1953Sudbury Valley Trustees2013Celebrating 60 Years of Conservation, Collaboration and Community
Pantry Brook Farm
Conserving Pantry Brook Farm
On December 20, 2012, conservation restrictions (CR’s) were recorded that permanently protect Sudbury’s historic Pantry Brook Farm. At nearly 100 acres, Pantry Brook Farm was the largest undeveloped and unprotected property left in Sudbury, boasting of scenic, historical, and ecological values. This highly visible property, situated on both sides of Concord Road just to the north of the high school, helps define the town’s agrarian history. The farm’s antique homestead is perched above Concord Road on the west side, on rolling meadows among rambling colonial stone walls. To the east lie the farm’s extensive agricultural fields, woodlands, and wetlands, connecting to a large network of protected town, state, and federal lands, rendering the farm’s habitat highly valuable for wildlife. Download a detailed map showing this context.
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Sudbury Valley Trustees worked closely with the farm’s owners and the Town of Sudbury to protect Pantry Brook Farm permanently through purchase of two conservation restrictions - one for each of the two pieces of property that make up the farm. The total purchase price for the CR’s was $7.91 million. At Sudbury’s May, 2012 Annual Town Meeting, voters unanimously approved the appropriation of up to $7.76 million in Community Preservation Act funds to purchase a conservation restriction that forever eliminates development rights on all but two building envelopes surrounding the existing buildings. A generous grant of from the Sudbury Foundation provided the remaining $150,000 toward the purchase price, as well as an additional $25,000 toward a permanent stewardship endowment for the property. Finally, in December of 2012, the Town was awarded a $400,000 LAND (Local Areas for Natural Diversity) grant, which will offset some of the Town’s portion of the purchase price.
The conservation restriction will be co-held by the Town and SVT, with SVT responsible for annual monitoring to ensure that the purposes of the CR are being upheld.
Our thanks go to the Wolfe family and to the Town of Sudbury and the Sudbury Foundation for making this important conservation project possible. We also thank the many donors who contributed to SVT to support our work on the project, as well as our work going forward as co-holder of the CR.
Please check our website and outings calendar for upcoming walks on the property.
