The Wyndham Land Trust (WLT) recently acquired two properties: the 86-acre Cartier Preserve in Woodstock and the 65-acre Potrzeba Preserve in Pomfret. This adds to the 5000 acres of forest and grasslands already protected by the land trust in Connecticut’s Quiet Corner. Both preserves are part of a large undeveloped area of forested habitat covering several thousand acres that is important for storing carbon and fighting climate change. The forested habitat also provides significant bird habitat. WLT land manager, Andy Rzeznikiewicz notes, “the diversity of birds is very high—an indication of the health and the size of the forest." The Cartier Preserve rises to over 900 feet in its center and is traversed by a mile-long trail...

When the Paproski family first took the reins at Castle Hill Farm in 1927, they had plenty of farming neighbors. In the nearly 100 years that Castle Hill has been in operation, the surrounding area has lost three quarters of its farmland. In November 2020, Castle Hill became the first farm protected by Connecticut Farmland Trust (CFT) in Fairfield County. In partnership with the USDA-NRCS and the Town of Newtown, 31 acres of Castle Hill Farm’s best farmland were permanently conserved. The Paproskis have been able to keep their farm viable by diversifying into agritourism. People come from all over the area to pick pumpkins, choose their Christmas trees, and get lost in the farm’s popular corn maze. While agritourism is becoming an important part of many small farms, it can make preservation more challenging. CFT’s guidance and expertise were essential to preserving Castle Hill Farm...

This week, the Lyme Land Trust and its volunteers could be found across the town “Nixing the Knotweed”. After one day, a dramatic change was made to remove the invasive Japanese Knotweed and encourage native plant growth in the future. Volunteer Wendy Hill shared, "It was a wonderful day of teamwork with great volunteers. We were inspired and guided by Suzanne Thompson's NixtheKnotweed Campaign." The Lyme Land Trust is following the "Method of Threes" – they will cut down the knotweed three times this growing season, repeating this for three years to rid these areas of the invasive for good, without the use of herbicide. Partner organizations who joined the land trust on the day were the Town of Lyme, the Friends of Whalebone Cove, and the Lyme Public Hall...

Running a business “in perpetuity” is no small task! From preserving farms and forests, to ensuring those lands are healthy and sustainable, land trusts are at it all year round. 

#LoveYourCTLandTrust—for upholding its promise of forever.

Cartier Quarry Road courtesy of Wyndham Land Trust

Castle Hill Farm courtesy of Connecticut Farmland Trust;

Volunteers "Nixing the Knotweed" courtesy of Lyme Land Trust