90 Acres Protected on the Taunton River in Bridgewater

The upper Taunton River at North Fork Preserve in Bridgewater. Photo by Jerry Monkman.

By Scott MacFaden, Director of Land Protection

The following land protection update first appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Wildlands News, our biannual print newsletter. Receive early and exclusive Wildlands updates by becoming a member today at wildlandstrust.org/membership.

We are pleased to welcome the newest addition to our portfolio of protected lands along the Taunton River: 90 acres contained in two contiguous parcels along the upper Taunton River corridor in Bridgewater. The property has been named Perkins Bridgewater Preserve.

Located off Cherry Street, the newly acquired land includes 11 potential vernal pools and approximately one mile of frontage on the Taunton River. It is directly across the river from Wyman North Fork Conservation Area, 95 acres owned by Wildlands Trust and the Town of Bridgewater. Collectively, these properties comprise 186 acres—the largest expanse of protected lands along the upper Taunton River corridor above Cherry Street.    

Perkins Bridgewater Preserve includes a network of woods roads that we will adapt into hiking trails.   

Since 1995, Wildlands has afforded a high priority to protecting land along the Taunton River’s 44-mile mainstem and major tributaries. The river’s designation by Congress in 2009 as a National Wild and Scenic River was further affirmation of its ecological, recreational, and historical significance, and a validation of the efforts Wildlands and its conservation partners have extended toward protecting land along its banks.

With this latest acquisition, Wildlands has helped protect over 2,000 acres on the Taunton River and its tributaries.

Three Rehoboth CRs Completed 

On the cusp of the autumnal equinox, we completed three Community Preservation Act (CPA) Conservation Restrictions (CRs) in Rehoboth. Since it adopted the CPA in April 2009, Rehoboth has been diligently working to use associated funds to acquire properties of high ecological importance.   

The new CRs protect three such properties, totaling 130 acres.   

The Walt Munroe Conservation Area CR protects 46 acres acquired by the Town in 2016. The area is notable for its two fields that the Town is working to restore; its extensive frontage along Rocky Run Brook, a Palmer River tributary; and its location within the Munwhagne Swamp complex, a several-hundred-acre area of contiguous open space in southeast Rehoboth that includes several rare natural communities. The property is named in honor of the late Walt Munroe, a seventh-generation Rehoboth resident who, in addition to protecting his own family farm with Wildlands, contributed significant time and effort to helping the Town protect open space.   

The Grear Farm CR protects 32 acres acquired by the Town in 2022. The Grear Farm features extensive open fields with prime farmland soils, connects to an assemblage of open space in West Rehoboth along Route 44, and helps protect the water quality of the nearby East Branch of the Palmer River. 

The Danforth Street CR protects 50 acres acquired by the Town in 2019. The Danforth Street property includes two potential vernal pools, a hiking trail through topographically diverse terrain, and connectivity with adjacent open space.   

Two more Rehoboth CPA CRs are in the pipeline that will collectively protect an additional 54 acres. We look forward to advancing these projects and extend our appreciation to all those Town staff and volunteers who have worked to successfully implement the CPA’s open space dimension in Rehoboth.