The Pease Family Gives 58 Acres to the GLT

G RANBY
N EW S L E T T E R
Land Trust
P reserving G ranby’s N atural H eritage
w w w. g ra n byland t r ust .o rg C P O B ox 23 C Gra nby, Connecticut 06035 C Fa l l 2 0 1 4
Granby Land Trust
Achieves National
Accreditation!
The Pease Family Gives
58 Acres to the GLT
W
hen Marty and Sarah Pease
were little girls, they had
the luxury of living on a piece of
property that was so varied in its
landscape that they learned how
to downhill ski not at a ski resort,
but on a steep, 50-foot long hill
in the woods behind their house.
They learned to ice skate not at a
rink, but on their very own pond.
We thank YOU for
your support.
See page 3 for full article.
continued on page 4
Al and Helen Wilke Donate 39-Acre Conservation Easement
f you are lucky enough to be invited to
walk the trails on Al and Helen Wilke’s
property, you will begin to understand just
how much they love the land upon which
they live. The Wilkes have made their entire 45-acre property a labor of love, with
groomed trails and sturdy bridges and log
benches that beckon you to sit and look
and listen and enjoy the beautiful, peaceful world around you. Near the house are
manicured gardens, man-made ponds,
continued on page 6
MOOSEHORN BROOK
WILKE PROPERTY
5 If you would like to explore making a land gift to the Granby Land Trust, please contact a GLT Board Member. 5
Photo: Peter Dinella
I
Board Members
Granby Land Trust
of
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“can-do” attitude.
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the entire board. It is a tes
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achieved this mark of dis
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we hope it will inspire you a message
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places around our town.
Sincerely,
Rick Orluk
st
President, Granby Land Tru
c
2
Officers
Rick Orluk, President
653-7095
Rod Dimock, Vice President
651-0376 Dave Russell, Treasurer
653-7441
Leslie Judge, Secretary
653-4733
Board
Fran Armentano
653-0631
Put Brown
653-7557
Dick Caley
653-3496
Dave Emery
653-3746
Els Fonteyne
413-9709
Jamie Gamble
653-9495
Paula Johnson
653-3132
Lowell Kahn
653-4911
Eric Lukingbeal
653-4239
Mike Mooney
413-9150
Shirley Murtha
653-7607
Dave Schupp
653-2168
Mark Wetzel
653-9125
If you have a comment or
question about the Granby
Land Trust Newsletter
please contact Rick Orluk at
860.653.7095 or via email at
[email protected].
1
News & Notes
•The Land Trust recognized GLT Incorporator
and longtime GLT board member Charlie
Katan at its October Annual Meeting for his
many years of service. As one of the Land
Trust's original founders in 1972, Charlie
went on to serve on the board for more
than 40 years. As he steps off the board, we
thank him for his countless hours of service,
his enthusiasm for our mission and his keen
insights.
•The Land Trust welcomes new board members
Eric Lukingbeal and Shirley Murtha who
were elected at the October Annual Meeting.
Granby Land Trust
Achieves National Accreditation!
I
n late August, 2014, the Granby Land Trust was awarded
accreditation by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission,
an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance. To be
accredited, land trusts must meet national standards for excellence, uphold the public trust and ensure that conservation
efforts are permanent.
The Granby Land Trust is one of only 280 land trusts from
across the country that have been awarded accreditation since
the fall of 2008 (and one of 10 in Connecticut!). Each accredited land trust submitted extensive documentation and
underwent a rigorous review.
The Granby Land Trust’s national accreditation is a result
of many years of commitment by Granby Land Trust board
members, members-at-large, town officials and generous land
donors. On behalf of the GLT Board of Directors, we thank
each of you for creating such a vibrant organization.
Above: Representatives from the Granby Land Trust were officially awarded
National Accreditation at Rally 2014: The National Land Conservation
Conference, which was held in Providence, Rhode Island in September.
(Pictured, from left to right: GLT President Rick Orluk; Land Trust Accreditation Commission Chair Larry Kueter; GLT Vice President Rod Dimock;
GLT representative Trish Percival; and GLT Treasurer Dave Russell.)
•The Granby Land Trust would like to recognize
and thank Brian Watkins and Arborworks for
their continued volunteer maintenance and
care of the Dewey Granby Oak.
•In conjunction with our national accreditation
and general property stewardship efforts, we
thank Steve Perry for all his GIS mapping
support. Steve has volunteered a great deal of
time to make certain our property files have
consistent and high quality maps.
•We thank Connie Manes of Manes Consulting,
LLC who provided the Land Trust with
valuable and thoughtful counsel and advice as
we navigated the LTA National Accreditation
process over the last several years.
•The Land Trust would like to extend a BIG
THANK YOU to all of our volunteer property
stewards. Led by GLT Property Stewardship
Chairs Rod Dimock and Lowell Kahn, our
stewards play a critical role in monitoring our
GLT properties and conservation easements.
