O'Donnell Property, Marlborough

June 2021: We did it! 33 acres have been added to Callahan State Park. 

For several years, SVT supported the efforts of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the City of Marlborough to expand the 958-acre Callahan State Park by acquiring the 33-acre O’Donnell Property in Marlborough.

Colie and Nora O’Donnell purchased the property in 2014 to save it from a proposed development, but they always saw themselves as temporary stewards of the land. The couple was awaiting an opportunity to sell the property to conservation groups and ensure its permanent protection.

Now, DCR, SVT and the City of Marlborough, have successfully raised funds and purchased the property from the O'Donnells. Thanks to everyone who played a role in making this happen!

The 33-acre O’Donnell property is located off Parmenter Road in the southeast corner of Marlborough. On its northern and eastern edges, the property shares a ½-mile boundary with Callahan State Park. In addition, nearly ¼ mile of the Beebe Pond Loop Trail cuts across the O’Donnell property, connecting two portions of the Callahan State Park trail system.

The land is largely wooded with white pine and black oak as the predominant species. Many other trees are also present, including eastern white pine, black oak, gray birch, pin cherry, red oak, red maple, sugar maple, black birch, white ash, and pitch pine. The property includes 800 feet of Angelica Brook, a tributary to Foss Reservoir, and associated shallow marsh habitat.

O'Donnell Property Project Map. In upper-left corner of map, click >> to see the Map Legend; click + or - to zoom in or out. (Download a PDF of the project area.)

 

Callahan State Park, with its expansive and contiguous forest, provides habitat for many interior woodland species, including black-throated blue warblers, wood thrushes, and pileated woodpeckers.  By preventing the development of the O’Donnell land, we have added its 33 acres to the state park and safeguarded this important habitat for wildlife species that rely on large, undisturbed areas.

The fact that the property is surrounded by the state park on three sides elevates the importance of conserving it. Left unprotected, the O’Donnell property could have been carved up into 20 or more house lots, which would fragment the forest habitat, harm wildlife, and increase runoff and erosion into Angelica Brook and the waters downstream.

Callahan is also a well-loved local recreational resource, as thousands of area residents enjoy its trails each year. Protecting the O’Donnell land protected a portion of the Beebe Pond Trail Loop and preserved the right of the public to use this recreational resource. A residential subdivision would likely have ended public use of this portion of the trail.

The O’Donnells agreed to sell the property to DCR for its appraised value of $1.5 million. The purchase price was funded by $1,250,000 from DCR, $150,000 from the City of Marlborough, and $100,000 from SVT.  DCR is hoping to be reimbursed for $750,000 of the purchase price from a pending Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant from the National Park Service,