A Lasting Green Gift This Holiday Season: Swan Farm Conserved!!

Today, Monday, December 22^nd, the Aquidneck Land Trust (“ALT”), Farmscapes Holdings, LLC, the Town of Portsmouth and other ALT donors delivered another lasting green gift to the Aquidneck Island community by conserving 124.38 +/- acres of Swan Farm on Wapping Road in Portsmouth.  This year-end achievement capped a 2008 full of conservation accomplishments.   

In August 2006, ALT signed a two-year Option Agreement with Farmscapes Holdings, LLC, the owner of Swan Farm, whereby ALT was given two years to raise $3 million to purchase a perpetual conservation restriction on 124.38 +/- acres of Swan Farm.  Numerous individuals, foundations and governmental partners contributed over $1.6 million to ALT’s Swan Farm fundraising drive.  In addition, ALT raised more than $1.4 million for its general land acquisition activities.  With the necessary monies in hand, ALT exercised the Swan Farm Option Agreement in August 2008 and then began working towards the closing.  Today, that closing occurred when ALT and the Town of Portsmouth, one of the larger project contributors at $250,000, acquired the permanent conservation restriction on Swan Farm.   

Ted Clement, ALT Executive Director, stated, "We would like to thank Farmscapes Holdings, Portsmouth and our other supporters for their leadership, vision, generosity and concern for the community without which these projects would not be possible."

Swan Farm was identified as a priority parcel for conservation in 2004 because of its numerous conservation values.  The property contains a number of important habitat types (vernal pools, meadows, a forest, and wetlands) which support various State of Rhode Island listed species such as the Northern Harrier, Dark-eyed Junco, and Blue-winged Teal.  The forest on the property, about 60 acres in size, is the largest un-fragmented forest on the Island.  Swan Farm’s fields also contain acres and acres of Prime Farmland and Additional Farmland of Statewide Importance as identified by the United States Department of Agriculture.  Further, Swan Farm affords the public important scenic vistas of its beautiful forest and fields and is strategically located near other conserved properties within ALT’s Sakonnet Greenway.   

Conserving Swan Farm also provided the community with other benefits.  A conceptual subdivision plan by an engineer demonstrated that the subject 124.38-acre area could support 40 residential lots.  Such a subdivision would have a sizeable carbon footprint and generate almost 400 additional vehicular trips a day on Aquidneck Island’s already busy and dangerous roadways.  Numerous studies have demonstrated that it generally costs a municipality between $1.04 and $2 for every dollar of tax revenue collected to provide services to a typical subdivision (schools, roads, police, water, rescue services, etc.).  Based on a 30-year cost of community services analysis, the Portsmouth Town Planner demonstrated that a 40-lot subdivision on Swan Farm, in net present value dollars, would be a loss to the Town of well over $1 million.  

The conservation of 124.38 acres of Swan Farm capped a successful year of conservation accomplishments for ALT and its partners.  In addition to Swan Farm, ALT and its supporters achieved the following in 2008:

·         Sold Tibbetts property to Middletown with perpetual Conservation Easement and Trail Easement conveyed back to ALT on this 33.25 +/- acre property;

·         Conserved the 8.65 +/- acre Albro Woods Preserve with a perpetual ALT Conservation Easement;

·         Conserved the 6.24 +/- acre Demery Memorial Park with a perpetual ALT Conservation Easement;

·         Conserved the 13.98 +/- acre Wyatt Road soccer field complex with a perpetual ALT Conservation Easement;

·         Helped form the Newport Tree and Open Space Commission;

·         Conserved the 11.59 +/- acre Peckham property with a perpetual ALT/Middletown Conservation Easement;

·         Conserved the 29.46 acre Boulevard Nurseries property with a perpetual ALT Conservation Easement and with this closing ALT reached and surpassed the 2,000 conserved acre mark;

·         Helped Middletown pass a $2 million open space bond;

·         Completed and opened Phase IB of the Sakonnet Greenway Trail – with the addition of this new segment the community can now enjoy about 5 continuous miles of the largest nature trail on Aquidneck Island;

·         Presented the inaugural 5k Race for Open Space on part of the Sakonnet Greenway Trail;

·         Completed and submitted the Land Trust Accreditation Application – ALT was the first land trust in Rhode Island to apply for national accreditation; and

·         Signed a Purchase and Sale Contract to conserve about 125 acres of Green Valley Country Club (closing to occur soon). 

“The community gave us a lot of financial support this year, and we were able to turn their ‘green’ into lasting green that will benefit current and future generations. However, now is not a time to rest on our laurels as there is so much left to accomplish in terms of securing a sustainable and beautiful future for the Island before time runs out and those remaining special and threatened open space properties are lost forever,” said Ted Clement.