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Land Trust talks about successes in 2015

WINCHESTER CENTER — The Winchester Land Trust (WLT) held its annual meeting inside the gazebo on the Winchester Center Green on Sunday, Aug. 30. 

The nonprofit service organization has had an eventful year, preserving and safeguarding 369 acres of unique scenic, natural and historic sites.

 The group’s most recent conservation addition was five acres of the Stevens Preserve near Highland Lake in late 2014.

“During the fiscal year from July 2014 to June 2015 the WLT led a Waterbury Turnpike Cleanup and Ruez Trail building in October 2014,” WLT President Jen Perga said at the meeting. “The Beardsley and Memorial Library hosted a Land Trust sponsored presentation of endangered owls and exotic ducks from the Litchfield based Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy. On Connecticut Trails Day on June 6, 2015, the group trail blazed the newly created Ruez Trail. Currently the Land Trust is updating their map of preserved land as well as their maps of trails in Winsted.”

Most recently, the WLT partnered with local rock stars, Chronic Rhythm, and put on a show at the Knights of Columbus on Aug. 12 to raise money for Eagle Scout candidate Cash Pac’s proposed Boy Scout Eagle Project to build an information and trail map kiosk at Hurlbut Field.

Shelley Harms, Land Trust treasurer, excitedly thanked donors and members of the group. 

“This past year we paid off the balance of a $180,000 loan we took out in 2009 to purchase the Hurlbut Field property which extends to Winchester Lake,” Harms said. 

Formed in 1988, The Winchester Land Trust works to preserve the rural character and natural resources of the Winchester area, and to educate the community about the benefits of land conservation and balanced growth. For more information, visit www.winchester-landtrust.org.

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