Townspeople love Harvard for two reasons: the great school system and the beautiful open spaces.
I was shocked to read in the Harvard Press the rejection to include $100,000 for land conservation funding in the CPIC recommendations. The Conservation Commission requested these funds to purchase the last remaining piece of land on the network of extensive trails starting by the Camp Green Eyrie Girl Scout Camp and finishing on the far side of West Bare Hill Road. Much of this land borders Bare Hill Pond. The purchase of this land would create the largest unbroken stretch of forests, fields, ponds, and trails in the entire town of Harvard.
Private donors, myself included, and town funding, have been contributing to this open space corridor for decades. This vast network supports herds of deer, geese, and, recently, flocks of turkeys. Last year I purchased what would have been a house lot in this corridor placed a conservation restriction on the five acres and transferred the title to the Still River WTM Conservation Trust, which is an abuter. My out-of-pocket expense was three times the $100,000 being asked for by ConCom.
Why is open space less important to a town known for its open space? Should this not be a priority?
Providing a deeded easement to access conservation land trails is a sad suggestion, as is the idea that the acres up for sale would “only” be divided into two to seven building lots. This area of land in Sill River is a major walking, hiking, and cross-country skiing area. Willard Lane, which accesses all this open space, is the busiest dead-end private way for walkers and hikers in all of Harvard.
Finally, my sister and I are considering placing our wide open fields at the Ayer town line on Route 110/111 in permanent conservation restriction. This is in addition to a gift from me in the 1980s to the town of Harvard for the entire Bowers Brook watershed area that begins at the post office and ends at Old Mill Pond. Do not let me and private donors lose faith in the town’s desire to preserve open space.
If open space is no longer important, we should take our remaining lands in Harvard and build housing. Then I guess we will all be living in a town like many of the others near us that were at one time bucolic and are now built up with massive multi-story rental subdivisions.
Then you will definitely need a traffic study!
Ted Maxant
Still River
Editor’s note: Ted Maxant is Cemetery Commission chair and a voting member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.
