Aquidneck Land Trust Accomplishes Two Important Conservation Projects at the 16th Annual Meeting

            On Thursday evening, the Aquidneck Land Trust held its 16^th Annual Meeting before a standing room only crowd at the Atlantic Beach Club in Middletown.  Sponsored by the Atlantic Beach Club, The Hilton Group at Smith Barney, Newport Collaborative Architects and Narragansett Engineering, the Annual Meeting celebrated the Land Trust’s conservation success stories from 2005 along with its most recent accomplishments which included two exciting new announcements.  

            Ted Clement, the Land Trust’s Executive Director, announced that the Land Trust, the Town of Portsmouth, and a representative of the Mary A. Elshant Family Trust had recently executed a Purchase and Sale Contract for the strategically located 5.45 +/- acre Elshant parcel in Portsmouth.  It was noted that the wooded property has important wildlife habitat and water resource values as it abuts and buffers Sisson Pond, one of the Island’s public water reservoirs.  The Town granted $42,500 to the Land Trust for this project.  At the closing, scheduled for later in February, the Land Trust will acquire a Conservation Easement on this important property and the Town will become the new landowner.  Representatives of the Portsmouth Town Council and the Portsmouth Open Space Committee, along with the Portsmouth Town Administrator, Bob Driscoll, were publicly acknowledged and applauded in the meeting for their continued conservation efforts and long-term vision. 

Announcing and Celebrating the Elshant Project with Our Friends in Portsmouth

            There was also live conservation action at the meeting when Barbara van Beuren and her family donated a Trail Easement for the Sakonnet Greenway Trail.  This most recent Trail Easement is for a northern segment of the trail in Portsmouth.  The Land Trust has now acquired seven of the necessary eight Trail Easements for what promises to be the single longest public walking trail on the Island at approximately 7 miles long.  In January, BankNewport donated $100,000 to the Land Trust for its Sakonnet Greenway Trail project.  Ted Clement acknowledged that Ms. van Beuren and her family have become the single largest donor of Trail Easements for the Sakonnet Greenway Trail having now given the Land Trust three such Easements.  It was also noted that Ms. van Beuren and her family have previously donated three Conservation Easements to the Land Trust on over 100 acres in addition to providing critical financial support to the organization.  Ms. van Beuren and her family were publicly acknowledged and applauded in the meeting for their gifts to the community.

Ted Celement and Barbara van Beuren Executing the Trail Easement

The Aquidneck Land Trust’s mission is to preserve Aquidneck Island’s open spaces and natural character for the lasting benefit of our community.  With the closing on the conservation restriction for Escobar’s Highland Farm, the Land Trust has conserved over 1,288 acres on Aquidneck Island.  The Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.  For more information, visit www.AquidneckLandTrust.org or call (401) 849-2799.