Forty Years of Trust

    For Herb Clark, the problem was that the construction of Interstate 95 and the new Route 9 were bringing more people to Essex. For Suzy Burke, the issue was test holes drilled on a wooded lot across from her home. For Barbara Edwards, it was the memory of childhood family property that had been sold to developers.

    For all of them, the answer was the Essex Land Conservation Trust, which has just celebrated its 40th anniversary. The trust was formed in l968 with a mission to preserve open space in Essex for the benefit of its residents.

    “I-95 and then the new Route 9 were changing what had been a sleepy little hamlet and people realized that if we wanted to have open space left, we’d have to do something about it,” recalled Clark, one of the founders of the trust.

    “When I saw those holes, I knew somebody was planning construction,” Burke said. “We loved walking in those woods.”

    Because the land trust acquired the property (now called the Falls River Preserve), she said that she and her husband still could enjoy their walks.

    “It’s really wonderful, amazing what the land trust has been able to accomplish,” observes Barbara Edwards, a past president of the organization.

    Since its inception in l968, the land trust has preserved 350 acres of local property spread over 16 sites. The largest is the 300-acre Canfield Woods Nature preserve, of which the land trust owns 131 acres, to The Millrace, one of the organization’s newest acquisitions. The Millrace comprises six acres along the Falls River in Ivoryton complete with a walking trail and historical markers.

    To celebrate the work of the trust, more than 60 members gathered recently to share memories of the organization’s past and talk about their hopes for its future. Anne Willets, whose husband Thomas had been the group’s first president, admitted she was basking in his glory at the anniversary.

    “They had meetings at our house, but I wasn’t invited in. I heard them through the door,” she said.

    R. William Bevan, one of the group’s founders, noted that late Dorothy Daggett had played a seminal role in its formation.

    “Dot was really the motivating force,” he said.

    “She was a catalyst,” agreed Alan Macgregor, who served as president of the land trust in l979.

    Henry Towers recalled working with Harriet Cheney Downing, who left family property to the land trust that became 1he 16-acre Cross Lots preserve off West Avenue.

    “Oh, they used to call her Mrs. Essex,” he recalled of Downing, who died in l987.

    Jean Hanor remembered how the land trust came to own Thatchbed Island, which separates South Cove from the Connecticut River. There were rumors that a group wanted to construct a marina on the island, prompting a move to purchase the property. The question was: Once acquired, what would the owners do with the marshy islet? The land trust proved the answer and Thatchbed Island became the first property that the land trust obtained.

    According to Essex First Selectman Philip Miller, open space is a net gain to the town and not only in terms of benefits to air, water and the quality of life. Development does bring tax revenue, he agrees, but increased costs, particularly in education, negate the revenue increases.

    “Open space is always a winner,” he says.

    Miller has led hikes on trails that cross the land trust property; there are also kayak trips in local waters sponsored by group. At the moment, the land trust is planning a comprehensive guide to all its hiking trails, according to past president Paul Greenberg.

    Current Land Trust President William Grover noted that as open space becomes more scare locally, it will be both more important for the land trust to acquire it and more difficult. He sees the group acquiring smaller parcels of land that might join existing properties together.

    At the moment, he pointed out, the land trust has just done something new: it has signed an agreement to purchase the development rights to Murwin Johnson’s 42-acre farm off Baldwin Lane in Ivoryton. What this means, Grover explained, is that while the land still belongs to Johnson, who continues to farm it, no developer can ever build on it, even if Johnson were to sell the property.

    Acquisition, according to Campbell Hudson, is only one step in the work of the land trust. Maintenance of the property, including the hiking trails, is also an important part of the group’s work. According to the land trust’s Carol MacElwee, some l50 volunteers worked on trust projects last year.  “

    Many of the members of the land trust who attended the meeting had been involved with the organization for many years, but some more recent members were eager to explain what had attracted them to the group.

    “With the hikes and the projects, the land trust can really be a family activity,” said Mike Carlucci.

    Longtime member Jean Leuchtenburg agreed.

    “When something big goes on, the land trust can bring people together from grandparents to grandchildren,” she said.

For more information about the Essex Land Conservation Trust, visit www.essexlandtrust.org.