•Thanks to Fran Armentano for hosting the
GLT’s Annual New Year’s Day Hike on the
Mary Edwards Mountain Property.
•A special thanks to Fred Jones for serving as
the Land Trust’s agency representative on the
Granby Community Fund board.
MARY EDWARDS MOUNTAIN PROPERTY
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3
Pease Gift (continued from cover)
Family walks and picnics were not
at a public park, but in their own
58-acre nature preserve, where old
dirt roads made excellent walking
trails. And cozy evening fires were
fueled not by propane, but by wood
harvested from their backyard.
Bear, deer, fox, turkeys, bobcats,
and coyotes all frequented their
property. Marty and Sarah’s mother, a chemistry teacher by trade but
a biologist at heart, would take the
girls out to the pond to study the
frogs, newts, dragonflies, fish, water skeeters, and water plants. Their
father kept the old roads cleared
of growth and debris; built a big,
solid bridge across the brook behind their house (solid enough to
support his tractor and give them
easy access to all that lay beyond,
including enough firewood to fuel
daily fires in the winter and sometimes even in the summer); and
taught the girls about the old foundations and stone walls they found
in the woods. Once, he took them
fishing in the brook, using filed paperclips for hooks, string for line,
and sticks for rods (no, they didn’t
catch any fish, but the girls had so
much fun trying that they remember it to this day).
In the process, Marty and Sarah
learned to love the land just as their
parents did.
Marty and Sarah’s parents, Bill
and Jane Ann Pease, were very
well known in Granby. When they
moved here, in 1953, they fell in love
with an old house (built in 1865) on
Higley Road, high up on the hill, far
out from the center of town. Over
the next 60 years, they built a full
and lengthy life here. Bill practiced
law in Simsbury for 50 years; and
served as the Town of Simsbury’s
Counsel for many of those years.
He served on the Zoning Board of
Appeals for the Town of Granby and
was an active member and volunteer
at the Salmon Brook Historical Society. Jane Ann taught Chemistry at
Granby Memorial High School for
25 years, served on the Republican
Town Committee, served as the
Voter Registrar; and she too volunteered at the Salmon Brook Historical Society.
When they weren’t working, Bill
and Jane Ann loved to play; and
they loved to be outside. They were
The bridge Bill Pease built leading into the Pease Family Preserve.
c
4
founding and lifelong members of
the Granby Tennis Club, lifelong
active members of the Hampstead
Hill (Swim) Club; and they served
on Ski Sundown’s ski patrol for 40
years. Many days, Jane Ann rode
her bike to and from Granby Memorial High School or walked to
and from the West Granby Post
Office.
And in 1972, when a group of
Granby citizens came together to
protect Granby’s beautiful places,
Bill and Jane Ann eagerly joined the
cause, becoming charter members
of the Granby Land Trust. Perhaps
even more importantly, Bill served
as the Land Trust’s very first attorney. As such, he helped the GLT
write its bylaws and become incorporated, so that the GLT could begin to conserve land in Granby.
The land Bill and Jane Ann loved
most, of course, was their own.
When they were home, at that old
house high on the hill, they tended
to the abundant vegetable gardens,
flower gardens, and fruit trees on
the property, as well as their considerable lawn; they maintained the
trails in the woods; they harvested firewood from their land. And
then, come evening, they enjoyed
time together, either on their rooftop porch, with its spectacular view
of their property and of the Farmington Valley beyond, or, in winter,
in front of a welcoming fire.
“They truly loved the land and
living here,” Marty says of her parents. “Each of them loved it here
until the day they died.”
In later years, when Sarah was
grown and had children of her
own, visits to Grandma and Grandpa’s house were filled, of course,
with time outdoors. Once, when
her boys were little (ages 3 and 5),
Bill took them for a walk on the
property. One of the boys needed
to relieve himself, so Bill taught
him how to do so outside. “What
he failed to tell them was that they
should only do this in the woods,”
says Sarah. “So I return to Seattle.
I am in the mall parking lot with
the two boys and they both need
to go to the bathroom. Before I
know what’s happening, they do
what Grandpa taught them, and I
couldn’t stop them.” It was just one
of many out-of-doors lessons that
Bill taught in his lifetime – and one
that really made an impression on
his pupils.
Before Jane Ann passed away,
in June of 2013, she and Bill had
expressed their wish to preserve a
large parcel of their land – nearly
58 acres – by donating it to the
Granby Land Trust. “The wheels
were in motion,” says Marty. “So
after Mom passed away, Dad,
Sarah and I kept them in motion,
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5
PHOTO CREDIT
Bill Pease holding daughters Marty and Sarah
in their garden in 1958.
and after Dad passed away (just 5
months after Jane Ann), we made
the gift to the Land Trust, as they
wished.”
“Even as a child I loved the
land,” says Marty. “And that land
has not been altered since those
days. It’s good to know this property will be as it always has been
in my lifetime. That makes me
feel good.”
