A locus map of the property within the Mineral Hills Greenway that the city will soon acquire with this new LAND grant.
Photo credit: Northampton Office of Planning and Sustainability
NORTHAMPTON — The city received a $297,330 Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity grant to permanently protect 72 acres in the Mineral Hills Greenway.
The acquisition will build on the decades of work to protect forested land, wildlife corridors, and habitats citywide while creating quality outdoor recreational opportunities for residents.
“Northampton is thrilled to be one of only five LAND grant recipients statewide,” said Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra in a statement regarding the announcement. “We rely on this kind of support to expand, protect, and maintain our conservation lands, and I am proud Northampton continues to earn the confidence of state conservation experts.”
Office of Planning and Sustainability Assistant Director Sarah LaValley told Reminder Publishing the city has worked for many years to expand protected open spaces in the western segment of the city in order to preserve habitat connections, provide recreational access, maintain viewsheds and preserve sense of place.
“The open space required to be set-aside for ‘The Ridge’ development formed the first block in what has, through many different transactions over a period of years, now become a 300-plus acre greenway in Northampton alone, rich in habitat, value, climate resilience and recreational opportunity,” LaValley said.
LaValley further explained that as the area has grown over the past two decades, a critical gap of unprotected land in the open space puzzle has developed, and the city now has the opportunity to fill it.
“It is a large parcel within a jigsaw puzzle of already protected land in multiple towns, fostering partnerships and collaborative stewardship,” LaValley said. “It directly abuts 150 acres of permanently preserved land in Northampton and is only a few hundred feet from NEFF’s Hartnett-Manhan Memorial Forest complex in Easthampton and Southampton.”
She said the parcel is within a much larger forested block, adding that one could walk north from Northampton for more than six miles through the woods and only cross three roads before approaching the Williamsburg line. From there, LaValley said someone could hike another two miles to the Brewer Brook Wildlife Management Area.
LaValley explained that LAND grants help cities and towns acquire land for conservation and passive recreation purposes. The grants reimburse cities and towns anywhere from 48-70% of total project costs for the acquisition of land in fee or for a conservation restriction.
“Without this program and others like it, acquiring land for conservation purposes would be beyond the reach of many communities,” LaValley said.
The parcel includes headwater streams and wetlands that are important sources for water quality and quantity to both Hannum Brook and the Manhan River. Both are recognized as cold water streams, a critical and threatened resource.
“If not protected, this parcel, with all of its recreational and ecological value, would be at high risk for development. Large buildable lots in Northampton like this one, that were once readily available to the market, are increasingly rare,” explained LaValley. “Clearing and developing this area would eliminate much of its resource value and remove opportunities for public access. Instead, we have an opportunity to protect headwater streams and wetlands that are important sources for water quality and quantity.”
LaValley added that once officially acquired, this property will be permanently protected for conservation purposes forever.
“We are also conserving supporting habitat for eastern box turtles, vernal pools, and the spotted salamanders and wood frogs that use these ponds for breeding and depend on the adjacent forested habitat for 11 of the 12 months of the year,” she said.
The city has worked with and credited the Crescione family for their stewardship of the parcel in the southwest corner of Northampton. The parcel will fill a gap in a multi-town open space corridor and connect to an adjacent 300 acres of the city’s Mineral Hills Greenway in Northampton alone.
Trail work and stewardship already completed by the Crescione family mean that its robust trail network will fit seamlessly into the surrounding trails in the rest of Mineral Hills, according to LaValley.
The city, through its Office of Planning and Sustainability, will continue pre-acquisition work through the fall, with a closing anticipated early in 2026. The area will be owned and managed by the Northampton Conservation Commission, with a conservation restriction to be held by the Kestrel Land Trust.
