The conservation group has secured an additional 25.9 acres for its Quarry Hill Natural Area in North Pownal.
Meanwhile, the organization is donating roughly a half-acre at the edge of the parcel to Bennington County Habitat for Humanity to build an affordable single-family home.
“The Nature Conservancy has been assembling this natural area, project by project, parcel by parcel for almost 15 years,” said Jon Binhammer, director of land protection for the conservancy. “It is testimony to the planning, patience and foresight that successful conservation demands.”
Binhammer said the new parcel, purchased from the estate of Martha Rudd, a former Pownal Elementary School principal, was added to the 79 acres already included in the natural area.
“We are also very pleased that we’re able to identify a building lot that doesn’t harbor any of the botanical rarities that make Quarry Hill so special, and donate it to the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity to build a home for a local family,” he said.
The Quarry Hill property includes a main access path from Route 346, which leads to a former limestone quarry and to wooded acreage stretching across a ridgetop above steep cliffs facing the road.
The site “is a Vermont rarity,” Binhammer said. “It is one of the most botanically rich sites in all of Vermont. Aside from special natural communities that boast cliffs and mineral-rich limestone bedrock, Quarry Hill is home to over 40 rare, threatened or endangered plants — 22 of which can only be found in 10 or fewer Vermont locations.”
The conservancy purchased the original parcel from the town after it was dispersed following the bankruptcy of the former Pownal Tanning Co., which had a mill across the road. The factory site was declared a federal Superfund area and underwent an extensive environmental cleanup during the late 1980s and early 1990s, during which the mill was razed.
Pownal acquired hundreds of mountainside acres in the Taconic Range to the west once owned by the mill, which dated to the 19th century as a textile factory. The company also owned the former quarry site on the east side of the road in a separate parcel.
Binhammer said that original piece was acquired in 2002 and has since been added to by other acquisitions.
The recent conservation project was partly funded by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and private donations. The housing board is an independent state agency committed to investing in the dual goals of conserving and protecting Vermont’s farms and special places and creating affordable housing for Vermonters.
The Quarry Hill project epitomizes this vision, said VHCB Executive Director Gus Seelig.
“The alliance between The Nature Conservancy and Bennington County Habitat for Humanity is a great example of the partnerships built over many years between housing and conservation groups in Vermont,” he said. “These partnerships multiply the benefits to our communities.”
“Bennington County Habitat for Humanity is grateful to The Nature Conservancy for the gift of this incredibly beautiful land,” said Susan Sommer, executive director with the Habitat affiliate. “Not only will Habitat’s future partner homebuyer own an energy-efficient, affordable house, but they also will have the opportunity to call this amazing part of Vermont home.”
The area is one of the conservancy’s 55 natural areas across Vermont.
Binhammer said the area also has provided nesting locations for peregrine falcons, which can sometimes be seen soaring high over the cliffs and along the Hoosic Valley.
The area is open to hikers, bird-watchers and others, and for hunting, he said. A hiking trail leads from Route 346 near a rock cut site on either side of the roadway to the former quarry and then up along the ridge toward North Pownal Road.
