Water Resource and Wildlife Habitat Parcel Conserved - Aquidneck Land Trust and Town of Portsmouth Partnership Continues to Pay Long-Term Benefits to the Aquidneck Island Community

 On Monday, February 27, 2006, the Aquidneck Land Trust and the Town of Portsmouth completed yet another important conservation transaction.  This time the two partners joined with the Mary A. Elshant Family Trust to permanently conserve a strategically located 5.45 +/- acre parcel in Portsmouth which abuts and buffers a public water reservoir and other previously conserved lands.

 At the Land Trust’s 16^th Annual Meeting on February 9, 2006, it was announced that the Town of Portsmouth, the Land Trust, and the Mary A. Elshant Family Trust had recently entered a Purchase and Sale Contract for the strategically located 5.45 +/- acre parcel in Portsmouth.  On Monday, the parties completed the transaction whereby the Land Trust acquired a perpetual Conservation Easement on the property and the Town assumed ownership of the land from the Mary A. Elshant Family Trust.  The Town granted $42,500 to help the Land Trust complete the project.  Other visionary benefactors, such as the Betty de Zahara Charitable Trust, also supported the Land Trust.

The subject parcel, located in the Land Trust’s Center Island Greenway, is a wooded property with important wildlife habitat and water resource values.  The land abuts and buffers Sisson Pond, one of the Island’s public water reservoirs that residents from Portsmouth, Middletown, and Newport depend upon, and other conserved properties.  The Rhode Island Natural Heritage Database lists sightings of important species, such as the Black-crowned Night Heron, in the vicinity of the property.

The Land Trust and the Town of Portsmouth have successfully collaborated on numerous other conservation projects as well: conserved Thurston Farm; built the Oakland Forest and Meadow Trail; conserved the Alvarnas Farm; completed Trail Easements for the Land Trust’s Sakonnet Greenway Trail; conserved the Three S Farm; conserved Escobar’s Highland Farm; etc.

Ted Clement, the Land Trust’s Executive Director stated, “I would like to thank the Town of Portsmouth and its Open Space Committee along with the Mary A. Elshant Family Trust and other supporters for their efforts on behalf of the long-term well being of our community.  As a result of this thriving partnership, we have accomplished many worthy goals.”     

Robert Driscoll, the Portsmouth Town Administrator stated, “The Town was happy to be able to again partner with the Aquidneck Land Trust in the conservation of this key parcel and we particularly acknowledge the effort of the Town’s Open Space Committee, Joan Sousa Chairperson, and Ted Clement of the Land Trust.”

The Aquidneck Land Trust’s mission is to preserve Aquidneck Island’s open spaces and natural character for the lasting benefit of our community.  The Land Trust has conserved 1,293.55 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.