Monthly Update

We are very pleased to announce that the second edition of “Your Land, Your Legacy” is now available! To request a free copy(ies) of the new publication, please contact Paul Catanzaro or (413) 545-4839.

walking in the woods

Keystone Cooperator alum David Killeen shares his conservation efforts in the town of Sherborn, where he serves as Chair of the Town Forest Committee. Some of David's plans include expanding the existing parking lot space at a 133 acre preserved forest, working with a forester on a management plan for the forest, and developing the trail system to encourage use and engagement.

Keystone Cooperator, Kevin Weir, owns 326 acres of land with his wife on the corner of Amherst, Pelham, and Petersham. Like many of their fellow landowners, Kevin and his wife, Cynthia received the land after much discussion with the relatives who owned it previously. 

Cynthia hold annual breeding bird species counts on the first weekend in June. Over the six years there has been a consistent count of 65 to 70 different bird species. Due to the fact that they cover the whole 326 acres, they are able to enjoy what they consider highlights such as the wood warblers species, the return of flocks of bluebirds, barn, tree and cliff swallows and bob-o-links. Of particular enjoyment to them is the ability to stand in their fields while swarms of swallow species fly around them. 

Forestry best management practices play a critical role in implementing sound forest management. In Massachusetts, forestry best management practices also play a critical role in meeting the requirements of the Forest Cutting Practices Act and the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. In addition, forestry best management practices are also referenced in conservation restrictions to help guide appropriate forest management. The last printing of the Massachusetts Forestry Best Management Practices manual was in 1999.

As if the hemlock woolly adelgid and the asian longhorned beetle weren’t enough, the emerald ash borer is in Massachusetts and they have come for our ash trees!

Gnome in the woods

If you ever walk through Ben and Susie Feldman’s woods, you may wonder if you really just saw a gnome.  You did!  Susie strategically places gnomes throughout the woods.  Encouraging people to enjoy their woods is a passion for the Feldmans!

Thompson Family Photo

In the course of making a decision about the future of your land, working with family members to get clarity on their wishes for the land can be a critical step in the process. Holding a family meeting can be an effective way of communicating differing objectives and reaching consensus, but they can also be fraught with emotions and difficult family dynamics.

Thompson Family Photo

Keeping land in the family is a common goal for many landowners, but how do you actually pay for the long-term ownership and maintenance costs associated with the land?

Mr and Mrs Gordon

A good estate planning attorney can be worth his or her weight in gold, a lesson a family in Central Massachusetts learned well.

Brown Family Farm

As is the case with many family summer homes and properties, ownership of the Browns’ 500-acre farmstead in a small town in the Berkshires was very complicated and only getting more so as the family grew.