Partner-Led Projects
Kikitta Ahki Floodplain Restoration Project - Whetstone Brook (VT)
Fannie Stebbins Floodplain Protection and Restoration Project (MA)
Connecticut River Paddlers’ Trail Campsites and Maps (CT and MA)
Westhampton Forest Conservation Project (MA)
Palmer Brook Land Protection Project (MA)
Silvio O Conte Large Scale Habitat Research Study (VT, NH and MA)
Kikitta Ahki Floodplain Restoration Project (Whetstone Brook - Brattleboro, VT)
In Hurricane Irene’s aftermath, local and state entities put their heads together to identify places where restored floodplains could help protect homes and businesses from the next big flood. A 12-acre parcel along Whetstone Brook at 250 Birge St. in downtown Brattleboro was identified as a critical project to promote sustainable flood resilience and simultaneously create a park for the community.
Vermont River Conservancy worked with Town of Brattleboro and SLR Consulting to purchase the 12-acre parcel in 2017, subsequently restoring the site to a working floodplain and community park. The project keeps nearly 4 feet of water out of adjacent homes, and several feet out of downtown Brattleboro. The area was renamed Kikitta Ahki, Abenaki for Really Listen Land. Really Hear Land. Really Sharpen Land.
Partners
Funding
Fannie Stebbins Floodplain Protection and Restoration Project (Longmeadow, MA)
The Fannie Stebbins Memorial Wildlife Refuge in Longmeadow, MA is comprised of approximately 370 acres of floodplain forest, shrub swamps, and herbaceous marshes. In 2017 protection of the land was achieved and restoration of 223 acres of rare floodplain forest began. The Fannie Stebbins Unit of the Conte Refuge is the largest unfragmented area of natural floodplain vegetation in the Connecticut River Watershed. Restoration efforts included replanting fields with floodplain tree species, control of invasive plants, and restoration of natural hydrology. The project represents a true public-private partnership with many project participants of all sizes and types. For further details, see the following videos.
Partners
Funding
Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Agricultural Easement Program (ACEP) and Wetland Reserve Easement Program (WRE)
Connecticut River Paddlers’ Trail Campsites and Maps (CT and MA)
This latter part of the Paddlers Trail project had two components: development of two Connecticut River Paddlers’ Trail campsites on Mass Department of Conservation and Recreation property (Montague and Whately, MA), and the creation of a GIS tool for mapping trail gaps and identifying potential campsite locations in Massachusetts downriver to Hartford, Connecticut. Appalachian Mountain Club developed the campsites and The Trust for Public Land created the GIS mapping tool.
Partners
Funding
Bafflin Foundation
Westhampton Forest Conservation Project (Westhampton, MA)
Kestrel Land Trust collaborated with Massachusetts land trust partners, including the Trustees of Reservations, Mass Audubon, Hilltown Land Trust and municipal partner, the Westhampton Conservation Commission, to conserve a critical and connected block of forest land.
The protected 806 acres located in Westhampton expands an existing block of conserved forest to 3,000 contiguous acres—safeguarding vital wildlife habitats and streams that supply drinking water to the City of Holyoke. The next phase of the effort will include the creation of new public access sites for hiking and other recreational activities.
Half of the land was purchased from W.D. Cowls by Lyme Quabbin LLC and donated to The Trustees for permanent protection by Kestrel, ensuring the forest will remain a forest for the benefit of our region today and long into the future.
Partners
Funding
Palmer Brook Land Protection Project (Becket, MA)
On May 4, 2026, Mass Audubon purchased the 858-acre property in Becket, formerly known as the Berkshire Fishing Club for $5 million. This land, now dubbed Palmer Brook, has long been a conservation priority due to its size, location in a conservation corridor anchored by the 16,500-acre October Mountain State Forest, and potential for carbon storage. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation holds a conservation restriction (CR) on the land. With the acquisition of this land, Mass Audubon is establishing its 113th wildlife sanctuary in Massachusetts.
Partners
Becket Land Trust
Funding
Bear Hill Project (Hanover, Lyme, Canaan, and Dorchester, NH)
WildLandscapes is partnering with Bear Hill Conservancy, Kilham Bear Center, and the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge (Conte Refuge) to protect 14,817 acres of northern hardwood forest in the towns of Hanover, Lyme, Canaan and Dorchester, New Hampshire New Hampshire. The land will be protected with a conservation easement that allows public access and will be held by the Conte Refuge to be managed as part of the Mascoma River Division, ensuring the long-term protection of this important landscape.
The project will secure a critical wildlife corridor connecting the Appalachian Trail and the White Mountain National Forest, protect the state's endangered wildlife, provide public access to the outdoors, promote the sustainable use of renewable natural resources, and support the region's economy.
Partners
WildLandscapes
Bear Hill Conservancy
Funding
Migratory Bird Conservation Fund
Silvio O Conte Large-Scale Habitat Research Project
Spatial and demographic responses of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) and other boreal at-risk species to restoration treatments in conifer-dominated forests of New England
The Silvio O Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge is partnering with UVM, UNH and UMass, on a large-scale habitat research project to better understand how utilizing non-commercial harvest will improve habitat for neotropical migratory birds, state listed species like spruce grouse, and snowshoe hare. The project will quantify and analyze the impacts of ecological forestry practices designed to accelerate and restore conifer stands on the spatial ecology and demography of snowshoe hare and other boreal species at risk under changing environmental and land use conditions.
The study will employ 14 UVM students in collecting small mammal data, breeding bird data, vegetation data and climate data. The study will occur in the Nulhegan Basin Division of the Silvio O. Conte NFWR situated in northeastern Vermont.
Partners
Earth Systems Research Center, University of NH
Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service
Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, University of MA
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department
Funding
