Groton receives grant to buy 161-acre open space parcel in Mystic
Groton — A 161-acre land parcel off Noank Ledyard Road in Mystic is in line to be the town’s latest open space acquisition.
The town recently received a $352,000 grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Program to purchase the vacant parcel, called the Wolfebrook property, which is bordered to the north by the Fields of Fire complex and to the south by Regatta Circle and Chelsea Way. The town and the Groton Open Space Association also are slated to contribute to the purchase price.
The state announcement notes that the property "will provide a link between town-owned open space to the north and south" and "will provide for nearly 200 acres of protected land between Route 1 and I-95."
Eccleston Brook and its associated tributaries flow through the property and discharge to Palmer Cove, said town Planning and Development Director Jon Reiner. He said the property features a host of diverse wildlife and vernal pools and also is historically and archaeologically significant.
The state announcement points out that Palmer Cove “is a high-quality estuary” and, 42 “acres of contiguous wetlands surround Eccleston Brook.”
"A DEEP sampling of the brook found a wild brook trout population,” according to the state news release. “Other species observed in the brook include American eel, golden shiner, redfin pickerel, and tessellated darter. A Tier 1 vernal pool on the property provides breeding habitat for Wood frogs, Spotted salamanders, Marbled salamanders, and Fairy shrimp. A study of the vernal pool by a local wetland scientist found over 800 egg masses, 1,000 wood frogs and over 1,000 salamanders over a two-week period during a springtime breeding migration.”
The parcel mainly has beech, oak and maple trees, and Red Maple, Swamp Azalea, Common Alder and Northern Spicebush vegetation, according to the release. Early indications from the National Diversity Data Base are that there are Eastern box turtles and Wood turtles that live on the parcel or nearby.
The town's plan is to preserve the land, owned by Wolfebrook Development LLC of Ledyard, for open space and passive recreation.
Most of the remainder of the $800,000 purchase price would be covered by a $220,000 contribution from the town, which is pending approval, and another contribution of up to $210,000 from the Groton Open Space Association.
According to a town document, town officials are seeking other grants and fundraising to offset the cost of the purchase and managing the property in the future.
“We’re glad to partner with the town," said Groton Open Space Association President Joan Smith. “We think this is an important property."
The property over the years has been subject to development proposals. Groton Open Space Association intervened in 2003 in an application for a large active senior housing development due to its concerns over a negative impact on its vernal pools, the imperiled Atlantic White Cedar Swamp, the watershed, and historical artifacts.
The preservation of the property is part of a larger effort to create larger greenbelts and wildlife corridors as well as trail connections, she said.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
