Rural settings get state protection
Posted in: Accomplishments on 11/23/2008 | No Comments
By Jennifer Fenn Lefferts, Globe Correspondent | November 23, 2008
These fields along School Street in Acton are among the 215 acres that have been given open space protection by the state. The Department of Correction owns the land. (Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)
The rural landscape along Routes 2 and 2A in Acton and Concord, seasonally dotted with rows of cornstalks, cows feeding, and children playing soccer, will not change any time soon.
After nearly four years of talks between several state agencies, legislators, municipal leaders, and environmental groups, 215 acres owned by the Department of Correction will be permanently protected by law as open space. The acreage is split nearly equally between Acton and Concord.
“Route 2 has been able to retain its character as a rural highway without any McDonald’s or Home Depots, and this continues that rural character,” said state Representative Jamie Eldridge, an Acton Democrat who cosponsored the legislation. “The traffic is already bad, but this will ensure that it won’t get worse and won’t become a Route 9.”
The bill protecting the farmland was pushed by the local legislative delegation including Eldridge, Democratic senators Susan Fargo of Lincoln and Pamela Resor of Acton, and Representative Cory Atkins, a Concord Democrat. It was signed by Governor Deval Patrick this summer, and state and local officials recently gathered at the soccer fields along School Street in Acton to mark the designation. The fields are part of the state property that will now be protected.
