State LIP grant funds habitat restoration
Fletcher Farm, Lanesborough

BEFORE		AFTER

When the commonwealth announced wildlife habitat grant funding through its MassWildlife Landowners Incentive Program (LIP), BNRC immediately thought of the Fletcher Farm. BNRCs Fletcher Farm is a 181-acre property in Lanesborough just up the road from Windy Ridge and Mountain View farms, both of which are protected by Agricultural Preservation Restrictions (APR). The Fletcher Farm stretches from the top of Farnums Hill down to the Cheshire Reservoir and contains a mix of open fields and forests. Its location between open farmland and thousands of acres of publicly and privately held conservation land including the Chalet Wildlife Management Area, Mount Greylock, and Holiday Farm make it important for a diverse array of wildlife including grassland, edge and forest species.

Several of the steeper fields and former orchards were quickly succeeding to a forest of exotic invasives such as thornapple and Japanese barberry. With the help of funding from the LIP program, BNRC began to reclaim these abandoned fields and old orchards. We contracted with Robert Collins, a forester from Dalton, and Bill Markham, a tree specialist from Glendale, to remove the unwanted species and release the apples and other valuable wildlife trees. The preliminary results are encouraging. Please visit bring your binoculars and your Newcombs Wildflower guide and let us know what you find.