Wrack Meadow Woods is one of SVT's newest reservations! This beautiful 11.6 acres in Boylston is proximate to SVT's Keisling, Wrack Meadow Brook, and Mile Hill Woods reservations. The property was acquired from the Royal Realty Trust on December 6th.
Wrack Meadow Woods lies just to the west of the 56-acre Eager Woods, recently protected through a partnership between SVT and the Town of Berlin. Situated where Berlin, Northborough, and Boylston meet, this tri-town forest now includes over 250 acres of permanently protected land, and connects to the 700+ acre Mt. Pisgah area to the east. Visitors to these woods enjoy murmuring brooks, large rockoutcrops adorned with lichen, and trails that are soft to the tread thanks to a thick layer of pine needles – it is a wonderful place to enjoy nature.
Perhaps more importantly, this woodland represents one of the more intact and extensively forested land areas left in the Assabet River watershed. The state has designated it as Critical Natural Landscape in its 2010 Biomap Plan, which means it plays an important role in buffering nearby areas known to support rare or endangered species. In densely populated eastern Massachusetts, this is as close as we come to wilderness.
SVT purchased the property from the Royal Realty Trust for $45,000. An additional $20,000 was needed for transaction costs and a permanent stewardship endowment for the property. We raised $40,000 from foundations and conservation-minded individuals, and the remainder came from SVT reserves. Thank you to everyone who made this new reservation a reality!