The Pease Family Preserve is located within an expansive matrix
of protected open space in West
Granby which includes about
350 acres of Land Trust property,
a number of GLT conservation
easements, and Town of Granby
open space. The property directly abuts the 118-acre Schupp
Property, which is protected by a
GLT conservation easement. The
expanse of forest between Higley
Road to the south and Mountain
Road to the north was identified
as a “Secondary Conservation
Area” in the Farmington Valley
Biodiversity Project. The Preserve
has high conservation value due to
its pristine condition and proximity to other preserved open space.
The large unfragmented forest tract
supports numerous sensitive bird
species and a suite of other wildlife.
The wooded wetlands provide a
variety of other important ecological functions and a wooded buffer
along a Class A stream.
The Granby Land Trust is deeply grateful to the Pease Family for
their generosity and for their commitment to Granby and to the land
they love. By making this gift, they
have preserved this pristine piece of
land forever, protecting its wildlife
habitats and important ecological
functions, and ensuring that others
may forever enjoy the land as they
once did.
The Mary Edwards Mountain Property
A Special Thanks To
Peter Dinella
We thank and recognize the Land
Trust’s “official” photographer, Peter
Dinella. Each year, Peter provides
beautiful photos of our properties for
our Facebook page and this newsletter.
He showcases Granby’s natural beauty,
documents the Land Trust’s activities
and helps us tell our story. We are
grateful to Peter for all the time and
expertise he donates to the Land Trust.
The Nuckols Preserve
i
Wilke Donation (continued from cover)
fenced horse pastures, and a tidy
with room for their four horses,
little barn. From there, trails branch
and space for a riding ring. (Their
out in every direction, carrying you
daughter, Michelle, was a comout through cool woodlands, across
petitive equestrian.) “The market
a babbling stream, over knolls and
was on fire in Connecticut,” says
into valleys, and then, along the
Helen, and properties were pricey
western side of the
(especially compared
property, down a steep
to the Midwest) and
hillside to the crisp,
very hard to come by.
“We have spent
clean, cool waters of 25 years walking this After an extensive, frusMoosehorn Brook.
property, and every trating search through
The trails are kept neat
Simsbury, Avon, and
day,
I’ve
said
a
little
and are marked with
Farmington, the Wilkes
prayer
that
we
could
carved signs reading
heard about a large
names like, “Old Log keep it like it is, and piece of property out
Road,” “Keesha Trail” protect all the critters in the country – a
and “Laurel Trail.”
property that was not
that live here. It’s
The Granby Land wonderful to be able even on the market
Trust is very pleased
yet – a property that
to preserve something was somewhat hilly
to report that the
for the future.”
Wilkes have donated
and rocky, but that had
a conservation easesome level areas – one
ment upon 39 acres
where they could build
of this property to the Land Trust,
a house and barn, and another that
so that this land will always be
was large enough for a riding ring.
kept in its beautiful, natural state,
The Wilkes didn’t waste any time.
free of development. This conserThey bought the property and withvation easement is a legal agreein the year, they had built a beautiment that permanently limits uses
ful house – and of course a barn and
of the land in order to protect its
riding ring – on the property.
conservation values. The Wilkes
Since then, the Wilkes have takwill continue to own and use their
en pains to turn the property into a
land, and they can sell it or pass it
beautiful oasis; a quiet retreat from
on to heirs, but they have given up
the hustle and bustle of the world.
some of the rights associated with
“We have spent 25 years walkthe land (such as the right to build
ing this property,” says Helen, “and
additional structures); and future
every day, I’ve said a little prayer
owners also will be bound by the
that we could keep it like it is, and
easement’s terms.
protect all the critters that live here.
Al and Helen came to Granby
It’s wonderful to be able to preserve
more-or-less by chance, in 1988.
something for the future.”
They were living in Wisconsin when
“Our hope now,” adds Al, “is that
Al received a job offer in Hartford.
other neighbors will do the same.
They told their Connecticut realWe have the beginnings of a fantor that they were looking to buy
tastic wildlife corridor here. Small
a house that was in a rural area,
pieces can add up to an impressive
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6
block of protected land. Unfortunately, once you lose the land you
can never replace it. Nature is an
asset that Connecticut needs to
preserve. I so respect and appreciate
what other Granby residents have
done before us, through gifts of
land and conservation easements.
It’s inspiring.”
Indeed, a number of the Wilkes’
friends and neighbors have donated conservation easements on their
land to the Granby Land Trust over
the last 20 years, including Dave and
Sandy Schupp, Walter and Millie
Rugland, Steve and Bett Conland,
Sam and Sally Paul, and, just this
year, Bill and Jane Ann Pease. Their
generosity has helped put the Land
Trust in the position it is in today,
with nearly 1,300 acres of land
N
N
owned outright and 970 acres held
in conservation easements.
