Southbridge Residents- Get Your Free Trees!
Southbridge property owners and renters can get free trees planted on their property as part of our project to plant 1,000 trees in Southbridge. We’ll plant the trees- all you have to do is water them and enjoy all the benefits that trees provide! Click here to learn more.
We met the 20-20 Challenge!
Wow! The final numbers are in and we can’t thank you enough for your generosity & belief in our work! Together you donated $20,322, which was matched with another $20,000- raising a total of $40,322 for conservation.
Your donations will make a tremendous impact on our work in 2021. Because of you, we will be able to protect more forests, natural lands, water, and wildlife. Thank you!!
Announcing the departure of Executive Director, Ed Hood
On behalf of the Board of Directors at Opacum Land Trust, we are pleased to inform you that Opacum’s Executive Director, Ed Hood, will be taking the position of Executive Director at the Norcross Wildlife Foundation on September 1st. Regrettably, this also means that he will be resigning as Executive Director of Opacum Land Trust on August 28th. Ed’s six years of service with Opacum have gone by quickly and we are ever grateful for his numerous contributions to Opacum Land Trust and conservation in this region. His mark is indelible.
Throughout Opacum’s 20-year history Norcross Wildlife Foundation has been our closest supportive partner. The Foundation has supported Opacum with loans and grants for our land purchases and programs; given us access to meeting space; provided technical support; and has allowed those OLT Directors who are also Norcross employees to keep their hands in our core work on an almost daily basis.
Ed is not leaving Opacum behind. Instead, the Opacum board sees this as a new opportunity to strengthen the core work Opacum is doing and continue to build upon our strong partnership with the Norcross Wildlife Foundation to advance our regional conservation work. The future is bright.
We will be working closely with Ed and Assistant Director Amy Connery over the next month to ensure a smooth transition and will share further information about that soon. Please join us in congratulating Ed on his new position and thanking him for six years of exceptional work and dedication to Opacum Land Trust.
-Howie Fife, President, Opacum Land Trust Board of Director
A Message from Opacum’s Executive Director, Ed Hood
To the members, volunteers and supporters of Opacum Land Trust – thank you for all that you do to make our work of land conservation in south-central Massachusetts possible!
I am writing to let you know that after six years of service at Opacum that I am taking on a new role as the Executive Director of the Norcross Wildlife Foundation and its sanctuary, located Wales, Massachusetts. The Norcross Wildlife Foundation has been an active supporter of Opacum’s work for many years and has overlapping areas of interest with us. I am pleased to say that despite this change in roles, I will not be going far and will still have an ongoing relationship with Opacum.
I know that Opacum will continue to do well and grow. The Land Trust has an excellent, hands-on volunteer Board of Directors who will continue to oversee our operations and financials. Amy Connery, Opacum’s Assistant Director, will remain in that capacity and ensure a smooth transition for a new Executive Director who will replace me.
I love this region, I continue to live here with my family, and I remain personally committed to preserving the natural lands, wildlife, character and history of this place I call home. My work with the Norcross Wildlife Foundation will be an expansion of these efforts, and my ongoing connection to Opacum will be a part of this.
My thanks go to the Directors of Opacum who made the decision to hire me as their first paid Executive Director back in 2014 and who continue to work hard to accomplish Opacum’s mission of land conservation. And most of all, I am thankful to all of you who have made the work of Opacum Land Trust possible – helping to conserve more than 3,422 acres in our 20 years of existence. I look forward to seeing you at future Opacum and Norcross events and I thank you for your continued support of Opacum’s work.
Help us Complete the Holland Community Forest Project
Over the last three years Opacum Land Trust has been working with the Town of Holland to purchase 170 acres of land adjacent to the center of town, with 153 acres to become the permanently protected “Holland Community Forest” and 17 acres for town use.
With the help of $417,384 in grant funding that Opacum helped secure, the town is now finalizing the purchase of this property. Opacum will hold a permanent conservation easement on the land and work with the town as a partner to care for and manage it.
Your support and donations have been critical to this project. We’ve raised $42,000 out of our $58,000 goal needed to cover immediate expenses and provide long term care for the property- thank you!
Please consider donating to help us complete this project and to support the ongoing conservation work of your local land trust. Click to donate online below, or mail your donation to PO Box 233 Sturbridge, MA 01566