Iconic East Bay Farmland Preserved
Thursday, August 12, 2010
It's a win for open space, for historic preservation, and for the environment.
The Nature Conservancy, the State of Rhode Island, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Tiverton Land Trust, and the Little Compton Agricultural Conservation Trust are pleased to announced the protection of Ferolbink Farm in Tiverton and Little Compton, Rhode Island.
This important farm is one of six potato farms in Rhode Island and also contains critically important coastal marsh. The $4 million project was the result of multiple partners working together, and the Pekham Family who waited many years for the project to happen.
The 179-acre farmland next to Fogland Marsh and the Sakonnet River will maintain 126.7 acres for farming, with 13 acres used to improve the shoreline along the river and marsh. The rest will remain open space.
With the DEM contributing $1.1 million, the US Department of Agriculture contributing $1.92 million through its Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust contributing $1 million in private donations, Ferolbink Farm will continue to support and promote local agriculture.
“Land protection helps preserve a vital industry in Rhode Island, agriculture," said Kenneth Ayers, Chief of the Division of Agriculture for the State of Rhode Island. "The fact that these acres are protected means there will be an additional base of farmland that will be forever available to grow crops, [which is] important given our growing need to produce food locally.”
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