More open space added to South County's inventory
Tim Mooney
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| Photo by Russell Laman |
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) announced that it has acquired a 105-acre open space property near the West Greenwich-Exeter town line for forest protection and public recreation, including hunting.
TNC combined the newly protected property with previously
conserved land to form the Bernard and Donald Harrington Preserve. The preserve—TNC’s
26th in Rhode Island—is now open to the public and offers more
than three miles of hiking trails across 319 acres of field and forest.
TNC purchased the land for $720,000 from David Harrington
and his cousins, Colleen Derjue and Bernard Harrington, Jr., who all have
lifelong ties to the property and wanted to see it protected.
“We grew up on this land and walked it endlessly, said David Harrington. “We are so happy to preserve it, in hopes that others will be able to enjoy it as much as we have.”
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
(DEM) contributed $540,000 in grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program and the 2022 voter-approved
Green Bond in exchange for a conservation easement, which provides further
legal protection for the land. TNC matched the federal and state funds with
support from the Thomas and Dorothy Ginty Memorial Endowment Fund and the
Bafflin Foundation.
“DEM extends its sincere gratitude to the Harrington family for their dedication to land conservation and preservation. Don Harrington, a founding member of the West Greenwich Conservation Commission, devoted more than two decades of service to protecting Rhode Island’s natural resources,” said DEM Director Terry Gray.
“This project embodies the spirit of conservation
in our state—collaboration, perseverance, and a shared love of the land.
Through partnership, we’re safeguarding and connecting critical forest and
water resources, expanding opportunities for people to experience nature, and
ensuring that this landscape remains vibrant and healthy.”
Located between the Big River Management Area and the
Audubon Society of Rhode Island’s Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge, the
Harrington Preserve connects more than 9,000 acres of protected forest and
wetlands. The acquisition expands protection over an important wildlife habitat
and drinking water supply area near the headwaters of the Queen’s River, one of
the healthiest streams in southern New England.
“As a connecting piece, this was an important property to
conserve and we’re grateful for the Harrington family’s partnership, going back
over 25 years now, said Scott Comings, TNC’s associate state director in Rhode
Island. “Across North America, TNC has mapped large areas of habitat that will
continue to sustain migratory birds and other wildlife, even with climate
change, and this is one of those places.”
For more than 50 years, Bernie and Don Harrington managed
the property in support of a local sawmill known as Harrington Lumber. The
brothers’ sustainable harvesting practices left the forest in excellent
condition, and they sold 207 acres abutting Big River to TNC in 1999. Their
descendants sold the remaining 105 acres to protect the land from development
and honor their family’s legacy.
The conserved property features white pine and oak forest
and contains part of Pendock Brook, a coldwater tributary of Fisherville Brook
and the Queen’s River. It also includes an 11-acre wildflower meadow, which
supports native bees and other pollinators. The property provides vital habitat
for species of “greatest conservation need” in Rhode Island’s statewide
Wildlife Action Plan, including fishers, bobcats and many deep forest-nesting
songbirds like wood thrush and scarlet tanager.
