A boost for water resource protection: HCT Launches Robbins Pond Woodlands Project

Thanks to a state grant program designed to supplement local land protection, Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) is launching a fundraising effort to preserve nearly 18 acres of environmentally sensitive land that includes 275 feet of shoreline habitat on Robbins Pond in West Harwich.

This new project is part of HCT’s ongoing Priority Ponds Project, a long-term strategic land-saving plan to preserve sensitive watershed parcels that can protect pond water quality and wildlife habitat.

The property abuts the 3.3-acre Robbins Pond Preserve, purchased by HCT in 2023 from owner Scott Trask who recognized an opportunity to preserve his land in perpetuity. The forested area is across the pond from the extensive Town of Harwich-owned Robbins Pond Conservation Area and Herring River Greenway to the east, and Brewster’s 900-acre Punkhorn Parklands to the north.

The hope with this new 18-acre initiative is to preserve biodiversity along the western shore of the pond and help keep groundwater clean. Historical maps indicate a stream once meandered from the pond to the Herring River through the 18 acres before the adjoining wetlands were converted to bogs about a century ago and before Route 6 was built in the 1950s. Today, a slow stream flow somehow still finds its way from the pond through the worn, rustic ditches before dipping under Factory Road and Route 6, then eventually merging with the Herring River. 

Preserving this land will help protect the public drinking water supply, as the 18 acres are located within a town wellfield recharge area. In addition to safeguarding water quality in Robbins Pond and the Herring River watershed, the land provides wildlife habitat for animals including songbirds, raptors and mammals. A diversity of dragonfly and damselfly species (including rarities) zip along the shallow shoreline of reeds that buffers the forested slope in the summer.

State signals strong support

In October, the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), selected the 18-acre initiative for a $225,000 grant as long as HCT can raise the rest of the funds needed to complete the project, which is estimated at $550,000. The state’s Conservation Partnership grant program is part of a broader effort to support local climate resilience and land conservation. Protection of the public drinking water supply, ponds, rivers and other water resources as well as saving wildlife habitat for rare species helps applicants like HCT earn this “green investment” by the state.

“Protecting open spaces is about investing in the health, safety and wellbeing of our communities,” said Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. “These projects support local economies, improve public health and make our neighborhoods better places to live. This funding helps ensure that every resident has access to the benefits of nature.”

HCT has also completed a funding application seeking $225,000 toward the project that is under review by the Town of Harwich Community Preservation Committee (CPC).  The funds would go toward the acquisition of a Conservation Restriction on the property by the Town of Harwich, to be held by the Town Conservation Commission.

If the application is approved by the CPC, Harwich Town Meeting voters would have the opportunity in May to approve the  Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding. CPA funds are derived annually from a 3% property tax surcharge on all real estate in town. Separate from the general town budget, this CPA source of revenue does not compete with other important town needs like schools, fire and police services, highway maintenance or other municipal services. CPA funding is devoted exclusively toward open space acquisition, affordable housing, historic preservation and recreation based on recommendations from CPC and at the discretion of Town Meeting voters.

‘The land will remain open’

We are grateful to the Jussila family, who is thoughtfully choosing a conservation future for the land by selling it to HCT. This long since abandoned commercial cranberry bog property was retired from production in the 1950s. Since that time the bogs and surrounding upland have been allowed to naturalize to pitch pine-oak woodlands and wooded red maple wetlands.

“It’s nice to know that the land will remain open,” said Bill Jussila, who has lived in the family home adjacent to the property since 1947, when he was two years old.

The land was a huge part of his life and there was a lot of room to roam. “They started calling this ‘horse country’ because a lot of people had horses up this way, ” he remembered. “And I learned to drive here when I was 14 or 15. We had an old Model A jalopy.”

When Jussila was growing up, Harwich was still a small town, with a population of about 2.500 residents. “Everyone knew everyone, everyone worked together,” said Jussila. “We had 32 kids in our graduating class (at Harwich High School) in 1963.”

That spirit of working together is still strong in Harwich. And there is still work to do to make the Robbins Pond Woodland Project a reality. Besides the $225,000 application under review by CPC, additional funds will need to be raised to complete this HCT land-saving effort. Your land-saving support is greatly appreciated to help protect Robbins Pond and the Herring River.

As we move into 2026, HCT will keep folks up to date with our progress.

These kinds of projects build community and preserve our sense of place and quality of life. Our coastal waters, ponds and sole source aquifer are treasured resources that are under constant threat by development. HCT believes that the best way to protect our waters is to preserve the surrounding land.

Stay tuned for more on the Robbins Pond Woodlands Project. As we like to say in the HCT office, “Onward!”

—Sign up for HCT eNews, a great way to stay in the loop about exciting HCT events, guided walks and other interesting news.

—Your tax-deductible contributions help fulfill the mission of the Harwich Conservation Trust to preserve land that protects woods, water, wildlife and our shared quality of life. And your land-saving financial support helps us preserve beautiful properties that can become stellar trail destinations. Find out how to donate by clicking here.