Metacomet Land Trust PO Box 231 Franklin, MA 02038 info@metacometlandtrust.org

Protected Lands

Metacomet Land Trust > Protected Lands


Metacomet Land Trust owns 669 acres of protected lands and holds conservation restrictions on 352 acres. We also own 7 affordable housing lots in Franklin. Properties conserved by Metacomet are located in Bellingham, Blackstone, Franklin, Mendon, Millbury, Millville, Northbridge, Norfolk, Sutton, Upton, Uxbridge, and Wrentham.

Conservation Land

Blackstone

  • Hop Brook Preserve (The Daniels Farm), Mendon Street: The land trust retains ownership of the 130 acres of woodland for open space and trails originally donated by Doris Daniels King in 1998. In June 2007, we conveyed a permanent conservation restriction on approximately 127 acres to the Mass Department of Fish and Game. The CR allows for future construction of an educational center and office.

Franklin

  • Reid Memorial Conservation Area on Daniels Road (14.5 acres).
  • Dawn Marie Circle (10.5 acres).
  • Franklin Woods off Lincoln Street (41.8 acres).
  • Lady Bug trail, 1.75 acre parcel off Coronation Drive dedicated to Alfred S. Ferguson in May 2000.

Mendon

  • 17 acres off Hartford Ave donated by George Ford in 2018.

Millville

  • 6.1  acres off Berthelette Way donated by Raymond and Berthelette in 2019.

Norfolk

  • 36 acres along the Step River donated by the Clapp Family in 2022.

Northbridge

  • Twenty-four acres of open space in the Presidential Farms development deeded to MLT by developer David Brossi in 2019.

Sutton and Millbury

  • 126.9 acre parcel off Chase Road acquired in 1999.

Sutton

  • Central Turnpike, 3.2 acres.
  • Putnam Hill Road, 6.5 acres donated by James and Marina Gvazdauskas, January 2001.
  • John S. Duff Memorial Preserve, 9 acres off Manchaug Road donated by Otco, Inc., November, 2001
  • Manchaug Road, 6 acres donated by John & Donna Couture, December 2002.
  • Lake Manchaug Overlook, 9.3 acres donated by Gretchen Richards and Robert Ferragamo, December, 2010.
  • One-half interest in land off Putnam Hill Road in Sutton consisting of 6 acres donated by Robert Nunnemacher, 2014.
  • One-half interest in land off Mendon Road in Sutton consisting of 14 acres donated by Marie Linder, 2014.
  • Stevens Pond, 38.9 acres donated by the Sutton Development Trust in 2017 and 11 acres donated by the Sutton Development Trust in 2018.
  • Stockwell Farm Open Space, 19.5 acres deeded to MLT in 2021.
  • Manchaug Preserve, 4.4 acres deeded to MLT in 2022.

Upton

  • Ruguleiski Woods,  26 acres donated by the Ruguleiski family, August, 2016.
  • Blue Conservation Area, 3 acre parcel on Crockett Road and Mill Brook donated in 2018 by Jodie Naze and her husband William Scott O’Neil.
  • Bonner Natural Area, 70 acre parcel off North Street adjacent to the town’s Whitney Conservation Area, donated in 2019.
  • Donald and Anne Kerr Memorial Preserve, 25.7 acres on Peppercorn Hill acquired in 2021.

Conservation Restrictions

MLT holds 7 conservation restrictions on privately owned land in Mendon, Sutton, Upton, Uxbridge, and Wrentham and 6 conservation restrictions on land owned by towns or other non profits. CR’s on town or non-profit owned land include:     

Bellingham

  • 11.7 acres on Charles River, off Plymouth Road: owned by the Bellingham Conservation Commission.

Mendon

  • 97 acres, Meadow Brook Uplands, owned by Town of Mendon
  • 26.2 acres, Muddy Brook South, owned by Town of Mendon
  • 24.2 acres, Muddy Brook North, owned by Town of Mendon

Norfolk

  •  4.7 acres, owned by Mass Audubon

Upton

  • 7.9 acres, Heritage Park, owned by Town of Upton

Affordable Housing Lots

  • Seven house lots in Franklin owned by Metacomet Land Trust and leased to owners of affordable homes on each parcel, total acreage 4.8 acres