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, the administrative organization for the Five College consortium, recently granted the gift of a small, forest pond to the state’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW). The DFW had expressed interest in acquiring the pond property in March 2001 for the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP).
The 25-acre property, known as Lily Pond, is located in Goshen, Massachusetts, and is accessible only on foot, according to Five Colleges, Inc. The property contains a “high-quality, stream-headwaters Acidic Level Bog,” according to DFW studies and is recognized by the NHESP as a “priority natural community” for protection.
The deed to the Goshen property includes a stipulation that Five College students and faculty will always retain legal access to Lily Pond for research purposes. The Lily Pond area now includes more than 300 acres protected from development.
The bog at Lily Pond is “undisturbed and surrounded by extensive intact hemlock-red maple-yellow birch-red oak woods,” says Lynn Harper of the NHESP, with “over abundant growth of mountain laurel.”
Peter J. Milanesi of the DFW, thanked Five Colleges, Inc. “for their willingness to gift this great place to the DFW for wildlife and wildlife habitat protection and for all your work, cooperation and patience in making this transaction a reality.”
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