The early days of HCT: A conversation with Founding Trustee Ken Mason

When we met at a Harwich Port coffee shop, Ken Mason was sporting a vintage Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) sweatshirt, circa 1990. It still looked great!

As an HCT Founding Trustee, Mason was there when it all began. It was 1988, and a group of citizens banded together to address the rapid pace of development that was threatening the natural resources of the town.

Decades and hundreds of preserved acres later, HCT is a regional leader in the ongoing effort to protect woods, water and wildlife, and recently completed two ambitious eco-restoration projects.

Like-minded people get together

How did this wonderful journey get started? “It was Bob Smith,” said Mason, crediting the late Robert F. Smith, a Founding Trustee and longtime HCT President. “It was Bob’s vision. He and I were good friends. I was in the food and wine industry and he was a big wine lover. So, we had a connection there, and a lot of mutual friends. And he found other like-minded individuals.”

At the time, Mason was the chef and co-owner (along with his wife, Jill) of The Mason Jar, a legendary Harwich Port restaurant. Mason first came to Harwich for a summer restaurant job while he was attending the Culinary Institute of America. That’s where he met Jill, who has deep Harwich Port roots.

And Harwich Port became the hub of the just-hatched HCT, with meetings held in a room at the nearby branch of the Cape Cod Five bank.

We asked Mason how HCT progressed in the early years. “Well, it was slow,” he recalled. “At first, we were looking for property owners to put their land into conservation easements, because we didn’t have any money to buy anything. It was only later when we started doing better fundraising and were able to buy property.”

It all started with a quarter-acre

HCT jumped into the conservation game in 1990, by preserving a quarter-acre lot in East Harwich overlooking Mill Pond. That beautiful little parcel has a lot of company these days.

The Trust has helped to protect more than 850 acres, including woodlands north of Coy’s Brook which is the major tributary to the Herring River, land above public drinking water supplies, land on the Monomoy River that flows into Pleasant Bay as well as quiet white cedar wetlands and wide-open salt marsh vistas.

A sea change in the HCT story occurred when Mike Lach came aboard as Executive Director in 2005. “Before that, we were 8 or 10 or 12 people with other jobs who were volunteering their time,” said Mason. “We didn’t have the expertise to go out and look for grant money. Bob (Smith) and Mike were a great team. Having a staff made the organization more efficient — and just look at the land we’ve been able to preserve.”

A box seat at Cold Brook

The Masons’ home borders HCT’s Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve, where a recent eco-restoration project has transformed retired cranberry bogs into thriving wetlands and created habitat for native plant species and a wide variety of wildlife.

Cold Brook is now flowing freely through the Preserve for the first time in more than a century, and the project included the creation of an All Persons Trails, which allow people of all abilities and ages to enjoy nature.

“It’s beautiful,” said Mason. “We can walk out our back door and walk onto the Preserve and see the wildlife. People are loving the trails.” Mason’s granddaughters have also been on the lookout for the celebrity Cold Brook otters.

Looking back, Mason said he was delighted and a little surprised by how far HCT has come. “I’m thrilled about the amount of land we’ve been able to preserve,” he said. “I think it’s very important that people continue to support HCT. It’s money well-spent.”

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