News

Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) is grateful to partner with Taylor-Bray Farm (taylorbrayfarm.org) in Yarmouth Port this year for a series of outdoor family adventures. The Taylor-Bray Farm is a unique conservation destination that also has historical significance stretching back over the last 10,000 years. From the first Native peoples to call this land home, the…

Reflections by Naturalist & Walk Leader Andrea Higgins Photos courtesy of HCT Outreach & Administrative Coordinator Halley Steinmetz Ecosystem Explorers and their caregivers gathered today at the beautiful Coy’s Brook Woodlands for our last morning adventure of summer 2024. I invited Explorers to pretend to be ecologists studying the ecosystem as we set off down…

Largest Remaining Privately-Owned Property in Harwich If you’ve ever biked or walked along the Cape Cod Rail Trail through the woods in Harwich, there is a memorable moment where the forest suddenly opens up to reveal a breath-taking vista with panoramic views across the Thacher family’s cranberry bogs. Only a few open spaces like this…

Harwich Conservation Trust’s (HCT) 36th Annual Meeting on August 12th was attended by over 170 members eager to celebrate this year’s accomplishments. Generously hosted by the Wequassett Resort, it was a perfect sunny summer evening overlooking Pleasant Bay with temps in the 70s. Folks mingled on the patio, enjoying a delicious assortment of hors d’oeuvres…

Childhood Memories of a Born Naturalist I was about 8 years old and sitting quietly in a small skiff, surrounded by a seemingly endless sea. My Dad would bring me out to catch cod and mackerel on summer days. Sometimes my big sister Madeleine would accompany us. We were carefree, never worried about fog setting…

As part of the Save Land-Save Water Initiative, Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) is focusing on preserving priority watershed properties that can help protect water resources like the Herring River, harbors, ponds, and drinking water supply. HCT in collaboration with the Town of Harwich and State’s Conservation Partnership Grant Program recently completed the preservation of five…

Each Tuesday morning, Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) volunteers work on land stewardship projects ranging from trail maintenance to habitat restoration. The past two Tuesdays, HCT Land Stewardship volunteers made great progress trimming vegetation in the electric utility line easements that cross the D. Isabel Smith Monomoy River Conservation Lands and Pleasant Bay Woodlands. In an…

Members of the Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) and the Harwich Fire Association (HFA) gathered at 203 Bank Street on Saturday, June 22nd to support two exciting projects: the restoration of the Town’s First Firehouse and enhancing public access for HCT’s ecologically restored 66-acre Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve. Folks enjoyed touring the renovation progress…

The 259-acre Bell’s Neck Conservation Lands surrounding the West Reservoir (fresh water) and East Reservoir (brackish) offer trails with scenic views of wind-ruffled water and sweeping salt marsh. Each spring, river herring swim upstream through the reservoirs to the Herring River, and ospreys return, soaring overhead and fishing the plentiful waterways. This thriving ecosystem is…