The Fall 2025 Landmark is here:  2025_11 Fall Landmark NCLT.

Additional 13.5 Forested Acres Acquired in  Stafford

The Northern CT Land Trust has purchased a strategic 13.5 acre property in the northwest corner of Stafford, CT.  The property abuts  the land trust’s 118 acre Culver Pond property and the land trust’s 83 acre Hagerty Hollow property as well as a section of the Shenipsit State Forest. Funding for the purchase was provided by the Bafflin Foundation, the Fields Pond Foundation and the members and friends of the NCLT.     

The land trust plans to add this Ricci property as an extension of the Culver Pond Nature Preserve for the protection of the wide variety of wildlife in the area. The property will be opened to the public for passive recreation when trail work is completed..  There will be a trail connecting the networks of trails on the NCLT’s two abutting properties.

Chestnut Orchard Project Update

As has been previously reported, starting in 2007 NCLT established a chestnut orchard at Swann Farm in Ellington in partnership with The American Chestnut foundation. The orchard is part of The American Chestnut Foundation’s (TACF) effort to create a blight resistant American chestnut which can be introduced into and thrive in forests within its former range. NCLT volunteers created and maintained  the orchard with expertise and guidance provided by TACF. Over 300 nuts were planted in 2007 and 2008. The nuts were gathered from existing pure American chestnuts in Stafford and Rocky Hill which had been pollinated with pollen from back-crossed TACF trees. The back-cross program crosses American chestnuts with Chinese chestnuts which have natural resistance to the blight. These trees which are nominally 50% American are then back-crossed to pure American trees in successive generations to produce trees that are theoretically 93% American.