Eastern Greenway-North, Harvard

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Photo by Louis Calisi.
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Eastern Greenway North. Photo by Louis Calisi.
Photo by Louis Calisi.
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Photo by Louis Calisi.
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Eastern Greenway North. Photo by Louis Calisi.
Photo by Louis Calisi.

Success! On September 12, 2024, the Harvard Conservation Trust (HCT) conveyed a conservation restriction (CR) to SVT on Eastern Greenway-North, marking SVT's 100th CR! This land is now permanently protected as open space and wildlife habitat. 

This property is the backbone of a much larger area of ecologically rich lands where wildlife will have room to roam, forever

Thank you to HCT for being an incredible partner on this collaborative effort, and thank you to the tremendous support we received from foundations and individual donors who helped us meet our fundraising goal for this project in 2022.

Creating Connectivity in the High Ridge

At a Glance
  • SVT and the Harvard Conservation Trust (HCT) worked together to protect 45 acres of important wildlife habitat in Harvard.
  • This land, which is called Eastern Greenway-North, is part of a larger HCT effort that conserved 200 acres of contiguous open space.
  • By protecting Eastern Greenway-North, we have knit together a network of conserved lands and created an expansive wildlife corridor in the High Ridge area of Harvard, Littleton, and Boxborough.

Eastern Greenway-North Project Maps

  • In the upper-left corner of the map, click >> to see the Map Legend
  • Click + or - to zoom in or out
  • Click here to download a PDF of a trail map for the adjacent Horse Meadows Knoll land, which shows the trail access to Eastern Greenway-North

Property Description

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Eastern Greenway-North is a beautiful, quiet stretch of wooded land on the eastern edge of Harvard, near the Boxborough town line. These 45 acres are the northernmost piece of an expansive 200-acre property that Harvard Conservation Trust (HCT) purchased and protected in early 2022.

Spanning both hilly woodlands and forested wetlands, Eastern Greenway-North features picturesque rock outcrops and a view of Horse Meadows Pond. With a rich landscape dominated by native plants, it is no wonder that nearly all 45 acres are considered to be priority habitat for rare and endangered species of wildlife.

Bobcats and moose roam the forest in search of food and shelter. Green heron wade in the pond. Great horned owls and red-tailed hawks build nests in the oak- and pine-dominated tree line. Potential vernal pools promise opportunities for frogs, newts, and salamanders to hatch, mature, and reproduce.

Why Conserve This Land?

SVT identified Eastern Greenway-North as a priority for protection because of its ecological significance, habitat quality, and proximity to other conserved lands.

The land sits within the ecologically rich High Ridge--a 1,900-acre area in Harvard, Littleton, and Boxborough that includes essential wildlife habitat, healthy forests, headwater streams, and productive farms and orchards. SVT and our partners in the three towns have launched the High Ridge Initiative to protect as many of these lands as possible.

The long and narrow Eastern Greenway-North is surrounded by conserved properties, including Horse Meadows Knoll and Elizabeth Brook Knoll, both of which were protected through the High Ridge Initiative. 

By permanently protecting Eastern Greenway-North from development, we have knit these lands together into an expanded conservation corridor that ensures wildlife will always have room to roam.

How Did We Conserve This Land?

Over a number of years, HCT worked with National Grid, who previously owned the entire 200-acre Eastern Greenway property, to protect these important undeveloped lands. These 200 acres on the eastern edge of Harvard were originally slated for a utility corridor that was never developed, and the wildlife habitat remained intact.  HCT raised funds for the purchase, securing the entire Eastern Greenway property as open space and wildlife habitat when they took ownership of the land in 2022.

SVT helped HCT raise funds for the entire project by purchasing a conservation restriction (CR) on the 45.24 acres that sit within the High Ridge region (the Eastern Greenway-North property) for $90,000. SVT raised over $100,000 through private foundations* and over $15,000 through private individuals to make the CR purchase and to cover transaction and project costs. The CR ensures that the land remains undeveloped and continues to provide benefits to wildlife and people for generations to come.

 

*In part, transaction funding for the project was provided by the Merrimack Conservation Partnership, a public/private effort for land conservation in the Merrimack River Watershed. To learn more, visit their website.

Video from Eastern Greenway-North, August 2023