Stewardship poses opportunity and challenge

Lands protected by BNRC

When the late Bob Thieriot's estate conveyed 18 parcels totalling 2,365 acres to the Council last year, the effect was something like having a three-pound steak set down before you at dinner, an embarrassment of riches that might prove challenging to digest.

The new acreage boosted the Council's land holdings by 66 percent, and unlike most transactions, where a landowner can help you identify boundaries and other features on the land, in this case Bob was gone, and the owner - his estate - was asking us to help them locate all the parcels.

Eighteen months later, what started as a major challenge to our stewardship capacity has turned out to be a landmark catalyst for the Council. Along with the land trust movement as a whole, we are coming to grips with the pressing truth that our success rests not only on how many good acres we can preserve, but on how well we care for those acres.

Elemental as it may seem, understanding just where your land lies is fundamental to good stewardship. It is hard to stop someone from cutting down your trees if you don't know where your boundary is.

The Council had already taken its first steps into the brave new world of "digitization" - mapping and plotting properties with a computer-driven geographic information system (GIS) and geographical positioning system (GPS), but the Thieriot bequest was our opportunity to test these new systems and expand their application to broader management questions.

Amy Bashant, Ethan Plunkett, Karen Ross

Over the last year and a half, Ethan Plunkett, the Council's stewardship manager, has mapped and compiled baseline documentation on all the Thieriot properties and has helped the Council "catch up" on its digital inventory of existing holdings.

Plunkett's work has been ably complemented, and at times guided, by a corps of talented consultants, interns and volunteers.

Peter Tucker, consulting forester, has no peer in his understanding of and sensitivity to the ways in which forests evolve over time.

Just as helpful have been the contributions of Rice Fellows Elena Traister in 2001, and Heidi Wasson and Amy Bashant in 2002. With help and encouragement from volunteer Karen Coy Ross, these women have taken on the annual task of visiting and inspecting - "monitoring" - the 102 parcels around the county in which the Council holds an interest. (In addition to her help in the field, Traister gave the Council a big boost by designing and installing our website, www.bnrc.net.)

Clam River tops Thieriot lands Some of the finest lands left to the Council by Bob Thieriot lie along the west bank of the Clam River in Sandisfield. He left four separate parcels to the Council here, ranging in size from 3 acres to 250 acres. All told, the Council now holds 496 acres along the Clam, land that is marked by outstanding timber, dramatic ledges and, always, the cold, swirling Clam River, tracking through three miles of steep valley. If you care to explore this wild valley or wet a line in the Clam, pack your map, compass and hiking boots (no motorized vehicles are permitted), take the trip up Hammertown Road, find a place to stow your vehicle, and consider yourself welcome. For more information, email eplunkett@bnrc.net.

These are just the first steps in developing long-term stewardship plans for our holdings. In recent months we have begun the process of examining our lands more closely to determine which parcels, if any, may be well suited for new public trails, which parcels should be left alone, and which might benefit from habitat restoration, removal of long-neglected plantation trees, or installation of gates or other measures to discourage ORVs.

In some cases, such as our holdings around Olivia's Overlook on Yokun Ridge, plans have been in place for well over a decade. Elsewhere, including much of the Thieriot bequest, we are just at the start of the planning process.

In either instance, whether it was early conservationists such as the Stokes and Hatch families, whose gifts are at the heart of Yokun Ridge,or more recent friends like Bob Thieriot, it took vision to see the lands preserved.

It falls to us now to ensure that all of these lands receive the best of care.