Is part of your property a hotbed for wildlife? Have you recently done work to enhance wildlife habitats on your land? Would you be willing to have the public visit your property to enjoy wildlife?
If so, you may want to investigate the new Voluntary Public Access (VPA) program for private landowners in northwestern Massachusetts. The Voluntary Public Access Program (VPA) is a new program that pays private landowners to allow public access on their lands which are managed for wildlife habitat to allow wildlife viewing, hiking, fishing and hunting. Landowners can receive a payment of $50/acre to allow public access for a ten year period on their land, $35/acre if they don’t allow hunting.
VPA will purchase either 10 year temporary or permanent easements from landowners in a 28 town region in western Hampshire and Franklin and northern Berkshire County to allow public access to wildlife habitat on their lands for the purpose of hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and hiking. Participating landowners may also be able to sell temporary or permanent trail easements to VPA to provide access to wildlife habitat.
Land in the following towns may be eligible for VPA payments:
Berkshire County: Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hinsdale, New Ashford, North Adams, Peru, Savoy, Williamstown & Windsor
Franklin County: Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Hawley, Heath, Leyden, Monroe, Rowe, and Shelburne
Hampshire County: Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Plainfield, Williamsburg and Worthington
VPA is being funded by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) through the Franklin Land Trust in partnership with the Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation, and the Massachusetts Forest Alliance.
There will be an information meeting about the VPA program on January 10th from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Notchview Reservation on Old Route 9 in Windsor. If you want to attend, call Melissa Patterson at 413 625-9151 to make a reservation.
For more detailed information about the VPA program, see www.franklinlandtrust.org/vpa
To talk about the VPA program, payment rates, and other criteria, contact Greg Cox (gcox@crocker.com or 413 339-5526) from MFA, or contact Melissa Patterson at Franklin Land Trust (mpatterson@franklinlandtrust.org or 413 625-9151).