Mary Wilson Award Presented at 2022 Land Trust Meeting
The Seekonk Land Conservation Trust (SLCT) held their annual meeting on April 6th at the Seekonk Library. The meeting was chaired by Land Trust President Tom Webb and featured a presentation by the Land Trust’s new stewardship coordinator, Paul Miller, who described the function of the recently purchased “Landscape” software by SLCT. Landscape will be used as a management tool for recording parcel data, photos, annual baseline reports, and assisting with resource management for land trust properties. Miller demonstrated the landscape software by taking us on a tour of Martin Refuge and Cushing Reserve properties showing property deeds, plat maps, baseline documentation of conservation land, and visual online photos he has assembled of land attributes and resources.
The Land Trust invites the public to utilize these properties and encourages anyone who has not been to visit Cushing Reserve to visit where newly planted native trees have been added to a path leading to a bench in memory of Gerry Zaretsky, 2nd President of SLCT. This is a rather short walk that ends at a small scenic pond with plenty of wildlife activity.
The SLCT also presented the Mary C. Wilson Conservation Award to Rob and Julia Emlen of Prospect Street for their significant contributions to conservation in Seekonk. Rob has served over 20 years on the SLCT Board, Julia 4 years, and together they have committed to regional conservation efforts. In 2019 they purchased 12 acres of house, barn, and woodland and protected it with a conservation restriction to join 150 acres of preserved land along the Runnings River. Additional gifts from the Helen Brackett estate also help to preserve the legacy of Mary Wilson who was the first SLCT President and founder.
The Land Trust provides annual Educational Grants to Seekonk public schools which continued through COVID-19 although demand waned as the field trips typically funded were not able to occur during the pandemic. An annual grant is also made to Seekonk Public Library for a nature photo contest, and the purchase of periodicals and books related to conservation and the environment.