Town of Simsbury and Simsbury Land Trust Share Major Conservation Award
Town of Simsbury and Simsbury Land Trust
Share Major Conservation Award
The Connecticut Land Conservation Council awarded its 2015 “Excellence in Conservation Organization Award” to the Town of Simsbury and the Simsbury Land Trust for their creative and collaborative work in protecting the George Hall Farm on March 21. “This is a perfect example of a public/private partnership working to support long-standing goals in land stewardship,” said Simsbury First Selectman Lisa Heavner, who accepted the award along with Hometown Hero Dick Davis of the Simsbury Land Trust.
For years, the Simsbury Land Trust shared George Hall’s desire to see the farm protected, but it did not have the resources to fund a development rights purchase. Federal funding was not available because at 11 acres, Hall’s Farm was too small to qualify. To supplement his own fields, Mr. Hall had for years leased farmland owned by the Town of Simsbury known as Pharos Farm. The land trust realized that by combining the two farms, the project would have sufficient acreage for federal funding. The land trust structured a deal that allowed Mr. Hall to purchase Pharos Farm and the land trust to receive federal funding which, with additional funds raised by the land trust, permitted purchase of the development rights.
The transaction would not have been possible without the open-minded collaboration of the Town of Simsbury’s leadership and creative problem solving of the land trust. Through ownership of the development rights by the Simsbury Land Trust, buttressed by an easement in favor of the U.S. government, town leaders and citizens can be assured that the land will always be farmed. Today, the original Hall Farm property, which had been at risk, is protected.
In addition, the town received close to $480,000 from the sale of 39 acres of its land that can be available for other town open space purposes. The original farm parcel abuts Simsbury Land Trust’s Wagner Woods, which itself abuts Great Pond State Forest. A new land trust trail around the edge of the farm fields connects with trails at Wagner Woods and the state forest, thus providing a new hiking route across town.
Years in the making, the protection of the George Hall Farm was finally achieved in the fall of 2014. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Hall went to his rest secure in the knowledge that the farm bearing his name will forever be farmed.
The Simsbury Land Trust is a volunteer organization that has been conserving Simsbury open space since 1976. It protects more than 1,000 acres in the Town of Simsbury. The Town of Simsbury itself owns over 3,000 acres of open space and is developing a long-range plan for its use and protection.
In the photo above from left to right: At the March 21 ceremony receiving the award was: Susan Van Kleef, Simsbury Land Trust (SLT); Amy Patterson, Executive Director Connecticut Land Conservation Council; Sally Rieger, SLT; Simsbury First Selectman Lisa Heavner; and Dick Davis, SLT. Photo by D.F. Rieger, Jr.