February 2011 – President’s Message

Your Brewster Conservation Trust seems to have more pokers in the fire than ever before, even as we are coming off our most active year yet in 2010.  The beautiful open spaces of Brewster deserve no less.

Last year, BCT fostered the preservation of 75 acres in town in 2010.  This is the highest one-year total in the 27-year history of the Trust!  We accepted donations of two wetlands parcels at Namskaket Marsh and Wash Pond totaling 4.16 acres, and the donation of the Jack and Nancy Drake’s conservation restriction on 6.23 acres on Brier Lane.  We purchased 9.69 acres of woodland at Lower Mill Pond, off Clay Hole Road and in the Punkhorn.  The Town granted BCT conservation restrictions on two tracts in the Punkhorn and Freemans Way Wellfield totaling 41.68 acres.

Now, the purchase of the 10-acre Huckleberry Hill parcel in East Brewster is pending.  We also have an option to purchase a 2-acre pondfront lot and a 1.4-acre woodland surrounding a freshwater maple swamp, both critical for wildlife habitats and water quality.  Another 2-acre pondfront parcel is in the process of being donated.  We are exploring the purchase of a 5-acre woodlot. We recently contacted 200 Brewster landowners about powerful new tax incentives (state and federal) for donations of property and conservation restrictions.  And we are pleased with the production of a new 2-minute video on our website about the importance of Huckleberry Hill, Brewster’s highest point.

Thanks to the generosity of our community, BCT ended 2010 in a moderately-strong financial position.  We raised $168,919 in 2010.  A full 83 percent of our spending went to land purchases, while only 6 percent went towards administration.

We are grateful to all our donors, big and small, for helping BCT protect Brewster’s natural resources. In 2010, special thanks for year-end grants from the Mary-Louise and Ruth N. Eddy Charitable Foundation, the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Charitable Foundation Trust, and the Brewster Foundation, in addition to nearly 400  individual donors.

In 2011, we are planning to conserve several more significant parcels of land and to help protect Brewster’s water resources through land protection and public education. We can only sustain this high level of activity with the strong and generous support of our members and the people of Brewster.

Peter Johnson, President, February 2011