Lancaster Land Trust
The mission
The Lancaster Land Trust was incorporated in 1997 by a group of
citizens
concerned with preserving scenic vistas and open space for outdoor
recreation
and wildlife habitat, and keeping the rural character of the town.
At the time, development was threatening to gobble up the landscape.
When a house was built at the river on the Center Greenway, breaking up
a riparian trail that the late Bill Farnsworth had splet 20 years
creating
and protecting, the grass roots group realized that a mecanism had to
be
created to respond quickly to opportunities to buy land to preserve as
open space for ourselves and for all who come after us.
Lands owned by the Lancaster Land Trust are open to the public from
dawn to dusk.
Organization
The Lancaster Land Trust is not a governmental agency, but a private
nonprofit
corporation chartered by the state. The Trust works with the town to
protect
strategic parcels of land identified in Lancaster's Open Space and
REcreation
Plan. The Trust has received grants from the USDA Forst Legacy Program,
Greater Worcester COmmunity Foundation and the Mass. Cultural Council
via
the Lancaster Cultural Council.
The Lancaster Land Trust is a nonprofit organization; all gifts are
tax deductible. The Trust can be reached at:
Lancaster Land Trust
PO Box 82
Lancaster, MA 01523-0082
Phone: (978) 368-7747
The Lancaster Land Trust is a member of the Massachusetts Coalition
of Land Trusts and the Land Trust Alliance, an association of land
trusts
organized across America.
The Trust cooperates with The Trustees of Reservations, Friends of
the
Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, the Nashua River Watershed Association
and other land trusts and environmental groups to protect larger
parcels
of land and to sponsor outdoor education programs.
Activities
Besides buying and holding land for long-term protection, the Lancaster
Land Trust sponsors the Town Cleanup in the spring and Candidates'
Night
in April. The Trust is the Lancaster Town Organizer for Biodiversity
days,
a statewide program in which each town tries to count as many different
species as possible. The Trust also works with public and private
schools
on outdoor educational activities and regularly holds nature walks.
Tax Benefits of Open Space
Land in open space benefits taxpayers by curbing the town's expenses
for
road maintenance and snow removal, for fire and police proteciton, and
for public schools. Conservation land also enhances the tax assessment
of surrounding houses by 20 percent, according to the National
Association
of Home Builders.
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The Lancaster Land Trust 2002 Calendar is now
available
for sale at the following locations: Lancaster Gardens, Bob's
Turkey
Farm, Sunrise Boutique, the Adventist Book Center and the Item.
Or you can call Leslie Montague at 978-365-7497
or
Jean Lidstone at 978-368-7747.
The price is $4 each. |