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Leslie Sweetnam
Bigelow Brook
Bill Toomey
Still River
Alden Warner
Meyers Pond, Union

Connecticut's Last Great Places

Quinebaug Highlands Landscape

A remarkable forest in the "Last Green Valley"

Quinebaug Highlands Favorite Places to Visit

Satellite Image

Spanning the border of the "quiet corner" of Northeastern Connecticut and south-central Massachusetts is the Quinebaug Highlands Landscape.  It is home to species requiring vast expanses of forest, such as black bear, moose, bobcat and fisher, and nesting habitat for migratory songbirds.  The region's healthy oak, hickory, and Eastern hemlock forest, sprinkled with northern hardwood species such as white birch, encompasses the watershed of the Natchaug River and portions of the Quinebaug, Shetucket and Willimantic river watersheds.  Within this landscape's rugged, remote and roadless stretches are several rare natural communities as well as rare plant and animal species.

Much of the land in this area, which covers approximately 269 square miles, is in private ownership, providing an opportunity for the Conservancy to work with landowners to keep it forested and rural.  Many residents are eager to maintain the rural character of the area, which includes numerous working farms.  Traversed by the Nipmuck Trail and the Natchaug River, the region is a favorite for hiking, fishing, and canoeing.

Most of the project area is contained within the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor. Because of the forested and rural character of this landscape in the midst of the sprawling Boston-to-Washington corridor, the area is often referred to as "The Last Green Valley."  

  • Ralph and Cecilia Otto of Union have added another 28 acres to the land they have protected through donations to The Nature Conservancy.  The couple have agreed to convey a total of 150 acres in parcels over a number of years, completing the donations in 2009.  READ PRESS RELEASE
  • Working together, the towns of Eastford and Woodstock and The Nature Conservancy are protecting 128 acres in the two towns that had been the Boy Scout's Camp Nahaco.  READ PRESS RELEASE
  • The Nature Conservancy and the Opacum Land Trust have joined together to purchased 41 acres in Southbridge, Mass. in a bargain sale.   READ PRESS RELEASE
  • The Nature Conservancy Connecticut Chapter purchased 92 acres of wetlands and upland buffer at Lower Pond, south of Quaddick Road in August.  The Wyndham Land Trust will ultimately own and manage the property.  The land is adjacent to 40 acres on the west side of Lower Pond protected with help from the Conservancy in 1999 and 1994.  The acquisition will bring the Wyndham Land Trust's holdings at this site to 132 acres.  The Conservancy and the land trust were awarded a $50,000 grant for this purchase from the state Department of Environmental Protection's Open Space Acquisition Program, and is now working to raise the rest.  READ PRESS RELEASE
  • The Nature Conservancy and the Green Valley Institute join forces for the Quinebaug Highlands.  READ PRESS RELEASE
  • For information on the Quinebaug Highlands Program, please contact Holly Drinkuth at 860/535-1355, or hdrinkuth@tnc.org.

Partner organizations:

Green Valley Institute

Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust

New Roxbury Land Trust

Opacum Land Trust

Woodstock Conservation Commission