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Places We Protect

Berkshire Wildlife Linkage

Massachusetts

Rolling hills covered in green, yellow and orange-leaved trees with mountains in the background.
A Safe Place for Wildlife The wetlands of Schenob Brook Preserve in the Southern Berkshires provide critical land and habitat for wildlife and rare plants. © Harold E. Malde

The forests, wetlands and rivers of Western Massachusetts are an irreplaceable link in the Appalachian Mountain landscape that protects plants and animals.

Conserving Forest Cores

The forests of the Berkshire and Taconic Highlands of Western Massachusetts link the Green Mountains of Vermont to the Hudson Highlands of New York, creating a connected corridor of habitat for wide-ranging species such as black bear, moose and bobcat, as well as many other important plants and animals. This geography—known as the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage—has an estimated 75% forest cover and includes the most intact forest ecosystem in southern New England. The Linkage sits within the northern range of the Appalachian Mountains, one of the most resilient, diverse and productive places on Earth.

The Nature Conservancy and our partners have been protecting this landscape for decades because of its ability to support rare species, ensure clean air and water, provide beautiful natural areas for recreation and store carbon. Forest cores like these often overlap with critical wetlands surrounding streams and rivers, all of which are some of the most resilient to climate change.

A brown bird with a white spotted chest on a branch.
Bird Habitat The variety of microclimates in the Western Massachusetts landscape makes it an excellent habitat for species like the wood thrush. © Jonathan Pierce

Characteristics of This High Quality Habitat

The landscape between the Connecticut River and the New York border represent some of the highest elevations in Massachusetts and Connecticut. High-quality cold-water rivers and streams provide habitat for brook trout, and calcium-rich bedrock in the valley is home to unique ecosystems like calcareous fens, which are hotspots for both regionally and globally rare species.

These forests and wetlands provide habitat for abundant wildlife, both large and small mammals, from moose and bear to porcupines and river otters to bats and flying squirrels. Wetlands and rivers are home to rare and important reptiles and amphibians, like bog and wood turtles, yellow spotted salamanders and northern leopard frogs. Interior forests are great habitats for migratory songbirds including black-throated blue and green warblers, ovenbird, wood thrush, red-eyed and yellow-throated vireos, and more. Some bird species nest in our forests, and others use the landscape as a pit stop as they travel to and from nesting sites further north.

This diversity of habitats and ecosystems in such a small area makes the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage among the most important areas in all of New England for long-term survival of rare and endangered species—and all species. 

Conservation Goals

The Berkshire Wildlife Linkage contains the highest concentrations of complex and varied habitats in Southern New England.

According to TNC’s analysis of resilient and connected landscapes across the continental United States, if we can effectively protect these landscapes, they will support robust wildlife and plant populations—and the people who depend on them—into the future. Given the effects of a changing climate, these places have the right characteristics to provide plants and animals with options for roaming and making a home, preventing extinction as the world faces a biodiversity crisis.

A Place for Wildlife to Roam

Our goal for this critically important landscape is to protect a continuous north-south corridor of lands, creating a vast regional network of open space that will safeguard biodiversity. The forested landscape of Western Massachusetts provides an irreplacable link in the Applachian Mountain Chain of the eastern United States. This Greens-to-Hudson Linkage is one of 10 that are a part of the regional Staying Connected Initiative.

Our definition of success in the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage is that within it, wildlife of all types, from bears to beetles, move freely and safely, thanks to culverts and other passageways under or over roadways. Foxes, otters, salamanders and other moderately mobile wildlife are our measuring stick—if we are successful, these animals will always be able to reach their next home through a landscape that provides for their needs.

Black salamanders with bright yellow spots on top of orange fall foliage on the ground.
A Habitat for Wildlife Spotted salamanders are just one of many species that makes their home in the high quality habitat of Western Massachusetts, in the southern Berkshires. © Rene Wendell/TNC

Capturing Carbon

These landscapes will also be critical for absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it long term, a key pathway toward mitigating climate change. The Berkshire Wildlife Linkage has some of the largest amounts of above-ground biomass—plants and soil that will absorb carbon and hold onto it—in all of New England.

Accomplishing Our Conservation Goals

How we're working to ensure the lands of the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage are protected and stewarded far into the future

Connectivity

Even with a landscape of large protected parcels, wildlife needs to navigate the intense network of roads that criss-cross the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage. Our plan is to maintain or increase animals’ ability to cross all major roads within their path.

