On March 22, 2019, Boxborough Conservation Trust (BCTrust), with the assistance of Sudbury Valley Trustees (SVT) and the Boxborough Conservation Commission, acquired Elizabeth Brook Knoll, a 15-acre wooded property on the Boxborough-Harvard line that features rock outcroppings and provides superb habitat for threatened species of turtles and salamanders. SVT and the Boxborough Conservation Commission hold a conservation restriction on the property.
Elizabeth Brook Knoll is adjacent to Horse Meadows Knoll, a 47-acre property on the Harvard-Boxborough line conserved in a 2018 collaboration between Harvard Conservation Trust and SVT. Elizabeth Brook Knoll and Horse Meadows Knoll sit at the southern edge of the “High Ridge.” This 12-square-mile area in Harvard, Littleton, and Boxborough is rich with wildlife habitat, abundant native plants, and important sources of drinking water. BCTrust, Harvard Conservation Trust, Littleton Conservation Trust, SVT, and our local municipal partners are working together to protect these resources before they succumb to development pressure.
In order to fund the acquisition, BCTrust secured an $84,000 state Conservation Partnership grant that put a big dent in the $189,000 project cost. The remainder of the funds needed came from SVT, the Boxborough Conservation Commission, the Fields Pond Foundation, and many individual donors. Thank you to all who supported this important effort!