Enhancing land conservation and ecological resiliency in cooperation with public, private, and non-profit land holders.
Conservation Works, LLC was established in 2005 as a conservation consulting firm with extensive expertise in land management, land protection, biological services, land use and open space planning, resource protection zoning, trail system development, and mapping and photo-documentation.
In every area of expertise, Conservation Works brings a broad perspective that comes from years of experience. Clients often come to us with only a loosely defined vision of what they would like to accomplish. Working closely with the client, we are able to provide guidance, strategies, recommendations, and project management that allow the client to achieve a sensible result. In every project, we make an effort to work with clients to transform their visions into tangible accomplishments.
The partners of Conservation Works are Pete Westover, Dick O’Brien, Christopher Curtis, and Andy Vecchio. Each partner brings extensive experience in a broad range of conservation, environmental, trail building and planning projects. The partners have won numerous commendations and awards for their individual work over the past several decades. Collectively, Conservation Works has the expertise and experience to work on a wide variety of private and public projects in the Pioneer Valley and New England. Conservation Works welcomes collaboration with firms seeking the capacity of a natural resource firm with our expertise and qualifications.
We also recognize and fondly remember one of Conservation Works co-founders, Terry Blunt. Terry was a conservation leader in the Commonwealth, and Conservation Works continues his work on many fronts.
Our Clients
Conservation Works has a client list of nearly 200 land trusts, state agencies, towns & cities, colleges, private schools, and individual landowners. Here are some of them:
Amherst College
Feasibility study leading to the establishment of the Book & Plow Farm, conversion of 9 dying red pine stands to a diverse vegetative cover
Kestrel Land Trust
Multiple land negotiations, mapping of 50 trails for KLT’s 50th anniversary, Robert Frost Trail renovation grant
The Trustees (of Reservations)
Baseline reports for Mary Cummings Park (Woburn and Burlington) and many properties on Martha’s Vineyard, planning and development of 1-mile accessible trail at the Doyle Conservation Center
Town of Deerfield
Steering the Town through 4 phases of climate change work under MVP (Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness) grants
Long Island Sound Watershed Partnership
Completion of eight wildlife restoration plans in Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts
CISA
Contract drone photographs of Valley farms at no cost to the farmers
Mass Division of Ecological Restoration
Five wildlife restoration plans in southern Massachusetts under the Healthy Forest Reserve Program
Services for Other Land Trusts
Westport Land Conservation Trust, Opacum Land Trust, Duxbury Land Conservation Trust, Minnechaug Land Trust, Seekonk Land Conservation Trust, Sheffield Land Trust, Mt Grace Land Conservation Trust, Mass Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, Pascommuck Land Trust, Rattesnake Gutter Trust, Connecticut River Conservancy, Columbia County (NY) Conservancy, Broad Brook Coalition
Assistance for Landowners with applications to the Mass Conservation Land Tax Credit Program – owners in Bernardston, Southampton, Amherst, Westhampton
Lathrop Retirement Communities, Easthampton and Northampton
Trail improvements and development of trail master plan
Mass Division of Fish & Wildlife
Breeding bird surveys through the Upland Management Program, baseline documentation reports for newly acquired Conservation Restrictions including 2,100 acres in Shutesbury-Leverett-Pelham
City of Fitchburg
Development of the landmark historic “Rock-walk Trail,” a scenic loop over dramatic Rollstone Hill
Mass Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Office
Inventory of rare plant communities and invasive plant occurrences on Mt Tom in Easthampton and Holyoke, rare goldenrod survey in Berkshire County
Towns of Newton, Lexington, and Belmont
Development of trail plans
Multiple towns
Assistance with applications to the Mass Recreational Trails Program for trail development and construction
Towns of Conway and Sherborn
Ecological inventories of town lands
Mass Scenic Byway Program (through Pioneer Valley Planning Commission)
Development of 1-mile accessible trail and new entrance trail for the New England National Scenic Trail (both in cooperation with Mt Holyoke College), installation of kayak access trail in Hadley, and construction of connecting trail from Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum to Mt Warner, Hadley
Towns of Medway and Dover
Assistance with Open Space & Recreation Plans
Land For Good (Keene, NH)
Development of agricultural land transfer and leasing materials through federally funded “Land Access Project”
New England Small Farm Institute
Several years of master planning for the preservation of the 420-acre Lampson Brook Farm in Belchertown
Hasanamisco Nipmuc Nation
Assistance with land re-acquisition (pro bono)
Insight Meditation Center, Barre
Renovation, mapping, and 10 years of annual maintenance of 4-mile trail system
Town of Whately
Layout and planning of trail access route as part of joint Whately/Kestrel Land Trust purchase of 120-acre Whately Center Woods tract