top of page

Conservation

Amherst Acquires Former Buckmeadow Golf Course

      The Amherst Conservation Commission (ACC) and Amherst Recreation and Parks Department (ARPD) combined forces and funds to complete the acquisition of the former Buckmeadow Golf Course on March 31st. Recognizing the conservation and recreation potential of the property, the ACC and ARPD initiated discussions with the Board of Selectmen and the owner’s representatives in December 2019 resulting in a purchase and sale agreement in late January 2020. Legal review, environmental assessment and water testing were all completed in February and March in order to conclude the acquisition.

      The property, lying between Route 101A, Veterans Rd., and Stearns Rd., occupies approximately 40 acres and includes an additional 17 acres of permanent easement from the neighboring Buck Meadow condominiums (see attached map). The former golf course includes forested wetlands, ponds, grasslands and extensive open space on which hiking trails and recreational playing fields may be developed. This property abuts the ACC’s Currier conservation land to the west and overlies the largest and most transmissive stratified drift aquifer in the Town. Additionally, the former golf clubhouse and associated parking area offers space for indoor recreation classes and meetings for seniors.

      In March, the ACC and ARPD met with residents of the neighboring condominiums to discuss plans for the property and to understand any concerns with the proposed acquisition. The Amherst Board of Selectmen sponsored two public hearings in March to take commentary on the proposed purchase, before approving it on March 30th. Funding to acquire the property came from the ACC’s Conservation Fund and the ARPD’s Revolving Fund. These two Funds are derived from Land Use Change Taxes (LUCT) and recreation fees, respectively, therefore, the purchase of this land had no direct tax impact on Amherst residents.     

ACC%20field_edited.jpg

      The ACC and ARPD have much work to do to transition the former golf course to a resource that all Town residents, including the wildlife, can use for both passive and active recreation. More details concerning plans for the property’s reuse will be forthcoming  in the next several months. In the meantime, Amherst has added an important asset to its inventory of conservation, recreation and open space lands for all the Town to enjoy.

SecretWisdom.jpg
A Book Review

By Bruce B. Beckley

​

      To other dinosaurs who may still read the printed word.  I have been reading The Secret Wisdom of Nature by Peter Wohlleben.  The theme of the book is “the extraordinary balance of all living things”.  

For example:

      One chapter, titled Salmon in Trees, traces the interconnections between ocean-bred Chinook Salmon to the bears along the natal rivers and thence to the health of the riverside Sitka Spruce.

      Using the nitrogen isotope N-14 acquired by the salmon during their ocean tenure, scientists have used core boring samples taken from venerable spruce to recreate the history of salmon runs centuries ago.  In Germany where the large trees were turned to timber in centuries past, core borings from those timbers now in Medieval structures still tell the story of early European salmon migrations.

The author concludes:

      The network of nature is too diverse to ever fit between the covers of a book, which means I needed to to choose particularly impressive example and connect them so that readers could see the big picture.  It is more important to me to state the facts so that people can understand them emotionally.  And then I can lead them on a full sensory tour of nature, because that way I can communicate one thing above all – the joy our fellow creatures and their secrets can bring us.

​

​

bottom of page