The Aquidneck Land Trust (“ALT”) today announces that its campaign to purchase and conserve Rego Farmland is complete.
The 12-acre Portsmouth farm, located on East Main Road approximately .5 miles north of Glen Road, is now protected from development in perpetuity. The property is an active hayfield with 100% prime soil, which ALT will continue to lease for farming.
“We sold this property to ALT so that it would remain farmland, which is disappearing on Aquidneck Island,” said Marilee Ottilige in a press release, whose family has owned the land for two generations. “No land, no food,” she stated, stressing the importance of protecting local agriculture. “ALT was pleasant to work with and we very happy to know that this farm has been permanently protected,” said Ottilige.
Rego Farmland is one of two properties in the current land campaign; the second property, Jones Preserve, is a 15.38-acre site situated within a 92-acre tract of forestland. ALT reports that it has approximately $10,000 left to raise to conserve the Jones property, which, aside from one new residence site, will be managed as a combination of wildlife habitat and farmland protected under a conservation easement.
Both properties are situated along ALT’s Sakonnet Greenway habitat corridor, an area that includes 40 properties already protected by ALT. The corridor covers nearly 2000 acres of conserved land on the east side of Aquidneck Island, 1,365 of which was conserved by ALT.
“Rego Farmland and Jones Preserve are two very important open spaces,” said Chuck Allott, ALT Executive Director. “We are very grateful to the island community for supporting our efforts to conserve them both. Hundreds of residents, foundations, and businesses have sent donations, proving how highly Islanders value these types of open space. We are grateful to the property owners for agreeing to conserve their land and we are thrilled to extend the acreage in the Sakonnet Greenway habitat corridor.”