At the first night of Town Meeting on October 25, voters authorized $225,000 to purchase the first part in what conservationists hope will be a three-phase project to establish an "open-space corridor" along the Weweantic River in West Wareham.  Supporters say that this project  applies one of the most important concepts of land conservation - establishing contiguous protected land -  to not only conserve open land, but protect our watershed, restore wetlands, and increase recreation opportunities.

“Wildlife need connected parcels of protected land,” Jesse Ferreira, of the Wareham Land Trust, said, explaining the concept of an open space “corridor.”  “They need to be able to move if they are stressed by, for example, too much depredation or development in one area.  Too often, development will cut them off [from moving], and the population could go extinct."

The money will purchase three parcels of land totaling 49.5 acres in West Wareham that lie to the west of Main Street.  The property adjoins approximately 65 protected acres in the Fearing Hill Conservation area along its southern boundary, and it has over 2,400 feet of frontage on the Weweantic River as its eastern boundary.  The habitat was designated as “high-priority” for conservation by the Fish and Wildlife and the land trust, as it consists of both pine-barrens (habitat associated with a number of endangered species) and wetlands.  The wetlands are particularly important for their role in filtering groundwater before it enters the river, which suffers from extensive nitrogen pollution.  Clean Water Committee Chair Ed Pacewicz argued in support of the project at Town Meeting saying it was an important step in improving the river's water quality.

“This gives us an opportunity to restore the river and give it a better chance of working as a proper river in a watershed,” said Ferreira .  “Its health is crucial to the health of Buzzards Bay.”

The funds will come from the Community Preservation funds, money set aside for affordable housing, the protection of open space, and historic preservation that is funded mostly through a tax surcharge on properties assessed at over $100,000.

The land trust hopes to win a grant this spring from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act which will match the $250,000 contributed by the town.  It will also seek other private, state and federal funding to reach the total project price of approximately $700,000.  If the grant is not secured, the land trust will find alternate sources of funding, Ferreira said.  Unlike last year, when the land trust sought funds at Town Meeting to purchase land on Patterson's Brook, the land trust has already negotiated a purchase-and-sale agreement.

The land will then be placed in a conservation easement to be held by a nonprofit organization to be determined, but Ferreira mentioned Fish and Wildlife and the Buzzards Bay Coalition as likely candidates.  The property will be accessible to the public for hiking and other recreational activities.

"We'll work with the town to see if there's a way to turn this property into an accessible,valued recreation area," Ferreira said, suggesting building trails with assistance from local schools and other groups.  He also said that he has heard tales of "fantastic kayak and canoeing opportunities," on the land which can be accessed by Paper Mill Road.

The remaining two phases of the project are still in negotiations, but the land trust has been speaking with owners of land on Horseshoe Pond as well as in other locations along the river.

Ferreira said that the ultimate goal is to enable a corridor that extends from to the head waters in Carver.  While that seems like an overly ambitious goal, it is minor compared with international efforts to establish the Y2Y corridor - connecting the Yukon territory in Alaska with Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming!

"The more land that can be connected, the more contiguous corridor of lands is possible, you can really protect the [Weweantic] river," Ferreira said.