Nature Conservancy Acquires 169 Acres in Queen's River Watershed
Purchase Protects Headwaters of Important River
West Greenwich, RI—February 4, 2004—The Nature Conservancy has purchased 169 acres from Everett, David and Richard Berlinsky, protecting important land along the Queen's River.
"Preserving this land helps protect one of Rhode Island's most exceptional rivers, really one of the state's treasures, as well as the area's drinking water," said Kathleen Wainwright, Director for Conservation Programs.
Landowner Everett Berlinsky added, "I fell in love with this land many years ago, and I'm delighted that it will now be available in its present state for future generations."
The Department of Environmental Management has committed $400,000 from its Open Space Grant Program toward the $800,000 purchase price. The Champlin Foundations and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation are contributing the remainder of the purchase price.
The Queen's River is one of the most pristine rivers in the state and throughout the region, containing species that indicate exceptional water quality. Native brook trout, freshwater mussels and rare dragonflies that depend on clean, cool waters thrive there. The Queen's River watershed forms part of the sole source aquifer that provides drinking water to much of South County. With this acquisition, the Conservancy will have protected more than 1,000 acres within the watershed, in addition to already protected land at Fisherville Brook and Marion Eppley Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Queen's River watershed encompasses more than 23,000 acres stretching from the Big River Management Area in West Greenwich to the Great Swamp Management Area in South Kingstown. The river flows southwest through the village of Usquepaug before finally reaching the Pawcatuck River in South Kingstown. The river contains the state's highest concentration of freshwater mussels; as the preferred food for many fish and mammal species, mussels are the basis of numerous wildlife food chains and their presence is a good indicator of a healthy river system. One in 10 of American mussel species became extinct in the last century and almost three quarters of the remaining species are globally rare.
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