| Fast Facts |
location
20 miles southwest of Providence, 60 miles east of Hartford
ecoregions
Lower New England and North Atlantic Coast
project size
136,000 acres
preserves
Long Pond/Ell Pond, Canonchet Brook
public lands
Pachaug State Forest, Arcadia Management Area
partners
state governments, Avalonia Land Trust, Hopkinton Land Trust, West Greenwich Land Conservancy, North Stonington Citizens Land Alliance, Coventry Land Trust, Wood Pawcatuck Watershed Association, Denison-Pequotsepos Nature Center, local landowners
natural events
spectacular foliage, fall; alewife runs, spring | |
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| Pristine and flowing with some of the cleanest waters in New England, the Pawcatuck watershed is a rare and quiet breed in an urbanized landscape. |
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Pachaug State Forest.
© Michael Melford |
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Embraced by forest, the Pawcatuck River sculpts a natural boundary between Rhode Island and Connecticut. A few textile and sawmills populate its banks. Remnant dairy farms and scattered stone walls frame a picturesque rural setting. After sunset, this undisturbed landscape comprises the only strip of darkness between Washington, D.C., and Boston when viewed from the sky.
Thick stands of oak, hickory, maple and pine dominate 85 percent of the Pawcatuck Borderlands, the largest unfragmented forest in the urbanized Northeast corridor. Dry and sandy soils punctuated by wetlands nurture giant rhododendron and Atlantic white cedar, prized by early European settlers for its rot-resistant qualities and harvested for fencing and shingles. Pileated woodpeckers, scarlet tanagers, fisher, black bear and the rare butterfly Hessel’s hairstreak thrive in these extensive, unbroken woodlands. |
Painted turtle.
© Ed Reschke/Peter Arnold, Inc. |
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The Pawcatuck Borderlands’ forests filter and channel water that drains into some of the cleanest watersheds in New England: the Wood, the Pachaug, the Mossup and the Shunock. These clear rivers, streams, ponds and ground waters support much of Rhode Island’s and Connecticut’s basic human needs for water while sustaining hearty populations |
| of native brook trout, alewife and herring. The best way of drinking in this beauty is to canoe some of the rivers, observing rare dragonflies, painted turtles and great blue heron up close. | |
The Nature Conservancy is working across 200 square miles of the Pawcatuck Borderlands to respond to development and tourism pressures that have emerged in this once-quiet corner of New England. We are working with towns and local residents to protect high-quality forest as well as clean water and the watershed’s rural character.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in Rhode Island. |
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| Conservation Profile |
targets
forests, rivers, alewife, blueback herring, Atlantic white cedar swamps, Hessel’s hairstreak, banded boghaunter, green adders mouth orchid
stresses
residential development, road construction, resort development
strategies
acquire land, secure conservation easements, restore ecosystems through fire management, strengthen local partner organizations, promote compatible development
results
10,000 acres protected since 1990; helped two communities pass open-space funding initiatives | | | | |
