Family’s gift creates a Berkshire rarity – a grassland walk open to all

Thanks to Ron and Judith Shaw, the gorgeous hay fields at the western end of Perry’s Peak Road in Richmond are forever conserved and open to the public.

The Shaws’ gift was made possible not only by their generosity, but yours.  Those of you who support the Richmond Land Trust, take a bow.  In this two-part deal, your gift enabled the land trust to buy a conservation restriction from the Shaws at an extremely favorable discount in 2012.

As a BNRC supporter, you underwrote the negotiation and finalization of this transaction, which was completed in 2013 with the Shaws’ donation of the 139 restricted acres to BNRC.

With your support, the Shaws have created a relative Berkshire rarity:  Grassland with great views, open to the public. You look upon beautiful fields like these from many roads.  But how often do you get to take a walk on them?

The new reserve, named Hollow Fields for Sleepy Hollow Brook, which cuts through the land, includes 40 acres of field with outstanding views to the south and east.  Casual walkers can enjoy a two-mile walk on a mowed-grass path; hikers can explore the rougher wood roads that branch off from that path.

Forty-five acres of town land are adjacent to the property and are open to the public as well.  The town parcel was donated by the Miller family, former owners and publishers of The Berkshire Eagle, who helped found BNRC in 1967; the parcel is managed by the Town’s Conservation Commission.

The fields host a variety of important and declining wildlife, notably bobolink and Savannah sparrow, which nest only in grassland.  The scrub and young forest provide breeding sites for indigo bunting and eastern towhee.  The mature forest is habitat for the gorgeous scarlet tanager and the musically-enchanting hermit thrush.

Notwithstanding its address on Perry’s Peak Road, the property does not provide access to Perry’s Peak or the Taconic Skyline Trail.  Those features are on private property, or may only be accessed via private property.

The post When the Sun Shines, Make for the Hay Fields appeared first on Berkshire Natural Resources Council.