The Franklin Land Trust is a non-profit organization in western Massachusetts that assists farmers and other landowners who want to protect their land from unwanted development. FLT has helped hundreds of families in western Massachusetts to craft conservation plans that address their financial goals, family needs, and conservation vision. 

Franklin Land Trust

You are looking down the West Branch Brook valley. The steep old pastures in front of you once stretched all the way down to the brook and the slopes beyond. FLT has done work to do invassive species control, polinator plantings and maintenance of shrubland habitat.

West Branch Brook Valley

The pond before you was created when Edge Hill was a farm and was used while it was a golf course. It is fed by a important stream and tributary of the Bear River. fields and wetlands above the pond will be restored to inhance this important cold water resource.

Edge Hill Pond

The scene before you shows the series of open fairways that were former pastures and part of the Edge Hill Golf Course. Future plans will be to maintain the open fields and creation of young forest and shrubland habitats for wildlife and birds.

Edge Hill Grasslands and Shrubland Habitats

You are looking upstream along West Branch Brook, a high gradient, dynamic, cold water resource. Past landuse has impacted the stream making it more incised, undercutting banks. Gravel bars, side channels, bank failures and large wood (tree) recruitment into the channel are signs of the brook's forces.

West Branch Brook

The area before you is the headwaters of the Bear River. Streams and wetlands were constrained, straightened and filled when Edge Hill was a farm and golf course. In the coming years FLT and its partners will be restoring the function of this important cold water resource.

Franklin Land Trust

Massachusetts

5 chronologs managed by Franklin Land Trust

Edge Hill Grasslands and Shrubland Habitats

Edge Hill Pond

Edge Hill Wetlands

West Branch Brook

West Branch Brook Valley

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