On the clear blue Thursday afternoon of October 23rd, 2008, Governor Deval Patrick, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles, Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin, Senator Ben Downing and many other dignitaries and local residents gathered by Steadman Pond in Monterey to celebrate Phase II of the Hudson Conservation Project, largely brought to fruition by the Hudsons with the help of the Monterey Preservation Land Trust, the Berkshire Natural Resources Council, and the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game. Together a remarkable conservation effort was celebrated that will protect an additional 73 Hudson acres, including Steadman Pond, on the west side of Tyringham Road, and also adding 61 Hudson acres to the MPLT’s 324 acre Mt. Hunger property on the east side. These 458 acres are now consolidated under a state Conservation Restriction, and along with the 356 acres of Hudson property conserved in Phase I, constitute a remarkable, contiguous preserved habitat totaling over 800 acres.

Preservation of this 800-acre-plus landscape would not have been possible without the foresight and generosity of our partners,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said at the ceremony.” The Commonwealth owes a debt of gratitude to the Hudson family for choosing to preserve this property rather than sell it to developers, to the Berkshire Natural Resources Council for helping to protect this significant parcel of pristine land, and to the Monterey Preservation Land Trust for its extraordinary donation of conservation restrictions worth $2 million.”

The Hudson Conservation Project also puts two wonderful properties back on the tax rolls in Monterey, a win-win result for the town and for Massachusetts hunters, hikers, and naturalists.

The directors of the Monterey Preservation Land Trust are proud of and grateful to Sarah and Barclay Hudson, Tad Ames and the Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Peter Milanesi and everyone else at the Department of Fish and Game who helped make this possible, and everyone at the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, including David Cash, Assistant Secretary of Policy at EEA.

Jonathan Sylbert, President