Ausbon Sargent Working to Permanently Protect Another Key Grantham Parcel

Project gets big boost from Eastman Charitable Foundation but is still short of July 30 goal

Old Dunbar Hill Road (Class VI) entering Sawyer Brook Headwaters Conservation Area. *Sheridan Brown Photo.*

Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust (ASLPT) is working to acquire and permanently protect a 5.65-acre parcel (the “Stamper Property”) directly abutting the recently-conserved 386-acre Sawyer Brook Headwaters property. Thanks to a $6,500 grant from the Eastman Charitable Foundation (ECF) ASLPT is now just $15,000 short of the $75,000 required to close by July 30, 2021. If successful, ASLPT will transfer ownership of the Stamper Property to the Town, permanently protected by a conservation easement.

Spotted Salamanders at the Stamper Parcel were a highlight of the last Salamander walk hosted by ASLPT. *Sheridan Brown Photo.*

The Stamper Property complements the neighboring lands that Grantham’s residents and friends protected in 2019 in partnership with ASLPT. The project underway would protect the first 1,000-feet of western frontage along the Class VI portion of Dunbar Hill Road (from Olde Farms Road), which is the primary point of entry to the Sawyer Brook Headwaters property.

The Stamper Parcel’s vernal pools are important breeding habitat for a variety of amphibians and are alive with the sounds of frogs and birds each spring. *Sheridan Brown Photo*.

The parcel consists of moist woodlands and vernal pools that are alive with the songs of birds and frogs each spring, and it provides supporting wildlife habitat for the Sawyer Brook Headwaters watershed. The project also includes plans to add a small pull- off from Dunbar Hill Road on the Stamper Property so that accessibility to the Sawyer Brook Headwaters property is improved.

ASLPT is extremely grateful to the Eastman Charitable Foundation and the residents of Grantham for their support of this important project and the prior Sawyer Brook Headwaters conservation effort. For more information, see the article in ASLPT’s July “Chatter” newsletter recently mailed to residents, visit https://www.ausbonsargent.org, or feel free to contact Sheridan Brown (Grantham Resident and Trustee at Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust) at 865-5231 or sb@sheridanbrownlaw.com .

Hermit Thrush at the Stamper Parcel. *Sheridan Brown Photo.*

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