Public-private effort preserves 486 acres

RICHMOND – A public-private effort has helped preserve the 486-acre farm, owned by the Canton, Mass.-based Tuckahoe Turf Farms Inc., that lines the east and west sides of Switch Road.
The R.I. Department of Environmental Management has acquired farmland development rights for the property, using a combination of federal, state and private funds: $2 million from a federal highway enhancement program, $1.15 million from the R.I. Agricultural Lands Preservation Commission, $600,000 from the state’s open-space preservation program and $500,000 from The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental organization.
The parcel, outlined in orange on the DEM map at right, has frontage on both the Wood River and Meadowbrook Pond. It also includes a public fishing area and a portion of the North-South Trail.
Located in southwest Richmond – near the corner where Charlestown meets Hopkinton – it will connect the state’s Carolina Management Area with other protected farmland, bringing total conservation land in the area to about 3,000 contiguous acres, the DEM said. That total does not include The Nature Conservancy’s nearby Carter Preserve, just south of the Tuckahoe farm.
George Bates, Tuckahoe’s president and majority stakeholder, was joined by state officials and representatives of the various public and private agencies for this morning’s 11:30 announcement at the farm. Besides Bates, speakers were to include Gov. Donald L. Carcieiri and state Rep. Donna M. Walsh (a Democrat representing Charlestown, Block Island, South Kingstown and Westerly), as well as DEM Director W. Michael Sullivan; Roylene Rides at the Door, the Rhode Island state conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA/NRCS); and Janet Coit, state executive director for The Nature Conservancy.
“Each of our farmland and open space projects is unique,” Coit said today, “but all require a combination of funding sources to carry them off.” She called it “imperative” that voters improve the $2.5 million Open Space and Recreation Development Bond the state will place on the November ballot. “These funds are the catalysts for the partnerships that support our natural legacy of farms and forests, and protect our quality of place,” she said.
The event also featured the release of the DEM’s “Land Conservation in Rhode Island: Fiscal Year 2008.”
“This past fiscal year was an excellent year for land acquisition, with over 2,300 acres of land protected by all conservation interests, including 867 acres of important active farmland,” the DEM’s Sullivan told the gathering. The annual report – from the agency’s Division of Planning and Development, office of Land Acquisition and Real Estate – details the agricultural, open space and recreational lands acquired or preserved by state and other efforts in the past fiscal year.
“Preservation of open space in our small, highly developed state is critically important to preserving the natural beauty and lifestyle we treasure,” Carcieri said in a statement today. “I am asking voters to approve Question 2 on the November ballot, which provides $2.5 million for additional purchase of farmland and development rights,” the governor said. And, he noted, “these state funds are essential to obtain matching federal funds.” READ MORE)
Tuckahoe Turf Farms Inc., based in Canton, Mass., has been growing turfgrass for the Northeast landscaping industry for more than three decades. Additional information is available from the Farm Fresh Rhode Island site, at www.FarmFresh.org, or by visiting www.tuckahoeturf.com.
To learn more about the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, Division of Agriculture – and the R.I. Agricultural Lands Preservation Commission, whose guidelines are laid out in a PDF posted on the DEM site – visit www.dem.ri.gov. For more information about The Nature Conservancy, visit www.nature.org.