PORTSMOUTH — The Aquidneck Land Trust (ALT) announced Monday it has received a a $100,000 gift to its Glen Farm campaign, completing the year-long, $472,000 fund-raising effort to conserve the 7.5-acre property in Portsmouth. 

The donation was made by Heather Marren Burgess and William Ernest Burgess III as part of a larger gift to help ALT conserve key properties.

The parcel is adjacent to the Glen Farm Stable, just south of the intersection of Glen Farm Road and Glen Road. The area was once part of the 500-acre Taylor estate, dating back to 1882. It is part of the iconic view corridor along East Main Road, bordered by stone walls and surrounded by farmland, forestland, parks, and trails.

“This generous gift will permanently protect an important and beautiful piece of Aquidneck Island,” said Chuck Allott, executive director of ALT. “We are so grateful to the Burgess family for their commitment to our island community. ALT thanks them and the other 260 donors who helped to make this campaign a success, and we thank Steve Johnson and Meredith and Jason Spitalnik, the owners of the property, for electing to protect this property rather than develop it.”

The property is contiguous to a creek that drains into the Sakonnet River, 500 feet north of Sandy Point Beach. Development on the property could have polluted the creek with fertilizers, pesticides, and other contaminants, potentially impairing the beach. 

The land will continue to be sustainably managed as an essential grazing paddock for horses and, in future, will offer the public a short walking path around the perimeter of the pasture. The conservation easement is expected to become final in June 2021.

The nonprofit ALT has conserved 2,605 acres on 81 properties across Aquidneck Island since its founding in 1990. For more information, visit www.ailt.org.

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