Thank you for helping us reach our final goal to protect Ipswich's drinking water supply and public trail access!
Greenbelt worked with the Town of Ipswich to protect Kamon Farm, a 93-acre portion of Turkey Hill, which is the last remaining undeveloped, unprotected hilltop in Ipswich. We're
thrilled to announce that Greenbelt has successfully reached its $400,000 fundraising goal, thanks to help from almost 200 individuals, a generous matching gift challenge, The Bafflin
Foundation, Fields Pond Foundation, The George H. and Jane E. Mifflin Memorial Fund and Institution for Savings Conservation Fund. The project was also made possible with funding from the
Ipswich Open Space Bond Program (thank you, Ipswich residents!) and the MA LAND Grant Program. Conserving these 93 acres will permanently protect public trail access, drinking water, wildlife
habitat and active farmland. Greenbelt anticipates the property will be open to the public this fall.
THANK YOU, Ipswich Residents, for your vote for Open Space bond funds at Town Meeting!
View a virtual site walk led by Director of Land Conservation Chris LaPointe. VIEW.
Along both sides of Pineswamp Road, Kamon Farm features open hayfields, forest and wetlands that connect existing protected land in the Ipswich and Parker River watersheds. More than half of
the property protects and filters water flowing into the Bull Brook Reservoir and the Mile Lane Wells. Portions of this land have been used for hay; in the future, agricultural uses
compatible with drinking water supply goals will continue.
At the time of European contact, Pawtucket people who became known as the Agawam Indians were growing corn on the lower slopes of Turkey Hill and exploiting the subsistence resources of the
nearby wetlands and pine groves. They canoed to Ipswich Bay and Plum Island Sound via nearby Bull Brook to Rowley River.
The Kamon Farm area was periodically occupied by Indigenous People since PaleoIndian times circa 14,000 years ago, when bands of hunter-gatherers met near here for the cooperative hunting of
caribou. Stone artifacts from archaeological sites on and around Turkey Hill are housed at the Harvard Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Cambridge.
Public access to hiking trails that connect to other conserved land will be enhanced and maintained. A parking area will be created. The property will be open, free of charge, from dawn to
dusk daily.
.
Conserving this land:
Protects more than 90 acres on the last remaining undeveloped hilltop in Ipswich
Safeguards Bull Brook Reservoir and the Mile Lane wells
Allows the opportunity for continued low intensity farming
Provides public access to trail connections to adjacent conserved lands
Protects important habitat for birds and other wildlife
Financing & Future
The purchase price was $1,150,000, which was below current market value. Greenbelt will own and manage the parcel as part of our region-wide reservation system, available to the public for
passive recreation, and portions of the open fields will be managed for agricultural purposes consistent with drinking water protection goals.
A parking area will be created, and the trail system will be expanded and improved with interpretive and directional signage.
The Town of Ipswich will hold a Conservation Restriction on the land, adding a further level of protection.
Funding Sources:
Town of Ipswich Open Space Bond $ 350,000
(approved at 10/17 Town Meeting)