The Madison Land Conservation Trust has been awarded a major grant of $585,000 by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) toward the purchase of Birch Branch Meadow Preserve, a 30-acre undeveloped parcel fronting nearly 4,000 feet along the Hammonasset River in Madison. The grant, from DEEP’s Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition (OSWA) program, will cover more than half of the cost to acquire this diverse and ecologically sensitive land within the Hammonasset River watershed, located just south of Green Hill Road. The award represents 65% of the $900,000 purchase price, which is the OSWA grant program’s maximum amount.

“We are pleased to be awarded these funds for conservation of land that serves as essential clean water protection for Long Island Sound and a prime cold -water fishery in Madison. It’s a rare and valuable green corridor for an array of wildlife and plant species. Conservation of these rapidly vanishing open spaces provides vital protection against loss of critical wildlife habitat and will be a significant benefit to our community for the future,” said David Roach, Chairman of the Land Trust’s Land Acquisition Committee, which partnered with a generous Land Trust member devoted to protecting the property. “We are so grateful to have been given the opportunity we needed to raise the funds required to protect this land,” added Roach.

Roach said that while the transaction is not complete and additional funding must be raised, the MLCT has a letter of intent in place with the property owner, who wishes to see this unique parcel preserved.

According to Roach, the Birch Branch Meadow Preserve is the Land Trust’s third major acquisition funded with the assistance of the DEEP Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition program in six years, following $462,500 awarded for the 83-acre Lowry Woods Community Forest in 2018, and $715,000 toward the 64-acre Summer Hill Preserve expansion in 2016.

The Madison Land Conservation Trust was formally organized in 1964, and is one of Connecticut’s oldest community land trusts. It maintains nearly 1,800 acres of conservation land within the town of Madison, with almost 40 miles of trails open to public access. For more information about their mission and these properties visit, madisonlandtrust.org.