Council Preacquires Land to Save Baldwin Hill Farm in Egremont
The centuries-old tradition of farming atop Baldwin Hill in Egremont appeared to be doomed when the heirs to a key 194-acre tract put the property on the market. Working quickly, the Resources Council reached out to key philanthropists and the state Department of Food and Agriculture to put together a plan to save the farm. The heirs agreed to sell the land to the Council for $1 million, and the state in turn agreed to buy an APR on the land for $800,000. That meant a plan was in place to save the land, but the puzzle was not completed: Who would farm the land? Months of negotiations with six different farmers led to a most satisfactory conclusion. The Turner family, tenants on the land for over 50 years, agreed to buy the property subject to the APR. With all the pieces in place, the Council went ahead and bought the land from the heirs. A 
year later, the state purchased the APR, and shortly thereafter the land was conveyed safely into the good stewardship of Turner Farms.
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