Berkshire Natural Resources Council, a private, non-profit land trust based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is offering its 2012 Rice Fellowship to two individuals exploring a career in environmental fields.

The 40-hour/week fellowship provides a stipend of approximately $1,000/month, lodging on Onota Lake in Pittsfield, and valuable experience in resource management at a successful environmental organization while performing meaningful work in the Berkshires.  BNRC is a small organization (staff of five) unburdened by administrative formality.  Rice Fellows enjoy an unusual level of independence compared with many internships; a large amount of self-motivation is required.

The internship dates are May 1 to September 3, with flexibility on both ends.

The duties of Rice Fellows include conservation easement stewardship, fee land management and public outreach.  There is a mix of approximately 70/30 field/office work. Fellows gain valuable leadership experience by managing volunteers, acting as liaisons with landowners, and taking on personal projects.  Fellows will gain experience with trail-building, global positioning systems (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS), orienteering, and ecological restoration techniques.

Specific duties include easement monitoring, establishing baseline documents, helping to implement ecological restoration and wildlife management projects, trail maintenance, and assisting with public outreach events (e.g., leading hikes and coordinating events).  Other duties may include developing promotional materials, enhancing resource inventories, and other land management tasks.

Requirements:

1. Solid writing and communication skills;
2. Ability to work unsupervised and comfort with being alone in the woods; and
3. Personal transportation is necessary.

Fellows will gain:

1. At least topical experience with Arc 9.3 GIS (mapping);
2. Strong field skills in GPS and map-and-compass navigation;
3. Leadership skills;
4. Understanding of ecological restoration theory and practice; and
5. Basic understanding of land management techniques and challenges for land conservation, the fastest growing sector of the environmental movement.

By March 1, 2012 applicants should send cover letter, résumé, and contact information for three references to (e-mail preferred):

Doug Bruce and Amanda L’Etoile (dbruce@bnrc.net and aletoile@bnrc.net)

Berkshire Natural Resources Council

20 Bank Row

Pittsfield, MA 01201

(413) 499-0596

Please be in touch by e-mail with questions.

2012 Snowshoe Race

Click the red button above to help BNRC complete the Clam River Puzzle.

The Clam River’s Missing Piece

The Clam River in Sandisfield drops through a cliffy, forested valley.  Trout lurk in its pools, and a wide range of wildlife, from black bear to white tailed deer, browse from water’s edge to the higher forests.  BNRC owns approximately 475 acres on the west bank of the river, a reserve interrupted only by one 55-acre parcel.  We now have a chance to buy this land and complete the Clam River greenway.  We need your help!

The land in question includes nearly a half-mile of frontage along the river.  Putting it together with BNRC’s holdings to both north and south will create a preserved greenway along the western bank nearly two miles long.  Walkers, anglers, hunters, and foot-dabblers will be able to travel streamside from the bridge on Hammertown Road south all the way to Route 57.

In addition to river access, the new parcel also includes historic foundations and a beautiful isolated marsh along a cold water stream feeding into the Clam River.  Wildlife sign abounds.  The nearest houses are about a mile away, and with the land upstream to Lower Spectacle Pond all conserved by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the 55 acres on the table will complete a remarkable riparian greenway.

The price to buy the land is $300,000.  Associated costs of closing the transaction and establishing BNRC ownership bring the total fundraising goal to $326,000.  This sum must be raised entirely through private giving – BNRC does not have a public partner on this project.  Success will guarantee public access to these beautiful lands, along with long-term conservation stewardship.

For more information on the Clam River campaign or other BNRC projects, please call Tad Ames, Narain Schroeder or Doug Bruce at 413.499.0596.

http://bit.ly/rLkJws

BNRC Request for Proposals

Berkshire Natural Resources Council seeks proposals for the lease or purchase of its 187-acre Fletcher Farm, a former hillside dairy farm in Lanesboro, Massachusetts.

This beautiful farm has 70 acres of field.  It includes a house and Quonset-hut storage barn. The land is subject to a permanent Agricultural Preservation Restriction.  Other agricultural amenities nearby include farmstands and u-pick fruit operations.

BNRC will consider the proposal that serves the best use of the land while serving the greatest public benefit.  Apart from financial considerations, BNRC will consider factors including agricultural program, conservation values, and community benefits.

For the complete bid package, click here: FLETCHER FARM, or call BNRC at (413)499-0596.

