I write today to share with you an exciting new project of the Alford Land Trust.
After a year of negotiations, we have secured an agreement to purchase 84 acres of beautiful hardwood forest from the Riggs family for a multi-use park in Alford.
The lot, located across North Egremont Road from the firehouse, has been owned by the Riggs family for more than a century. It has been gently managed for timber, leaving a network of well-built wood roads, perfect for easy walking, snowshoeing, or skiing. The towering oaks, maples, and hickories provide a wonderful sanctuary for quiet renewal. Whether one prefers a quick twenty-minute walk or an hour-long woodland ramble, there are loop trails to delight any walker.
The 2004 Alford Open Space Plan identified this lot as a priority site for conservation, not only for its high-quality timber, but also for a calcareous swamp that harbors some of the rarest plants in the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife has ranked the property very highly for conservation and has pledged to match our fundraising for this purchase.
The park will be known as “Elizabeth’s Woods” in honor of Elizabeth Young Riggs, who walked and loved the woods for more than a half-century.
We have prepared a brief introduction to the property, which you can review here.
Please join us on Friday, July 23 at 4:00 pm at the Alford Town Hall for a short presentation on the project. This will also be a time to answer questions you may have about this exciting initiative. We will follow with a short walk on some of the wood roads at 5:00. On Saturday, July 24 at 10:00 am the Land Trust Board will host a longer walk for anyone unable to join us on Friday.
The board of the Alford Land Trust and I look forward to seeing you on the 24th.
Henry Flint
President
Alford Land Trust