May 19, 2008 New Bedford Standard Times Page A6

ACUSHNET — Mark Phaneuf decided he had enough after years of driving by White's Factory, also known as the Hamlin Saw Mill, where trees and vines were growing out of the structure.

 

The old factory dates back to 1831.

 

 

Mr. Phaneuf worked occasional nights and weekends starting last October, and with the help of friend Matt Lopes, the two removed all the trees from the building, rebuilt the channel leading to the mill and took stones out of the way where the water runs just underneath the mill.

 

Eight months later and thanks to a fairly mild winter, Mr. Phaneuf has renovated the site.

 

"I can't count how many people have come by to look at the old place," Mr. Phaneuf said. "They just love it. We're trying to get CPA (Community Preservation Act) funding in order to save the building."

 

Mr. Phaneuf said he hopes to create a nice historical park on the site that people can come and enjoy with picnics, Boy Scout sleepovers and other recreational activities.

 

Whether the Land Trust secures CPA funds or not, Mr. Phaneuf said he will continue his work on the site. He hopes residents, who may have old photographs of the mill and the area will donate them for use at the site.

 

According to Land Trust President John Darwin, the White's Factory land stretches about two acres from Hamlin Street to the north and the Acushnet River to the East and is a great launch for kayaks and canoes.

 

"Just last year the herring run through the dam was improved by the NOAA restoration group working with the Massachusetts division of fisheries," said Mr. Darwin. "The land trust and other area land owners gave permission to build a unique passage for herring and other androgynous fish. The river sparkles as it travels over and around the scientifically placed boulders."

 

In 2007 Mr. Phaneuf, a Land Trust member, was appointed Land Steward of the property by the organization's board of directors. Recently, the board conducted a special meeting on the site encouraging Mr. Phaneuf to continue his efforts in trying to secure what was left of the building.

 

"The board unanimously thanked Mark for his accomplishments as land steward and pledged ongoing support for the project as outlined in his special presentation," said Mr. Darwin. "Together Matt and Mark made a request to the Acushnet Community Preservation committee to fund the project. The committee voted unanimously to recommend a grant of $5,600."

 

Town Meeting is expected to approve the request.

 

The Fairhaven Acushnet Land Preservation Trust is a member supported non-profit organization dedicated to preserving open space for the public good.

 

 

 

 

FAIRHAVEN — Fifty-three acres on Sconticut Neck Road will be preserved as open space, the result of the selectmen's approval of a conservation restriction.

 

"Our goal is to keep this land in its natural state," said John Darwin, president of the Fairhaven-Acushnet Land Preservation Trust, which owns the land. "It's a good thing to put what we call 'layers of protection' on the land."

 

Known as Shipyard Farm, the property is just before the causeway to West Island.

 

The conservation restriction approved Monday night is the result of a partnership between the land trust and the Coalition for Buzzards Bay. The land trust, which will continue to own the land, gave the development rights to the coalition.

 

The coalition is now obliged to ensure the land trust's vision for land in perpetuity, according to Allen Decker, the coalition's land protection director.

 

"The conservation restriction is going to run with the land forever."

 

The town's Conservation Commission also approved the restriction. Now, the selectmen will forward the documentation to the state for final approval. Once that is granted, the final step will be to register the conservation restriction at the New Bedford Registry of Deeds, according to Mr. Darwin.

 

The coalition approached the land trust about Shipyard Farm when it was applying for a $1 million federal grant that required matching funds. By receiving the development rights as a gift, the coalition was able to use the appraised value of the land to match the federal grant money, according to Mr. Decker.

 

"It is the sole match property," Mr. Decker said. "It's going to have more than enough value for the $1 million."

 

The coalition used the majority of the federal grant to help the Mattapoisett Land Trust with a recent land acquisition. Another $200,000 was used to purchase a conservation restriction on about 16.5 acres of the Douglas tree farm, which abuts Shipyard Farm, according to Mr. Decker.

 

This was the first partnership the coalition has entered into with the land trust, and the coalition wants to develop additional partnerships in the future.

 

"We are interested in doing this type of double protection with other land trusts in the watershed," Mr. Decker said.

