Coalition for Buzzards Bay (508) 999-6363, ext. 201 WAREHAM, MA—Today, 102 acres along the Agawam River will be forever protected. Working together, The Coalition for Buzzards Bay, Town of Wareham and the Wareham Land Trust preserved “Bryant Farm,” including more than ½ a mile of frontage on the lower tidal portion of the Agawam River. At 3:00pm today, the acquisition will be completed at the Wareham Town Hall. Centrally located between Wareham Center and Onset Village, Bryant Farm has over 900 feet of scenic frontage along Sandwich Road, one mile of frontage on the Bay Colony Railroad (a proposed recreational bike path) and sits adjacent to the town’s Minot Forest and Minot Forest Elementary School. The Coalition for Buzzards Bay secured an Option to Purchase the land in January and partnered with the Wareham Community Preservation Committee and the private Wareham Land Trust to raise the $600,000 needed to purchase the land. The town supported a request for $529,000 of town Community Preservation funds to the annual Town Meeting in April where the purchase was unanimously supported. The Coalition for Buzzards Bay contributed the remaining $71,000 to protect the land with funds raised through their Saving Buzzards Bay Lands Campaign due to the generosity of private donors. Executive Director for The Coalition for Buzzards Bay Mark Rasmussen commented, “The partnership between the Town of Wareham, Wareham Land Trust and The Coalition for Buzzards Bay was the key to the protection of the Bryant Farm property. We’re thrilled to see this critical part of the Agawam River corridor permanently protected from development.” The Town of Wareham will manage Bryant Farm for river and wildlife protection and passive recreational uses and the Wareham Land Trust holds a Conservation Restriction on the land to provide a double layer of protection and stewardship. —###—
|
