Cornwall Conservation Trust has announced the protection of Red Mountain (Galluci) preserve (66 acres). This was the fifth Highlands project to close in 2020, a record for Connecticut, and the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA) was deeply involved in making all of them happen.
In 2019 DEEP closed four Highlands projects. In previous years the number never exceeded two. This is thanks in large part to HVA’s involvement at every stage of the process, from securing federal funding, to supporting applications with maps and data, to project management with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, to finding matching funds.
The other four that closed in 2020 were:
Yoakum (260 acres) Salisbury Association
Furnace Brook (104 acres) Cornwall Conservation Trust
North Pond (102 acres) Town of Goshen
D’Alton (70.5 acres) Sharon Land Trust
All of these were conservation easements funded by Highlands. Yoakum, Furnace Brook, D’Alton and Red Mountain were also OSWA (Open Space & Watershed Land Acquisition Program) grant projects and are held in fee by local land trusts. North Pond comprises two parcels owned by the Town of Goshen but which had no formal protections.
Selectman Bob Valentine strategized with HVA’s Tim Abbott on Highlands and was the driving force on the town side that got it done.
All of these projects advance Follow the Forest, either for core forest or linkage protection or both.