“The Granby Land Trust has a
phenomenal reputation, an excellent board and an impressive stewardship program,” says Al. “Helen
and I knew it was an organization we
could entrust with this easement.”
(Helen served on the board of the
Granby Land Trust, as secretary, in
the mid-1990s, so she knew firsthand about the work of the GLT!)
Now retired, the Wilkes have decided to stay in Granby and enjoy
their land. Most days, they don
their hiking boots or snowshoes,
depending upon the conditions,
and take their dogs out for long
walks on the property.
Why not retire somewhere with
warm winters or in the mountains
or on the shore? “We love Granby,”
says Al. “We are an hour from the
shore, an hour-and-a-half from the
hills of Vermont, two hours from
New York City, and two hours
from Boston. Bradley International Airport is 20 minutes away, and
it takes just three hours to drive
to JFK International Airport and
Newark. We can get anywhere easily, yet we live here, in this beautiful,
rural spot, on a quiet country road,
where we can’t see another house
from ours. We could’ve retired anywhere, but we wanted to stay here.”
“Besides,” says Helen, “This is
where our deepest roots are. We
have never lived in one place this
long. We have met many wonderful friends in Granby. We love it
here.”
WILKE FIELD
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The Wilke Easement is located
within a block of protected open
space in West Granby that includes Connecticut State Forest,
the McLean Game Refuge,
Granby Land Trust owned properties and easements and Town
of Granby open space. The easement is part of an undeveloped wildlife corridor that extends along Moosehorn Brook
from Tunxis State Forest to the
McLean Game Refuge. The easement’s relatively mature woodland provides quality habitat for
a suite of birds and other wildlife,
including forest-interior nesting
birds. The protection of the steep
hillsides along the western edge
of the property also helps protect
water quality within Moosehorn
Brook and downstream water
resources. The permanent protection of the easement is consistent with the Granby Plan of
Conservation and Development
(2007), which includes the goal
to “Promote biodiversity; protect, preserve, promote, and create wildlife habitat and corridors;
and preserve natural vegetation
for its scenic value and for its value as a food source for wildlife.”
XX
2014 Art Show Draws Record Crowd
q
S
o much of what you love about
Granby – its beautiful land,
its generous and loyal people, its
small-town camaraderie, its artistic refinement – was on display in
dazzling color at the Granby Land
Trust Art Show’s Opening Night.
It’s no wonder the event has become one of the most well-attended happenings in town each year.
The juried art show, which is presented by the Granby Land Trust
in partnership with the Granby
Artists Association, has grown
ever-more well-attended since its
very first show nine years ago. This
year, nearly 220 people turned out
for the annual celebration of art
and nature. Held at the beautiful Lost Acres Vineyard in North
Granby, guests were treated to a
wonderful selection of appetizers
and wines while they enjoyed the
art and conversation.
Entitled Celebrating Preserved
Lands, this year’s show included
artwork inspired by all preserved
lands – not only Granby’s or the
Farmington Valley’s – because the
Granby Land Trust is just one of
many organizations working to
preserve our beautiful places, and
the Land Trust decided, in this year
of its accreditation, to celebrate the
work all of these organizations are
doing.
Consequently, artists from across
New England submitted pieces in-
spired by such varied natural landscapes as Bryce Canyon National
Park, the Mashpee River, Plum
Island, Weir Farm, and the Cape
Cod National Seashore, as well as
some of our very favorite beautiful
places, like the Land Trust’s Mary
Edwards Mountain Property, the
McLean Game Refuge, and Holcomb Farm.
Don and Marty Wilmot Award — Gretchen Shepard’s Mashpee River
Stephen Brown Memorial Award —
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8
Amy Kurtz Lansing, curator at
the Florence Griswold Museum in
Old Lyme, juried this year’s show,
which drew more than 140 pieces
of original artwork (painted, drawn,
photographed or 3-D). Eighty-two
pieces were selected for the show.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Granby Land Trust’s
friends, this show offers nearly
$5,000 in show awards, which is
outstanding for a show of this size.
The winner of the show’s top
prize – the Don and Marty
Wilmot Award – was Gretchen
Shepard for her watercolor painting Mashpee River. Kristen Cormier
won the show’s second place prize,
the Granby Land Trust Award, for
her oil painting titled Reflection #2.
There were 13 additional prizes
awarded as follows: Nina Mascetti
Ritson won the Austin J. McNey
Memorial Award given by Karen,
Scott and Patrick McNey for
Through the Trees. Robert Norieka
won the Stephen Brown Memorial
Award for Cascading Yellow. Charles
Wilhelm won the Granby Artists
Association Award for Boulders
at Meigs Point. Marianne Flynn
won the Sandy and Dave Schupp
Award for Cluster. The Ray Betts
Award, given by Carol and Greg
Reid, went to Patricia Louise
Corbett for Lavender’s Blue. Roger
Niland won the Tudor and Laura
Holcomb Award, given by Nannie
and Put Brown, for Farmington
Canal Aqueduct. Claudia Karimi
won the Matthew K. Orluk Award,
given by Trish Percival and Rick
Orluk, for Queen Anne’s Lace Vase
Trio. Linda Gotta won the Mildred
Dewey Award, given by Jenny and
Dave Emery, for November. James
Magner won the Olof Stevenson
Award, given by Jamie Gamble,
for Holcomb Farm Barn. Marija P.
