Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration has announced $260,000 in grants to assist towns in the state’s most rural areas conserve forests and promote nature-based tourism.
Baker said the grants to 10 towns in Western Massachusetts offer opportunities to strengthen such tourism as an economic development strategy. The grants will support the state’s Mohawk Trail Woodland Partnership Grant Program.
“Improving the stewardship of our forests makes them more resilient to the impacts of climate change, strengthens local economies by encouraging nature-based tourism and benefits rural communities,” Baker said. “These grants are a terrific example of the collaborative spirit we’ve worked to foster here in the Commonwealth, and we are proud to partner with these communities to preserve our forests and natural resources for generations to come.”
Adams will receive $20,000 to expand a partnership between the town and Mass Audubon, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Williams College. The money will support the design of an exhibit space for the Greylock Glen Education Center focusing on forests and climate change.
Another $20,000 will go toward a 1.5-mile loop trail from Ashfield’s Sanderson Elementary School through a diverse forest ecosystem. The trail will include educational kiosks at points of interest and brochures for children.
In Conway, $20,000 will help complete an inventory, assessment and plan for two town forest areas.
In New Ashford’s woodlands, grant money will help complete forest stewardship plans and trail repair work. The $20,000 grant will benefit hikers, snowmobile riders and hunters.
In Peru, a $20,000 grant will be used to rehabilitate a section of Curtin Road and install wayfinding signs from Route 143, so the public can access the Peru State Forest and its hiking trails to Garnett Peak.
Hiking trails in North Adams on both city and private property will be mapped, and a trail map will be produced and marketed for tourists and residents using a $20,000 grant.
Rowe will receive a $20,000 grant to gather input from meetings and a survey about how best to manage more than 1,400 acres of town-owned park and forest areas.
A $20,000 grant will be used to design and construct a trail from Shelburne Falls village to create a link to a regional trail along the Deerfield River. The trail will ultimately connect the Connecticut River to the Hudson River, and will include trail signage and kiosks.
Williamstown will receive $20,000 to complete an inventory and assessment of its 1,800 acres for a forest carbon offset project. The Franklin Regional Council of Governments will receive $60,000 to conduct a regional tourism assessment and map out nature-based tourism infrastructure in the 21-town region and prepare recommendations for infrastructure needed to expand tourism.
By Dave Canton