Pump Box Brook Preserve is a 78-acre property mostly covered in a rich hardwood forest (beech, oak, birch, and maple), which includes a large open wetland, extensive forested wetlands, and frontage on Pump Box Brook. That waterway is known to contain wild brook trout, its wetlands provide nesting areas for herons and other migratory birds, and vernal pools in the wetland complex support frog and salamander populations. The conserved land of the preserve will help to protect the water quality and habitat for those species, but also benefits the downstream reaches of the Brook and Mousam Lake, which is just a few miles downstream.
When extreme weather driven by climate change hits our region, we may be faced with unusually large rainfall events, coming in shorter bursts. When there is conserved natural land around our rivers and lakes, the forests and wetlands of that land serve to absorb the impact of additional rain, settling sediment in winding streams and slow-flowing wetlands before it can wash into larger rivers and lakes. With the conservation of Pump Box Brook Preserve, we are preserving for the long term this essential function of the land. In addition, the intact forests help to capture carbon to promote climate stability.
The Preserve was also a working farm prior to the 1940’s, and there is evidence of the historic use of the land. By protecting this property from development, we are preserving these traces of the area’s history.