McCarthy won the Salmon Brook
Watershed Association Award for
Bog in Winter. The William Stewart
Award, given by Dave and Judy
Russell, went to Kate Tortland
for Over the Hills. And Michael
Patnode won the Helen and Al
Wilke Award for The Luncheon.
The Land Trust thanks Mark
Wetzel and Fiduciary Investment
Advisors, LLC and Ted Cormier,
d — Robert Norieka’s Cascading Yellow
David Paul and ALIRT
Insurance Research, LLC for their
support of the show. The Land
Trust also thanks Tony Capelli
for providing beautiful floral arrangements; Karen Rutigliano
of Katering by Karen for serving delicious appetizers; Michelle
Niedermeyer and Kevin Riggott of
Lost Acres Vineyard for welcoming the Land Trust and its enthusiastic followers with open arms
(and a complimentary glass of wine
per person!); Laura Eden and Bill
Simpson of the Granby Artists
Association; and, event co-chairs
Els Fonteyne and Laurie Schock
for working so hard to make sure
Opening Night was a big success.
The show is open through
November 30 at Lost Acres Vineyard
and a portion of art sales benefits
the Granby Land Trust.
Granby Land Trust Award — Kristen Cormier’s Reflection #2
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9
2014 GLT
ANNUAL MEETING
Remembering
Fred Wilhelm, Sr.
held at the home of Al and Helen Wilke
on October 5th
(1921 – 2014)
The Granby Land Trust recently lost a good
friend. Frederick Oscar Wilhelm, a longtime GLT member and generous supporter
who played a key role in the GLT’s growth,
passed away on November 7, 2014. Fred
loved his family, our town and his North
Granby farm. Stewardship of the land and
forests in Granby was important to him
and he was an ardent supporter of preserving the rural aspects of Granby.
In 1994, Fred and his wife Edith generously donated a conservation easement on
Wilhelm Farm to the Granby Land Trust.
The easement precludes development and
allows only agricultural and forestry activities on 48 acres of land, which is now
owned by their daughter Ann and her husband Bill Bentley.
The Granby Land Trust will forever be
grateful to Fred and Edith for choosing
the Granby Land Trust to act as steward
of their land; and we are deeply honored
to now learn that Fred and his family have
asked that gifts in Fred’s memory be donated to the Land Trust. It is people like Fred
Wilhelm who have made Granby the town
it is today, and the Granby Land Trust is
grateful to him for the example he set.
A young Fred Wilhelm, Sr. haying their
North Granby field with his dad Oscar
(in the wagon) in 1939
x
Rick Orluk and Trish Percival received the
GLT’s highest honor – The Mary Edwards
Friend of the Land Trust Award – at the
Annual Meeting.
As part of the Annual Meeting, GLT
members enjoyed a hike on the Wilkes’
beautiful property.
BIG PAINT
Thank you to Dave and Sandy Schupp for hosting this year’s BIG PAINT, to which we
invite artists to come and paint en plein air at one of our beautiful GLT properties each
year in advance of the November Art Show. This year, nearly 30 artists from across the state
came to the Schupp’s property (which is protected by a conservation easement donated to the
Land Trust) and found inspiration in its open fields, stone walls, gardens, grasses, trees, and
the old hay barn.
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10
The Beaudry Preserve: An Environmental Gem
T
he Granby Land Trust is not
an anti-development organization. No responsible land preservation group is. It is not contemplated by our Certifi ate of
Incorporation or by the laws by
which we achieved our tax exempt
status that we will acquire and
steward properties because they
thwart commercial and residential
uses. In every case, a signifi ant
conservation value must be our
sole motivation.
Our Certifi ate of Incorporation, that being the document
that created the land trust in 1972,
sets forth in broad outline that we
should “promote for the benefit
of the present and future general
public the preservation and conservation of natural resources of
the Town of Granby ….” We have
abbreviated that mission by saying
that we are “working to preserve
Granby’s natural heritage.” In
1973, we gave further defin tion
to our goals by setting forth five
acquisition priorities: connections
and buffers; water recharge areas;
wildlife sanctuaries; scenic vistas;
and historic and cultural areas.
More recently, we added a sixth:
agricultural land and working
farms.
On October 15, 2013, Beaudry
Construction donated 32.8 acres
on the southerly side of Route
189, on the Granby side of its 12lot Gatehouse Road subdivision,
to the Land Trust. The 27-acre
84 Hartford Avenue Preserve, donated to the Land Trust by Mary
Edwards in 1987, is across the
street, to the north of the newlycreated Beaudry Preserve.
