The Open Space and Recreation Plan is produced by the Conservation Commission, and according to its statement of purpose, provides a model to be used to protect assets essential to maintaining Harvard’s rural nature, retaining its character, and providing its residents a safe, healthy, and pleasant place to live. The plan fulfills eligibility requirements to participate in state grant programs that reimburse towns for land purchases and development costs, and is a valuable resource for groups attempting to secure funding through other venues. The current plan is the fifth revision, with updates required every five years. The plan is still in draft form, pending inclusion of special groups (such as handicapped and elderly) in the analysis of needs. In 2003, the Harvard Open Space & Recreation Rewrite Committee conducted a complete overhaul of the entire plan. That rewrite made it possible for the 2008 update committee to simply review and update the existing plan.
At its heart, the plan is an inventory of protected and unprotected land, together with an environmental analysis, statement of community goals, analysis of needs, and a five-year action plan. Its statement of purpose says, “Having a written record of the town’s goals is a way to ensure continuity when the people in town government change. The Open Space and Recreation Plan tells us how we got to where we are today, and gives us something to build on in the future. Information in this plan has been reviewed by and incorporated in the Master Plan.”
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A stone wall along Prospect Hill Road sits above one of the town’s most scenic vistas.
(Photo by Sue Fitterman) |
The committee for the 2008 update included Conservation Commission Chairman Paul Willard, Conservation Agent Liz Allard, Planning Board Vice Chairman Mary Essary, Parks and Recreation Commission Co-Chairman Jim Lee, Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Committee member Robert Blanck, Harvard Conservation Trust member Molly Cutler, and resident Lorin Johnson.
After summary and introduction chapters, the plan begins with a chapter entitled “Community Setting,” which locates Harvard within what the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management Landscape Inventory refers to as the Upper Nashua Valley-Shrewsbury Ridge Unit of the Massachusetts Central Upland. The Shrewsbury ridge runs from Littleton through Harvard to Shrewsbury and provides many excellent vistas of the surrounding countryside. The chapter describes the history of the community, from early Native American life through village life of the 17th and 18th centuries, industries of the 19th century, and 19th- and 20th-century agriculture and “communities within the community” (Shakers, Transcendentalists, and Fiske Warren’s single-tax enclave). More recent growth and demographics are characterized, as well as the coming and going of Fort Devens. The most recent 40 years, since the 1969 Eliot Master Plan, are discussed in detail, describing Harvard’s transition to residential community with people working elsewhere, while retaining much of its rural character.
The next chapter, entitled “Environmental Inventory and Analysis,” looks at Harvard, starting with bedrock geology determined 230 to 600 million years ago, then to more recent ice age impact ending 10,000 years ago. Soils and topography are described, and finally, the character of Harvard as determined by diversity of landscape, from fields to forest, hills and valleys, agriculture, scenic roadways, wetlands, water bodies, village centers contrasted with open farmlands, scenic vistas, and historic resources. A listing of 76 heritage landscapes, defined as those “special places created by human interaction with the natural environment that help define the character of a community and reflect its past,” is provided, including 23 farms and orchards, several classified as archaeological; burial grounds and cemeteries; civic/village; industrial; institutional; natural; open space/parks; residential; transportation; and water bodies. The remainder of the environmental chapter provides in-depth analysis of water resources, vegetation, fisheries and wildlife, scenic resources and unique environments, and environmental challenges.
The heart of the 2008 report is the “Inventory of Land” chapter. When the 1969 Master Plan was being written, fewer than 300 acres were town-owned. The 2008 inventory reports 1,737 acres (123 parcels) of town-owned public conservation land, an additional 583 acres (28 parcels) of land with conservation or agricultural preservation restrictions, and 1,138 acres of land (8 parcels) under the management and control of the commonwealth or the federal government (Delaney Wildlife Management Area, Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area). From less than 2 percent preserved as open space in 1969, there is now more than 25 percent that is protected, more than 20 percent permanently. Some protection from development is temporary: for example, agricultural/horticultural land, classified forest, and classified recreation land. Such restrictions, which provide tax benefits, can be removed, and property can be developed. 2008 assessor records show a total of 2,713 acres, 20 percent of Harvard’s total acreage, in such temporary protection. By contrast, in 1985, the figure was 29 percent, representing 1,300 acres more of open land.
A chapter enumerating community goals reports the results of a survey taken before the update was begun. In summary, the survey confirmed Harvard’s continuing priority to preserve and enhance the town’s rural character, and the importance of ongoing efforts to preserve and protect open space. In the “Analysis of Needs” chapter, survey results are reported and summarized as needs to be addressed by the action plan.
The plan concludes with the “Five-Year Action Plan,” enumerating objectives and defining actions (including who is responsible). Many of the actions are ongoing: for example, the action to enforce Wetlands Protection Act and the Wetlands Protection Bylaw, which is the responsibility of the Conservation Commission, and supports the objective of promoting preservation of ground water and wetland resources. Others are specific: for example, the action to create a plan to protect historic parcels and their related historic buildings by 2010, which is the joint responsibility of the Conservation Commission and the Historical Commission, and supports the objective to protect lands and buildings of historic value. A total of 10 objectives and 44 actions are listed. One objective is to follow through on the Open Space and Recreation Plan, and includes actions to meet semiannually with responsible town boards to measure progress on actions, and for the Conservation Commission to work with the Master Plan Implementation Committee on related goals. The last follow-through action is to involve nongovernmental groups such as Garden Club, Woman’s Club, Historical Society, and Harvard Local, as resources for implementing goals.
Sixth in a series reviewing Harvard plans. The first three articles covered the Master Plan; the next two covered the Affordable Housing Plan. The full text of all plans reviewed is available at www.harvardpress.com, About Harvard, Harvard Wiki, Harvard by Design.