Conservation Commission
The Conservation Commission accepted two land gifts from the Sealund Corporation. One parcel is off of Temple Street and consists of 2.67 acres and the other parcel is off Amado Way and consists of 6.31 acres. The Commission also accepted a land gift from Jeanette MacKenzie, consisting of 4.76 acres off Temple Street. We wish to thank these individuals for their donations.
The Commission purchased a 4.4-acre parcel of land along Island Creek at Elm Street for $10,000 from Bradford Cushing. Money gifted to the Conservation Fund in memory of Frank Barton was used to assist in the purchase of this property. Frank Barton was a dedicated Conservation Commissioner in the early 1970s who helped to create the Duxbury Greenbelt Plan.
Voters approved the purchase of over 60 acres of land for $518,000 at Annual Town Meeting. The land contains several working cranberry bogs.
The Commission completed permanent conservation restrictions on the town-owned Swanson property off Franklin Street and the Jaycox Christmas Tree Farm off West Street. The Commission thanks Pat Loring for her work on these conservation restrictions.
In the fall we dedicated the Lansing Bennett Forest, formally called the Trout Farm Conservation Area, in memory of Mr. Bennett. Lansing Bennett was a dedicated Conservation Commissioner who layed out the Duxbury Greenbelt Plan and purchased much of our protected open space in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
New cranberry managers were awarded operation of the Estes and Matthews bogs for the next five years.
Volunteers assisted our forester to successfully sell Christmas trees from our newly acquired Jaycox Christmas Tree farm in December. Over $11,000 in receipts were deposited in our revolving fund to help pay for the operation and maintenance of the property.
The Conservation Department received a $50,000 habitat restoration grant from the Gulf of Maine Council on the Environment and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the restoration of the Island Creek fish ladders. Four thousand, five hundred dollars ($4,500) was also received from Corporate Wetland Restoration Partners funded by Duke Power. Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) was donated by the Fish America Foundation and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, along with $7,000 from just the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. These monies as well as funds from the Conservation Commission and the Conservation Fund will be used to pay for the reconstruction of the Island Creek Fish Ladders which were rebid this spring.
The Conservation Office also received over $21,000 from the Office of Coastal Zone Management to perform a pollution assessment of the Bay Road area. The study concluded that storm drains from Halls Corner, Captain’s Hill and Bay Ridge Lane areas are the top three contributors of stormwater pollution to Kingston Bay. We will seek grant funds to improve these drainage systems in the future.
After nearly three years of work the Conservation Commission completed new rules and regulations to assist in the implementation of the Town of Duxbury Wetlands Protection Bylaw, Chapter 9.
Congratulations go out to Barbara Kelley for successfully completing the MACC certification program for Conservation Commission members.
Special thanks to Sam Butcher who chaired the Conservation Commission for the past two years. He masterfully chaired numerous meetings.
The Conservation Commission wishes to thank Tom Daley, Peter Buttkus, Ed Vickers and Bruce O’Neil from the Department of Public Works for their assistance with conservation projects and land management activities. We could not be successful without their help.
Respectfully submitted,
Joseph Messina, Chairman
Thomas Gill III, Vice-Chairman
Samuel Butcher
Dianne Hearn
Barbara Kelley
Donald Merry
Holly Morris
| 