GRANBY
CENTER
H
AR
TF
GLT’s 22R
Oakridge Drive
Donated by
Mary Edwards
O
R
D
AV
E
./
V
Town of
Granby-Owned
Property
RT
.1
89
GRANBY
West Branch
Salmon
Brook
GLT’s 84 Hartford
Avenue Donated
by Mary Edwards
East
Branch
of the
Salmon
Brook
EAST GRANBY
NEW
GLT Beaudry
Preserve
Together, these two properties, totaling 59.8 acres, protect land on
both sides of approximately 1,100
linear feet of the East Branch of
the Salmon Brook, roughly 1,600
linear feet of the West Branch
of the Salmon Brook and about
1,400 linear feet of the combined
two branches after they merge on
the property. A small portion of
the newest parcel might be developable, but that is very much beside the point from our perspective. Together with our partners
Mary Edwards and JR Beaudry /
Beaudry Gatehouse LLC, we have
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11
protected a scenic gateway to the
town center, a dynamic wetland
recharge area, a vibrant wildlife
corridor, a buffer between nearby
residential areas and the historic
namesake of the town. Originally, Granby was known as “Salmon
Brook,” so preserving the integrity of that waterway where the two
Branches merge is especially appropriate. There are no agricultural resources on the property, but
the Beaudry Preserve satisfies all
five of the land trust’s original five
acquisition priorities. It is a magnifice t addition to our holdings.
Granby Land Trust Properties Map
GRANVILLE MA
1
N
LOOMIS ST
9
7
8
ICK MA
RRY
QUA
14
NOTCH RD
24
19
50
9
18
SILKEY RD
SUFFI
23
18
RT
21
48
10
27
RD
RT
RT 20
32
SIM
44
D
N
OW
T
RE
FI
BAR
NDO
38
McLean Game
Refuge
RD
R
RY
Holcomb
Farm
RD
Granby
Center
RT 1
33
34
U
SB
35
RT 20
West Granby
Center
LS
36
HIL
31
OR
19
RT 2
18
9
29
39
43
40
42
McLean Game
Refuge
54
46
45
GRAN
BY
EY
37
22
53
47
EAST
GL
HI
28
30
GAR
YR
DAY ST
20
26
D
49
25
20
Enders
State Forest
51
North Granby EAST
ST
Center
RT
52
RD
RD
ELD
9
18
5
SOUTHW
17
STED
Other Conservation Space
RT
16
MOUNTAIN
BAR
KHA
M
GLT Easements
4
(State, Town & Other Preserved Property)
12
15
A portion of The
Stanley K. Dimock
Wildlife Sanctuary
extends into
Barkhamsted, CT.
GLT Owned
3
HUN
HAR
Tunxis
State
Forest
13
RT
2
6
10
0
TLAN
D
11
41
CANTON
SIMSBURY
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www.granbylandtrust.org
12
For updates visit g
1. The Creamer Preserve
26. Conland Easement
248 Loomis Street, North Granby, 47.65 acres
11 Silkey Road, North Granby, 16.73 acres
2. Dewey Farm Easement
27. Paul Easement
116 Loomis Street, North Granby, 38.49 acres
109 Higley Road, West Granby, 2.54 acres
3. The Mooney Preserve
28. Schupp Easement
94 Loomis Street, North Granby, 24.1 acres
64 Higley Road, West Granby, 118 acres
4. The Grace Kellogg Preserve
29. The Sprogis Preserve
92 Loomis Street, North Granby, 22.05 acres
40 Strong Road, West Granby, 1.15 acres
5. Emery/Gamble Easement
30. The Stanley K. Dimock Wildlife Sanctuary
66 Loomis Street, North Granby, 21.33 acres
156 LeGeyt Road, Barkhamsted, 104.92 acres
6. 120 Silver Street Easement
30. The Stanley K. Dimock Wildlife Sanctuary
120 Silver Street, North Granby, 3.7 acres
167 LeGeyt Road, Barkhamsted, 42.967 acres
6. Holcombe Easement
30. The Stanley K. Dimock Wildlife Sanctuary
82R, 90 & 100 Silver Street, North Granby, 171.5 acres
193 Fox Road, West Granby, 77.70 acres
7. The Doherty Road Preserve
31. The Beman Family Preserve
157 Silver Street (Doherty Rd. corner lot), North Granby, 32.1 acres
5 & 31R Broad Hill Road, West Granby, 32.88 acres
7. The Doherty Road Preserve
32. Brown/26 Broad Hill Road Easement
25 Tinker Trail, North Granby, 1 acre
26 Broad Hill Road, West Granby, 10.3 acres
8. 238 Granville Road Preserve
33. Mary Edwards Diamond Ledges Preserve
238 Granville Road, North Granby, 11.84 acres
27 Broad Hill Road, West Granby, 11.58 acres
9. The Gosselin Preserve
34. Brown/45 Broad Hill Road Easement
355 Granville Road, North Granby, 2.05 acres
45 Broad Hill Road, West Granby, 2 acres
10. Wutka / Lost Acres Orchard Easement
