By Amy Markarian, Senior Copywriter

Read Time: 2 min

PLYMOUTH– Wildlands Trust is celebrating an exciting milestone in land conservation. The self-described “small organization with a big reach” took on projects in two new towns – Norwood and Foxborough – at the close of 2021, bringing the total number of Massachusetts communities served to 51. 

According to Wildlands Trust’s president and executive director, Karen Grey, the organization continuously works to forge new partnerships with the cities and towns as these relationships are the foundation for its land protection work. “We are committed to providing equitable access to nature throughout the entire region because all people deserve the benefits of nature every day, regardless of their zip code,” adds Grey, who grew up in the City of Brockton. Currently, across the 51 cities and towns in which Wildlands Trust is working, 1.7 million people are impacted by their conservation efforts. 

In December, Wildlands Trust expanded its geographic reach to 50 towns, through a partnership with the Norwood Conservation Commission, in which Wildlands Trust holds the conservation restriction on a new Town-owned parcel of land. Norwood sits on the periphery of Wildlands Trust’s coverage area and the new parcel is located within a designated Massachusetts Environmental Justice area in the town. This designation is aimed at increasing the availability of parks and open spaces in urban environments that bear a disproportionate burden of the state’s development and industrial pollution. The permanent preservation of this parcel of open space in Norwood is both an important step toward the creation of a new riverfront park for the community, and a notable achievement in Wildlands Trust’s pursuit of equitable access to nature for all Massachusetts residents.

Also just before the close of 2021, a donation of 65 acres of land in Foxborough further expanded Wildlands Trust’s service area to 51 cities and towns. The organization celebrated several other year-end acquisitions in towns where their presence was already established as well. These include: the 16-acre Hart conservation restriction, which adds to an existing assemblage of protected land along Eagles Nest Creek, in Duxbury; and a 17-acre property within the headwaters area for Leonard Washburn Brook, in Lakeville.

Wildlands Trust is a non-profit organization dedicated to conserving land and preserving the natural heritage of Southeastern Massachusetts. The organization works to permanently protect and steward important habitats and landscapes, including woodlands and fields, ponds, coastal areas, agricultural lands, and river systems. Founded in 1973, Wildlands Trust has worked to protect nearly 13,000 acres of open space in 51 Massachusetts towns.