Communities Working to Conserve Largest Unbroken Forest in the Valley

Last year, Kestrel Land Trust, Hilltown Land Trust, MassWildlife, and the towns of Williamsburg, Westhampton, Chesterfield, and Northampton, collaborated to protect 1,000 acres of land as part of the Brewer Brook Forest Conservation Project.

Brewer Brook Forest is one of the largest areas of unbroken forest in the Pioneer Valley. This area connects an enormous block of protected lands, from Gilbert Bliss State Forest, Hiram Fox Wildlife Management Area, and Knightville Dam and Recreation Area to smaller protected areas  like Dead Branch State Forest, Brewer Brook Wildlife Management Area, Ram Hill Conservation Area, and the Marble Brook and Mineral Hills Conservation areas in Northampton.

The Brewer Brook landscape provides critical habitat for wildlife, has high climate-change resilience, and is an important corridor for wildlife stretching from eastern New York to southern Vermont. In fact, you could walk through the Brewer Brook Forest for 9 miles and only cross one road! The development of this scenic forest would have a devastating impact on wildlife and on our community. It is where locals have hiked, hunted, fished, and experienced the solitude of this beautiful place for generations. So how can we protect more?

When we embarked on the Brewer Brook Forest Conservation Project, we only viewed it as Phase I. Kestrel and Hilltown Land Trusts are looking for landowners to launch a Phase II, expanding and connecting existing nodes of conserved land in Brewer Brook Forest. In this short video, you can find a celebration of what we have achieved so far, and what more can be protected with the help of willing landowners and their neighbors.

Are you a forest landowner in this project area? Contact us at info@kestreltrust.org or leave a message at (413) 549-1097.

Interested in supporting this project and conserving the Valley you love? Become a member now! Thank you for your support.