TNC Acquires 105 Acres of West Greenwich Forest

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) announced today that it has acquired a 105-acre open space property near the West Greenwich-Exeter town line for forest protection and public recreation, including hunting.

TNC combined the newly protected property with previously conserved land to form the Bernard and Donald Harrington Preserve. The preserve—TNC’s 26^th in Rhode Island—is now open to the public and offers more than three miles of hiking trails across 319 acres of field and forest.

TNC purchased the land for $720,000 from David Harrington and his cousins, Colleen Derjue and Bernard Harrington, Jr., who all have lifelong ties to the property and wanted to see it protected.

“We grew up on this land and walked it endlessly, said David Harrington. “We are so happy to preserve it, in hopes that others will be able to enjoy it as much as we have.”

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) contributed $540,000 in grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program and the 2022 voter-approved Green Bond in exchange for a conservation easement, which provides further legal protection for the land. TNC matched the federal and state funds with support from the Thomas and Dorothy Ginty Memorial Endowment Fund and the Bafflin Foundation.

“DEM extends its sincere gratitude to the Harrington family for their dedication to land conservation and preservation. Don Harrington, a founding member of the West Greenwich Conservation Commission, devoted more than two decades of service to protecting Rhode Island’s natural resources,” said DEM Director Terry Gray. “This project embodies the spirit of conservation in our state—collaboration, perseverance, and a shared love of the land. Through partnership, we’re safeguarding and connecting critical forest and water resources, expanding opportunities for people to experience nature, and ensuring that this landscape remains vibrant and healthy.”  

Located between the Big River Management Area and the Audubon Society of Rhode Island’s Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge, the Harrington Preserve connects more than 9,000 acres of protected forest and wetlands. The acquisition expands protection over an important wildlife habitat and drinking water supply area near the headwaters of the Queen’s River, one of the healthiest streams in southern New England.

“As a connecting piece, this was an important property to conserve and we’re grateful for the Harrington family’s partnership, going back over 25 years now, said Scott Comings, TNC’s associate state director in Rhode Island. “Across North America, TNC has mapped large areas of habitat that will continue to sustain migratory birds and other wildlife, even with climate change, and this is one of those places.”

For more than 50 years, Bernie and Don Harrington managed the property in support of a local sawmill known as Harrington Lumber. The brothers’ sustainable harvesting practices left the forest in excellent condition, and they sold 207 acres abutting Big River to TNC in 1999. Their descendants sold the remaining 105 acres to protect the land from development and honor their family’s legacy.

The conserved property features white pine and oak forest and contains part of Pendock Brook, a coldwater tributary of Fisherville Brook and the Queen’s River. It also includes an 11-acre wildflower meadow, which supports native bees and other pollinators. The property provides vital habitat for species of “greatest conservation need” in Rhode Island’s statewide Wildlife Action Plan, including fishers, bobcats and many deep forest-nesting songbirds like wood thrush and scarlet tanager.