Stockbridge, MA - The Land Trust will hold our annual meeting (open to members and the public) on Saturday, October 4th at 11:00 AM.   The meeting will be held at Mohawk Lake at the end of Mohawk Lake Road (directions and map below). There is ample parking; light refreshments will be served.  Besides very brief business at the meeting, we will hear more about the newly-preserved Stowe parcel, the lands around it and their history, including the “train to nowhere.”  After the meeting, we will offer a walk around the lake.  Our rain date is Sunday the October 5th at 11:00 AM  (check our website for any updates).

The Stockbridge Land Trust lost a valued and dedicated leader with the passing of Shep Evans this last month. Shep was one of the founding members of the Land Trust, served for many years as a trustee and multiple terms as president.

Shep had a wealth of knowledge about the conservation of vulnerable and and environmentally sensitive areas in town. He documented the location and extent of vernal pools with Stockbridge and surrounding towns.  Shep’s extensive knowledge of ecology and environmental protection methods made him a valuable expert for the Land Trust.  He also worked closely with the town conservation commission, the regional conservation associations and the State and Federal departments of environmental management.

Stockbridge, MA - The Land Trust will hold our annual meeting on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 10:00 AM.  This event is open to members and to the public.  This year, the meeting site will be at Chesterwood, one of the gems of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. There is ample parking at the site, and light refreshments will be served. Besides very brief business at the meeting, we will hear more about the history of Stockbridge as it pertains to the lands between Monument Mountain and West Stockbridge Mountain.  This year's speaker is Joshua Hall, Assistant Curator & Genealogist of the Stockbridge Library Museum & Archives.

Stockbridge, MA - The Land Trust will hold our annual meeting on Sunday, October 1, 2023 at 10:00 AM. This event is open to members and to the public.  The meeting site will be one of the Land Trust’s oldest properties, the Stockbridge Chestnut Preserve on Route 7, south of the town center in Stockbridge, MA. There is ample parking at the site, and light refreshments will be served. Besides very brief business at the meeting, we will hear more about how the Fenn Farm property off of Cherry Hill Road is saved and what its future holds.  We will also discuss how the Land Trust partners with landowners, conservation organizations like Laurel Hill Association and Berkshire Natural Resources Council, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to conserve land in Stockbridge.

Note: This event was rescheduled to October 1, 2023.

“We are trying to reclaim our ways of being which was never based on money. It was the reclamation of our kinship systems, [...]

STOCKBRIDGE (May 12, 2023) — On a pristine, forested property at the northern tip of Monument Mountain is Fenn Farm — 351 acres of scenic undeveloped land.

The ancestral homelands once belonged to the Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohican Indians. Last fall, it went on the market for $3 million following the death in July of owner Clover Swann, the artist, author and longtime member of the Stockbridge Land Trust.

Last week with the assistance of the Stockbridge Land Trust, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, and the Town of Stockbridge, the tribe submitted a $2.5 million funding application to the state’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Action Action Grant program for the purchase and conservation of the property. Grant awards are expected to be announced this summer.

Recently we learned of the passing of Terry Moore, a board member of the Stockbridge Land Trust on March 17, 2023.

Terry was a Trustee of the Land Trust for a little over 2 years, and although his time with us was brief, he left his mark on us in remarkable ways.

He was a life-long learner and used that methodical approach when contributing to Land Trust conversations and projects.  His eye was always on the future conservation of our lands and was a strong advocate for connecting with the Town's residents to encourage their interest in conservation.

We will miss Terry, his vast knowledge and life experience, and his kind demeanor.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Terry's name to The People's Pantry, PO Box 1115, Great Barrington, MA 01230.

We lost a beautiful advocate of our lands in Stockbridge, with the passing of Helga S. Orthofer on September 20, 2022.

Helga and her late husband John Kaiser were early environmental and conservation leaders in Stockbridge in granting to the Stockbridge Land Trust a conservation restriction on their scenic and environmentally sensitive lands located on East Street, a significant gateway entrance to our Town.

We are very grateful for the leadership and selflessness of Helga and her husband. As a token of our appreciation, the Stockbridge Land Trust made a donation to the Helga S. Orthofer Memorial Fund in memory of Helga.  This fund  supports the painter-in-residence program at Chesterwood which was established at the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.

Stockbridge, MA - The Stockbridge Land Trust will hold its 2022 Annual Meeting on Saturday, October 8, 2022 beginning at 10 a.m. at the Stockbridge Chestnut Preserve . Besides very brief business, we will have the pleasure of hearing from two members of the staff of the Berkshire Natural Resource Council (BNRC) - Mackenzie Greer (Director of Community Programs) and Deanna Smith (High Road Manager).  They will provide some background and an update on the BNRC's High Road Project.

We Land Trust leaders would very much like to have any interested townspeople be a personal part of our work to preserve and improve Stockbridge. If you would like to learn more about opportunities to become involved, please email us at info@stockbridgelandtrust.org. We would love to have you be part of our team.