35. The Frances B. Petersen Preserve
130 Lost Acres Road, North Granby, 15.85 acres
65 Broad Hill Road, West Granby, 30.49 acres
11. 86 Lost Acres Road Easement
36. Cone Mountain Easement
86 Lost Acres Road (formerly 100 Lost Acres Road), North Granby,
36.09 acres
8 Cone Mountain Road, West Granby, 23.57 acres
36. McLean Game Refuge Easement
12. The Kendall Steven Preserve
McLean Game Refuge, West Granby, 52.29 acres
76R Donahue Road, North Granby, 8.48 acres
37. The Granby Dewey Oak
13. Russell Easement
82 Day Street, Granby, 1.5 acres
84 Donahue Road, North Granby, 51.09 acres
38. The Holcomb Hill Preserve
14. The Godard Preserve
40 Holcomb Ridge Road & 44 Holcomb Hill Road, West Granby, 59.89
acres
35 Donahue Road, North Granby, 108.22 acres
14. The Godard Preserve
39. The Nuckols Preserve
109 Donahue Road, North Granby, 5.07 acres
214 Simsbury Road, West Granby, 19.43 acres
14. The Godard Preserve
40. 260 Simsbury Road Easement
31 Donahue Road, North Granby, 5 acres
260 Simsbury Road, West Granby, 1.33 acres
14. The Godard Preserve
41. Johnson Easement
85R Donahue Road, North Granby, 0.99 acres
289R Simsbury Road, West Granby, 70.25 acres
15. The Mary Edwards Mountain Property
42. The Western Barndoor Hill Preserve
178 Mountain Road, North Granby, 12 acres
256 Simsbury Road, West Granby, 32.67 acres
15. The Mary Edwards Mountain Property
43. Cunningham Easement
200 Mountain Road, North Granby, 188 acres
175 Barn Door Hills Road, Granby, 29.28 acres
16. Werner Easement
44. Mary Edwards/239R Salmon Brook Street Preserve
20 Godard Road, North Granby, 39 acres
239R Salmon Brook St., Granby, 2.39 acres
17. Cider Mill Heights Easement A & B
45. Mary Edwards/84 Hartford Avenue Preserve
2 (14.8) and 15 (17.12) Cider Mill Heights, North Granby, 31.92 acres
17. Cider Mill Heights Easement C & D
84 Hartford Avenue, Granby, 27 acres
46. Mary Edwards/22R Oakridge Drive Preserve
69R Cider Mill (12.25 acres) and 76 Cider Mill Heights (9.79 acres),
North Granby, 22.04 acres
22R Oakridge Drive, Granby, 6.8 acres
47. Schoolhouse Road Easement
18. The Cider Mill Heights Preserve
Schoolhouse Road Area, Granby, 6.05 acres
101R Mountain Road, North Granby, 91.1 acres
48. The Dunning Preserve
19. The Johnson Preserve
151 Hungary Road, Granby, 1.82 acres
166 Old Messenger Road, North Granby, 42.6 acres
48. The Dunning Preserve
20. The Garmany Preserve
20 Intervale Road, Granby, 0.21 acres
138R Old Messenger Road, West Granby, 38.32 acres
49. Laudati/Manitook Lake Easement
20. The Garmany Preserve
456 and 462 Salmon Brook Street, Granby, 5 acres
136R Old Messenger Road, West Granby, 7.38 acres
50. 15R Candlewood Lane Easement
21. The Schlicht Preserve
15R Candlewood Lane, Granby, 28.66 acres
130 Old Messenger Road, West Granby, 93.57 acres
51. The Wright/Kraiza Preserve
22. Dickson/Chase
104 Quarry Road, Granby, 18.27 acres
73R and 75R Day Street, Granby, 20.56 acres
52. Wilke Conservation Easement
23. 240 & 241 Old Messenger Road Preserve
124 Higley Road, West Granby, 39.17 acres
240 Old Messenger Road, North Granby, 55.47 acres
53. Pease Family Preserve
24. Wilhelm Farm Easement
54 Higley Road, West Granby, 58.35 acres
329 North Granby Road, North Granby, 45.39 acres
54. Beaudry Preserve
25. Rugland Easement
69 Hartford Avenue, Granby, 32.8 acres
12 Silkey Road, West Granby, 66.09 acres
t granbylandtrust.org
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GLT Children’s Series
R
emember playing outside until
your parents called you in for
dinner? That scenario is played out
less and less in modern households,
where television, computers, video
games, and hand-held electronic
devices often dominate a child’s
downtime.
Studies show, however, that
children who spend time outside are healthier and happier,
can concentrate better, are better
able to think creatively and problem-solve, are less stressed, and
have higher grade point averages
(source: Nature Rocks by The Nature Conservancy).
