Featured
The Healing Power of Nature
Science and popular culture may soon be starting to appreciate something that you have likely known for a long time—being in nature benefits the human body, mind, and spirit. It comes as no surprise to hear that being outside in the woods, surrounded by living, breathing plants, birds, and animals, can decrease your stress levels,…
Read MoreA Guide to Land Conservation & Management Programs
Making Sense of Land Programs The vast majority of western Massachusetts woodlands are owned and cared for by private individuals and families. Privately owned lands provide clean air, water, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, and contribute to the scenic beauty of our region. The decisions private landowners make about their land will determine what our region…
Read MoreRaspberry Hill Community Garden Now Accepting 2016 Growers
Gardeners can now lease a plot at the Raspberry Hill Community Garden in Plainfield, MA for the 2016 growing season. Raspberry Hill currently has 15 garden plots available in the fenced garden and a community composting area but are expanding the garden area in the spring of 2016. The garden plots available are either 10…
Read MoreEnhanced Federal Tax Incentives for Land Conservation Made Permanent
Over the last several years, we have seen enhanced federal conservation tax incentives come and go, which makes it difficult for landowners and land trusts to plan for. Fortunately, Congress recently made these incentives permanent, marking a significant accomplishment for conservation across the country. The federal conservation tax deduction allows landowners to deduct all or…
Read MoreNEES Files Protest with FERC Charging TGP Pipeline Proposal Incomplete, Inaccurate
BOSTON, Jan. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A leading nonprofit organization has filed a formal protest with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) charging that the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) Company’s application for the proposed Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project is incomplete and riddled with inaccuracies. The 14-page protest document filed by Northeast Energy…
Read MoreNew Recreation Lands Program
FLT Receives Funding to Help Landowners Create More Public Recreation Lands The Franklin Land Trust will be part of a new program funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to help make more land accessible to the public. The USDA announced in early September that the program will bring $836,500…
Read MoreTwo Men in a Barn by Pleun Bouricius
Two Men in a Barn by Pleun Bouricius A few weeks ago I spent some time one morning standing around with two men in a very large and very old barn, we three trying to solve a problem. If we’d had them we’d have been thoughtfully pulling on our beards. The barn is a landmark…
Read MorePipeline Update
North East Energy Solutions (NEES), the pipeline advocacy partnership of which FLT is a founding member, recently filed a response to Tennessee Gas’s March draft environmental resource report with the Federal Regulatory Commission. Based largely on an analysis conducted by FLT staff, the report details the contradictions and inconsistent use of publically available data that…
Read MoreEnvironmental groups respond to latest impact report filed by Tennessee Gas Pipeline
While Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s draft environmental impact report for its Northeast Energy Direct project is being reviewed by area groups and communities along the 430-mile-long path, groups have been responding to the proposal in general — especially environmental organizations battling the proposed roughly $5 billion project. Northeast Energy Solutions, a coalition of land-trust organizations in…
Read MoreVirtual Tours of Treasured Places
THE CONSERVATION FUND AND THE FRANKLIN LAND TRUST CREATE VIRTUAL TOURS OF TREASURED AMERICAN PLACES Virtual tours of some of America’s most important places—its parks, waterways and even battlefields—went online this week in Street View in Google Maps. The Conservation Fund and the Franklin Land Trust unveiled a host of sites across the Eastern seaboard…
Read More