A gray striped bobcat stands in the snow looking at the camera.
Linking Habitats for Wildlife Growing and maintaining protected lands within the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage is critical to ensuring that species like bobcat have resilient lands within which to roam, forage, find safety and mate. © Roger Irwin

Ecological Restoration and Management

Our goals are to maintain and restore conservation lands for both rare habitat protection and maximum carbon storage using a diversity of forest management strategies. This includes monitoring and maintaining boundaries and trails, as well as restoration work for rare-species habitat and to control invasive species.

Collaborative Land Protection

Collectively, between TNC, state agencies, land trusts, federal agencies and municipalities, 40% of the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage has been legally protected to conserve critical habitats and benefits to people in perpetuity. This is tremendous progress, but there is more work to be done, as the network of protected lands is incomplete and fragmented.

We are working to ensure that new land-protection efforts in the region build out forest core areas and make connections between protected areas to ensure a continuous corridor for species to move and thrive. For example, TNC and MassWildlife's BioMap can help conservation organizations, municipalities and others gain critical insights on biodiversity, resilience, climate and other data to inform land-protection strategy and decisions. 

A Map, A Tool, A Vision

A tool showing the biodiversity, resilience and more of Massachusetts' landscapes

Check out BioMap
A stewardship intern cuts back an invasive bush in an open wetland in winter.
Habitat Management Maintaining and restoring resilient lands, like this wetland landscape in the Berkshires, is an important part of protecting rare habitats for wildlife and plants.  © Angela Sirois-Pitel/TNC

Advocating for Conservation

No one organization or agency can accomplish these ambitious goals alone. Lasting conservation success is built on smart policies and funding tools, such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a critical federal investment in nature and public lands for which TNC has advocated. 

Partnerships

TNC recognizes that collaboration is critical to protecting land at a large scale. By being a member of partnerships like the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage Regional Conservation Partnership and the Staying Connected Initiative, we can share knowledge, team up on initiatives and maximize impact.

Blue logo of a whale tail and a sea bird flying.
Funding Partners: Removing the Becker Pond Dam was made possible in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET). © MET

A Glimpse Into Our Stewardship Efforts

TNC in Massachusetts’ Mt. Plantain Preserve, about 1,650 acres in the southwestern corner of the state, is part of a critical conservation and recreation area that TNC and partners have protected for years. As we embarked on efforts to steward the ecosystem and improve access to nearby trails for recreation and hunting, it became clear that an old 95-foot-long dam over a stream on the property was a safety hazard.

The Becker Pond dam is in poor condition, so the process of removing it is underway—access to it is closed off and TNC is working with the state to design and permit a dam removal project. It is a priority project by the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, and the Massachusetts Environmental Trust provided a grant to help with permitting and project design.

Removing the dam will help restore the stream, an intact cold-water habitat for brook trout, as well as reduce safety hazards and provide better access to the area with a new trail that will be constructed after the dam removal is complete. A design of the removal and the permitting process are ongoing.   

Path through a lush green forest with undergrowth and tall trees.
For the Forests TNC's Drury Preserve in Sheffield, Massachusetts, protects forests and wetlands that support a variety of species that call the region and greater Appalachians home. © Mike Condon Photography

Preserves in the Berkshires

TNC owns or manages roughly 8,000 acres in Western Massachusetts, from the Northern Pioneer Valley to the mountains of the Southern Berkshires. We have helped protect 14,500 acres in the region over the years and have transferred 6,500 acres to other conservation organizations to manage. These partnerships are key to having the broadest land protection impact.

A few of our preserves in the region are open to the public, including:

Find More Places We Protect

The Nature Conservancy owns nearly 1,500 preserves covering more than 2.5 million acres across all 50 states. These lands protect wildlife and natural systems, serve as living laboratories for innovative science and connect people to the natural world.

See the Complete Map

Our Work in the Region

A bobcat passes through a tunnel under I-90 in MA.

How Does the Bobcat Cross the Mass Pike

TNC in Massachusetts is leading an effort to assess and map culverts under Interstate 90 to identify those that can serve as corridors for wildlife to pass under the road.

Aerial view of a river running through a forested landscape.

Connecting Lands for Climate Resilience

TNC data shows which landscapes will support plants and animals as the climate changes. We're working to protect them.

An adult male moose with antlers stands in a pond drinking water surrounded by bright green bushes.

Moose on the Move

Check out this Nature Connects webinar featuring MassWildlife's Dr. Dave Wattles discussing his research on moose movements in Massachusetts.

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