Home Economy Natural Resources Conservancy permanently protects 2 R.I. coastal properties

Conservancy permanently protects 2 R.I. coastal properties

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PBN Staff

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08/21/2024

Block Island_Gasner Property_Credit Charlotte Herring.TNC — THE NATURE CONSERVANCY on Wednesday announced the permanent conservation of two coastal properties, including a 5-acre property on Corn Neck Road on Block Island, across from the Fred Benson Town Beach picture above, that the agency said will protect clean water, wildlife habitat and boost coastal resilience opportunities. / COURTESY THE NATURE CONSERVANCY

PROVIDENCE – The Nature Conservancy on Wednesday announced the permanent conservation of two coastal properties that the agency said will protect clean water, wildlife habitat and boost coastal resilience opportunities. The agency purchased a 5-acre property on Corn Neck Road on Block Island, across from the Fred Benson Town Beach. Plus, it recently protected 6

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PROVIDENCE – The Nature Conservancy on Wednesday announced the permanent conservation of two coastal properties that the agency said will protect clean water, wildlife habitat and boost coastal resilience opportunities. The agency purchased a 5-acre property on Corn Neck Road on Block Island, across from the Fred Benson Town Beach. Plus, it recently protected 6 acres of beachfront property in the Green Hill community, next to the Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge in South Kingstown, through the donation of a conservation easement. Located on the northeast corner of Trim’s Pond and divided into 26 tiny lots, the land on Block Island helps protect clean water in the immediate area, and also in the Great Salt Pond, which is connected to it by tidal flow. The property’s salt marsh and mudflats are spawning areas for horseshoe crabs and provide habitat for migratory shorebirds and wading birds, including egrets, American oystercatchers, black-bellied plovers and greater yellowlegs. The adjacent shallow waters are important feeding areas for sea ducks that breed in the Arctic but spend the winter around Block Island. The Block Island Land Trust contributed $700,000 toward the $1 million purchase price and will hold a conservation easement over the property, providing additional legal protection. The Block Island Conservancy provided a $100,000 grant in exchange for the right to enforce the conservation easement, if necessary. Gifts from individual donors covered the remaining balance. “The island’s conservation community had been hoping to protect this property for more than 30 years,” said Scott Comings, conservancy associate state director and Block Island resident. “We’re so grateful to the Block Island Land Trust and the Block Island Conservancy for their partnership, which really made this project happen.” The 6 acres in South Kingstown is composed mostly of shrubland and coastal grassland habitat. The property also has frontage on Moonstone Beach, one of Rhode Island’s most important and productive nesting areas for least terns and piping plovers, which are protected by the Endangered Species Act. Under a conservation easement, the development rights are transferred to a conservation organization, protecting the property permanently, although the land remains in private ownership. The donor previously conserved 8 acres of abutting land in partnership with the South Kingstown Land Trust.