Rochester awarded $35,000 conservation grant

Sep 19, 2017

The Rochester Land Trust, in partnership with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, has been granted $35,000 to protect a wetlands property in Rochester.

Rochester Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon announced the grant to Rochester's Board of Selectmen on September 18. She explained that the property in question is the Estabrook property, on Estabrook Way off of Walnut Plain Road.

"The Estabrooks have been hoping to permanently preserve their land," Farinon explained. She noted that the area is a cedar swamp, with the presence of Atlantic white cedar, the only cedar tree native to the continent that grows on the east coast.

The property is 78.6 acres in size, and the proposal notes that ownership of the property would be held by the Rochester Land Trust, in a partnership grant with the Buzzards Bay Coalition.

The Board of Selectmen gave Farinon permission to accept the grant. Farinon explained that although the grant notice mentions a 33 percent grant match, the match would be paid for most likely with a federal grant, and no money would be paid out of the town's pocket to protect the property.