Conservation Restrictions require stewardship and monitoring to ensure that landowners understand the restrictions on their land and to prevent violations of the restrictions. A Baseline Documentation Report is prepared which documents property boundaries and conditions. Maps and photos are included in the report, showing trails and natural resources. Each year, the property is monitored to determine that there are no encroachments on property boundaries or activities that would violate the restrictions.
Management of NCLT Conservation Areas is an important part of land stewardship. All NCLT conservation areas are managed for public access. We prepare a Baseline Documentation Report for each conservation area. Since all our conservation areas are forested, we have a Forest Stewardship Plan prepared by a licensed forester to help us manage forest resources. Finally, we prepare a more comprehensive management plan for some conservation areas. We are working with Mass Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and the Natural Resource and Conservation Service to manage invasive plants at Dwelly Farm and introduce more native plants and pollinators.
Volunteers play a vital role in the management of NCLT conservation areas. They help to create and blaze new trails, clear and maintain existing trails and regularly monitor areas to notify us of any work that needs to be done. We often have group work days at different areas and some volunteers choose to go out on their own according to their schedule. To volunteer fill out our online volunteer form.
