Land trusts trying to protect over 200 acres of property around Lake Monomonac

WINCHENDON ― North County Land Trust and Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust have joined forces to try and protect over 200 acres of undeveloped land surrounding Lake Monomonac in Winchendon.

The trusts hoped to purchase most of the 350 acres and establish the land into a conservation area. In February, NCLT purchased 70 acres for $260,000 from Warriors Capital Company. The remaining 280 acres were purchased by Lake Monomonac resident Tod Famous for $625,000.

NCLT, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust partnership

When NCLT heard that the 350 acres of land near the lake were for sale, it partnered with Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust to gather funding to make an offer for the land. Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, which is based in Athol, serves 23 area towns with a focus on completing significant land protection projects and stewarding the conservation areas it owns.

The NCLT and MGLCT offer was not enough to purchase all 350 acres that had become available, and as a result, Famous was able to purchase most of the 280 of the 350 acres. Famous said he is working closely with the trusts by holding onto the land until they have all of the money to reimburse him for most of the acres.

Currently the trust is working to raise money and make an arrangement with Famous to purchase additional acreage around the lake

NCLT Executive Director Anna Wilkins said NCLT could buy approximately 200 acres from Famous, but so far no deal is confirmed.

The assessed value of the 350 acres was $1.3 million, but Warriors Capitol Company, previously known as the Automobile Credit Rehabilitation Company, wanted to quickly sell the land, so they dropped the price to $885,000, Wilkins said.

About Lake Monomonac

Lake Monomonac stretches into two states, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The long skinny lake branches into the Millers River watershed in Winchendon. Wilkins said the specific area that the trusts are hoping to buy and conserve is the acreage that has a big hill that makes the fork at the bottom of the lake.

Residents of the Lake Monomonac community have voiced their support for conservation of the land, and the Winchendon Spring Lake Association (WSLA) has joined the efforts to protect the land. The lake association plans to support NCLT by informing community members about ongoing events at the annual community meetings and to help with future fundraising.

WSLA Treasurer Renee Tambling said there is a lot of support from residents to obtain the land and to establish it as a conservation area. She said the small lake community understands the importance of their limited natural resources and they support the protection of the environment.

"It's an important piece of property that directly affects our watershed and is important to the lake and to the Millers River," she said. "We banded together to see what we could do to purchase and protect it for not only today but future generations and that will entail doing some fundraising because purchasing this land is pretty expensive."

Ecological value of land

After purchasing 70 acres, the current budget of the two trusts to purchase and establish the land as a conservation area is $540,000. Wilkins said they plan to fundraise between $200,000 to $300,000 more for the land conservation project. NCLT has also applied for a grant from the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation Inc, a local philanthropy foundation, and Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts. They are waiting for a response from both foundations.

Wilkins said they have received a $200,000 donation from an anonymous donor, and they are aiming to collect more money to cover the cost of the land project.

The 70 acres that the trust was initially able to buy included four developed house lots. Wilkins said the trust plans to sell the house lots if they aren't able to raise the funding needed as backup revenue.

Wilkins said the hill, the lake, and the forest surrounding it have ecological value and they wanted to get ahold of the land before anyone else attempts to develop it.

"It's a beautiful lake and there's a lot of reasons not just on the natural side but then also on the community side," she said. "This is a very close-knit community of year-round residences and an open space around this community and in and around the lake are highly valuable to the people who live in those neighborhoods."

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Lake Monomonac land conservation attempt by North County Land Trust