Here’s a link to the state’s press release — cut and paste into your browser if the link is not hot here:

http://1.usa.gov/nCyMFP

Cranberry Pond (foreground) and Crane Lake in West Stockbridge. View is looking south, with Route 41 cutting across lower left corner, Baker Street swooping up the right side, and Mass Pike across the top of the picture. Thanks to Berkshire Regional Planning Commission for creating this image.

Under the settlement, Patrick Muraca, Geometry Group, Inc. and Geometry Realty, Inc. (collectively, “Geometry”), have dropped their appeals of Superior Court decisions that confirmed Berkshire Natural Resources Council’s right to purchase 80 acres around the mountain’s summit, and that subsequently ordered Geometry to reimburse BNRC for its legal expenses.

“Mahanna Cobble will be forever green and open to the public,” said Tad Ames, BNRC president. “It is the outcome we fought for, and we feel today that justice has been served.”

The case had its origins in 2007, when BNRC signed a contract to purchase the mountain land from the Bousquet Ski Area owners.  Before the transaction closed, Muraca, backed by Geometry, offered to buy the entire ski area and all its holdings, including the mountain land.

When Bousquet indicated to Geometry that it intended to go through with the sale of the mountain land to BNRC, Geometry filed suit to block the transaction.

In a 2009 Superior Court decision, Judge Daniel Ford found that BNRC’s contract was valid, clearing the way for BNRC to buy the land in December 2009.

Following a six-day trial in August 2010, Judge Ford ruled that Geometry had interfered with BNRC’s contract, and ordered Geometry to reimburse BNRC $64,500 in attorney’s fees expended to defend its contractual rights to the land.

Under the agreement, Geometry dropped its appeal of the legal fees decision and BNRC has recovered $45,000 in legal fees.

Friends and family of George Wislocki and BNRC gathered to dedicate the Mahanna Cobble bench in Wislocki's honor, October 2010.

At a ceremony attended by over 70 people, and at least three dogs, North Adams Mayor Richard Alcombright celebrated the new amenity for the city, and BNRC President Tad Ames thanked and introduced the project’s essential partners, including ribbon cutters Amanda L’Etoile, Jennifer Howard of the MA Department of Conservation & Recreation, BNRC board member Ellen Hand, and Mary Walden, former ridgeline landowner who conveyed the “last piece of the puzzle” to BNRC in 2009.

Ames also acknowledged, among others, the vital contributions of the Nion Robert Thieriot Foundation and BNRC board member Sally Bell, who provided hundreds of hours of pro bono legal service over the course of the four-year project.

Founding BNRC President George Wislocki, whom Ames described as the “animating spirit” behind all of BNRC’s work, was among the inaugural hikers.

L’Etoile, an MCLA student who has been involved in the project from the start as a trailbuilder, trip leader, volunteer coordinator and all-around conservation ambassador, received the “Golden Sledgehammer” award for her “rock star” contributions to the trail.

The project started in June 2007 with a tip from North Adams resident Andy Kawczak that 195 acres on the mountain owned by the Adelphia Cable Co., were to be auctioned at bankruptcy proceedings.  BNRC bid on the land, and won.  The success with Adelphia led to rapid-fire acquisitions of five more tracts on the mountain over the next two years, resulting in the conservation of 730 contiguous acres over two linear miles of ridgeline.

Ames said that Williamstown resident Pamela Weatherbee, who accompanied BNRC on its first scouting trip on the mountain in 2007, had provided the fundamental encouragement without which the project would never have lifted off.

“Pam is the foremost botanist in western Massachusetts,” he said.  ”We knew that if the land didn’t interest her, it wouldn’t interest anybody.”

Following the last acquisition in 2009, plans started to create the hiking trail, which was designed by Peter Jensen, formerly of Great Barrington.  Trail workers broke ground on June 29, 2010, and apart from a few last details, completed work this month.

The land is open year-round during daylight hours for all forms of passive recreation, including hunting in season.  Use of motorized vehicles is prohibited.

BNRC manages over 18,000 acres of land and conservation restrictions around Berkshire County, “for public benefit and enjoyment.”

L to R: Amanda L'Etoile, Jennifer Howard, Ellen Hand, Mary Walden

l to R: Stephen Andrews, Jennifer Howard, Tom Curtin, Karen Andrews, Narain Schroeder