Mount Hunger - Elias Pond Conservation Project a Success!
Thanks to all who donated to help Greenbelt purchase the Mount Hunger land, several parcels totaling 85 acres in Essex and Gloucester.
The parcels are contiguous to more than 600 acres of land owned and managed by the City of Gloucester, Greenbelt and the Manchester-Essex Conservation Trust.
The cost to acquire the land was $611,000, received from grants and our generous donors.
This effort expands the protected forest in the Manchester-Essex-Gloucester area, and consolidates unprotected parcels that remain embedded in larger areas of conserved land.
A variety of trails already exist on this land and connect in all directions to the broader trail system that many hikers and cyclists know and love.
Access is generally achieved through the end of Forest Avenue in Essex, and other points along Southern Avenue in Essex and Forest Street in Gloucester. There are woods roads and single-track
trails appropriate for hiking and mountain biking.
Greenbelt will manage the land for wildlife, habitat and recreation.
Conserving this land:
Expands existing conserved land in the area, including land that the City of Gloucester has protected to ensure the quality of its water supply
Protects important wildlife habitat
Preserves the upstream freshwater reaches of Ebben Creek, a tributary to the Great Marsh
Ensures public access to an existing, popular trail network