It was with this in mind that the
Granby Land Trust sponsored a
series of activities for children this
year, with the mission of helping
kids get outside and connect with
the natural world.
Organized by Dave Emery,
a former earth science teacher
who owns and manages Emery
Farm and who serves on the GLT
board of directors, the events were
well-attended and fun.
From learning how maple sugar
was made (and getting to taste it,
too!) at Emery Farm, to an Easter
Day “Signs of Spring” hike on the
Stanley Dimock Wildlife Sanctu-
“Given the
opportunity, children
quickly learn to
appreciate the beauty
and wonder that
are inherent in their
natural surroundings.
Cultivating this
appreciation is
particularly important
in a day and age when
so few kids get outside
to play.”
ary, to an early June nature
hike on the Godard Preserve,
kids and their families came
outside and had some fun.
“Given the opportunity, children quickly learn to appreciate
the beauty and wonder that are
inherent in their natural sur-
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14
roundings. Cultivating this appreciation is particularly important
in a day and age when so few kids
get outside to play. The GLT definitely plans to host more events for
children in the future,” says Emery. n
57 Species of Birds Tallied at GLT Bird Walks
I
n what has become a Mother’s
Day tradition, Granby Land Trust
Board Member Jamie Gamble once
again generously hosted the GLT’s
annual bird walks on his property in North Granby. The walks,
which were held on both Saturday
and Sunday mornings, were led
by expert birders John Weeks and
Christine Chinni, who graciously
volunteer their time to the cause,
and who are remarkably knowledgeable about the ornithological world.
Jamie’s property provides perfect
conditions for birding, with woodlands, wetlands and a pond — all
variety of habitat for migrating and
nesting birds.
GOLDEN-WINGED
WARBLER
The highlight of the weekend
was fi ding an extremely rare bird
on the Sunday hike. As the hikers
were returning to their cars, John
heard the song of a bird he never
expected to see in Connecticut.
It was a Golden-winged Warbler,
offi ally listed as an Endangered
species by the State of Connecticut. Birdwatchers often travel long
distances for a chance to see one.
(John and Chris, in fact, celebrated
their fi eenth anniversary in 2001
by driving to upstate New York,
where Chris saw her “lifer”.) The
hikers were thrilled to fi d one of
these stunningly beautiful birds
right here in Granby.
Another highlight was when the
hikers got a good look at a Gnatcatcher nest. John explained how
this bird plucks silk from tent
caterpillar webs and strands of spider web to glue its nest together.
He even was able to point out the
very tent caterpillar web the pair
used. “It is,” says John, “pretty intricate work for a creature that has no
hands to work with!” The nest is so
well camouflaged with lichens and
bits of bark that the participants
had a hard time spotting it even
with the help of John’s telescope!
Truthfully, the weekend was full
of highlights. The full list of species
seen or heard included: Canada
Goose, Wood Duck, Great Blue
Heron, Green Heron, Red-tailed
Hawk, Mourning Dove, Chimney
Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker,
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy
Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Least Flycatcher, Eastern
Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue
Jay, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow,
Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted
Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird,
Veery, Wood Th ush, American
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15
Robin, Gray Catbird, Ovenbird,
Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern
Waterthrush,
Black-and-white
Warbler, Common Yellowthroat,
American Redstart, Northern
Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler,
Black-throated Blue Warbler, Pine
Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler,
Black-throated Green Warbler,
Swamp Sparrow, White-throated
Sparrow, Scarlet Tanager, Northern
Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird,
Common Grackle, Brown-headed
Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, and
American Goldfi ch.
Th s free Granby Land Trust
event is a “sell-out” every year, and
it’s no wonder, as the walks always
are a big success. The Land Trust
thanks John, Christine and Jamie
for their generosity and already is
looking forward to next year’s bird
walks.
COMMON
YELLOWTHROAT
G RANBY
Land Trust
P reserving G ranby’s N atural H eritage
Granby Land Trust
PO Box 23
Granby, CT 06035
www.GranbyLandTrust.org
Help us preserve Granby’s
natural heritage.
Join or renew your
membership today.
(Membership information inside.)
For more information
visit GranbyLandTrust.org.
“Always be on the
lookout for the presence
Join the Granby Land Trust
Upcoming GLT Events
Thursday, January 1, 2015
of wonder.”
– E.B. White
GODARD PRESERVE
First Hike of the New Year
GLT’s Mary Edwards Mountain Property
For more details about this event and to
see the most updated list of
upcoming events, visit
GranbyLandTrust.org
or join us on Facebook!
Photo: Peter Dinella
Welcome 2015 the right way! Join Land
Trust board member Fran Armentano for
the seventh annual New Year’s Day hike on
the Land Trust’s spectacular Mary Edwards
Mountain Property in North Granby.
Hike starts at 9:00 AM.
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