 

For now, the Fairhaven-Acushnet Land Preservation Trust, a 200-member nonprofit, is working to acquire more land, such as 13 acres of a saltwater pond, and to restore some of the land it already owns. "Right now, we consider ourselves a very young organization," Mr. Darwin said. "We're trying to keep this space open for the future. It's good for the animals. It's good for a lot of things."

 

Contact Charis Anderson

 

at canderson@s-t.com

 

 

 

By KAISA CRIPPS

 

Editor

 

 

FAIRHAVEN— The Fairhaven/Acushnet Land Preservation Trust is set to acquire 13 acres of Sconticut Neck land in the Winsegansett Heights area.

 

The land will be purchased at a price below assessed value, using an allocation from the $21 million Harbor Restoration fund. The fund was a result of settlements between the Federal Government, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the companies that released PCBs into the New Bedford harbor area. The PCB funds will also be used to restore the land.

 

Steve Block, from the NOAA Restoration Center, said he expects the money to be released from the court system for the purchase at the end of February, after the New Bedford Harbor Trustee Council votes to approve the project.

 

The acreage is adjacent to current FALPT land off Winona Avenue. The land was acquired from Linda Badwey.

 

The parcel includes a salt-water pond and coastal marshes populated with piping plovers. Mr. Block and John Darwin, president of FALPT, said the pond contains a concrete pier and pilings that will eventually be removed. The site was previously a quahog company.

 

"One of the reasons we wanted to purchase the site is because its current state is degrading the habit," said Mr. Block.

 

Improvements to the site also include a wooden footbridge on a beach path. Mr. Block says the current conduit is restricting flow in the marsh.

 

"The land acquired will be preserved land for the benefit of the public," added Mr. Darwin. However, due to the fragile ecosystem and presence of wildlife, it will not necessarily be a publicly accessible area.

 

Mr. Block said NOAA's other Fairhaven project, Marsh Island, is moving forward. After more soil contaminant testing and input from abutters, he is targeting a 2010 start date for restoration. The 12 acres will eventually include boardwalks with interpretive signage of the ecologically significant area.

 

For more information on the New Bedford Harbor Restoration project, you can visit their website at http://www.restorenbh.gov.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/PUB01/711290423/-1/pub01

 

 

 

 

http://www.northfairhaven.org/media/download_gallery/11-29-07%20issue.pdf

 

FEBRUARY 3, 2006

 

34 acres of woods donated to land trust

By Brian Fraga , Standard-Times correspondent

 

ACUSHNET — The Fairhaven-Acushnet Land Preservation Trust announced the addition of more than 34 acres of woodlands donated by a Mattapoisett family that will be shielded from development.

The property — bordering Tinkham Pond near the intersection of the Acushnet, Fairhaven and Mattapoisett town lines — is mostly wooded and has two streams that provide a significant habitat for numerous riverine plant and animal species, said Laurell J. Farinon, president of the Fairhaven-Acushnet Land Preservation Trust.

"The generosity and conservation ethic demonstrated by the Tinkham family has allowed the Fairhaven-Acushnet Land Preservation Trust to protect important wetlands and wildlife habitat on Tinkham Pond," Ms. Farinon said. "Donating land for conservation purposes is truly one of the finest legacies a person can leave to future generations."

Mattapoisett resident Howard Tinkham, who also owns several acres of land in Mattapoisett, said the 34.25 acres of woodlands in Acushnet had been in his family for eight generations. He said a lack of interest among family members led him to donate the land.

"It will be recreational land for hunting and fishing," Mr. Tinkham said. "It has no value as far as being developed."

With the acquisition, the Fairhaven-Acushnet Land Preservation Trust now owns 262 acres in Acushnet and 333 acres in Fairhaven that are protected from development. The Land Trust also holds conservation restrictions on 150 acres for a grand total of 745 acres of protected open space in Fairhaven and Acushnet.

"Development pressure is significant in this area, and in Southeastern Massachusetts as a whole. Every piece of land that we protect is a major save," Ms. Farinon said.

Selectman David Wojnar congratulated the Land Trust.

"We're very appreciative of this very generous donation of land," Mr. Wojnar said. "It preserves open space and provides a nice, relaxing, tranquil atmosphere for people. The land trust have been the leaders in this area on the issue of open space, and contributing to Acushnet's quality of life."