GLOCESTER – A Chepachet woman and longtime volunteer with local environmental organizations has donated a vacant 25 acre property in Glocester to the Audubon Society of Rhode Island in a move aimed at ensuring the land will forever remain an open forest.
Emily Westcott sold her property at 0 Chestnut Road to the conservation organization for $1, also applying for a conservation easement with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
Westcott retired from a 30-year career in the fields of marketing and advertising several years ago and became a volunteer for Audubon. She was recognized by the organization as the Audubon Volunteer of the Year in 2019 for monitoring Audubon’s less-visited properties, mapping trails with GPS, and assisting with a book on Audubon wildlife refuges.
In 2021, she was named to the the board of directors of the Audubon Society of Rhode Island.
An avid outdoor enthusiast, Westcott has been involved with the Lifelong Learning Collaborative of Rhode Island, including having coordinated a winter birding program for the organization and is a member of the Glocester Land Trust.
Her recent donation included a 17.81 acre swath of forested land on Chestnut Hill Road, along with 7.31 acres of property previously attached to 22 Brown School Road. Westcott obtained approval for an administrative subdivision last February for that previously 10 acre lot, carving out three acres for her single family home and withdrawing it from the state’s Farm Forest & Open Space Program, while adding the remainder to the adjoining lot to be preserved.
“This conservation easement will provide public benefits by preventing any use that would materially impair or interfere with the conservation values of the premises including protecting forest land and forest resources; protecting and enhancing water quality and water supplies; protecting wildlife habitat and maintaining habitat connectivity and related values to ensure biodiversity; protecting riparian area; maintaining and restoring natural ecosystem functions; and maintaining forest sustainability and the cultural and economic vitality of rural communities,” notes the deed restriction.
Westcott attended University of Rhode Island and Brown University. She also worked with Bill Carpenter in 2014 to create a 30-minute film about ducks and other waterfowl that reside in Rhode Island during the winter season dubbed, “Winter Waterfowl.”
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How exciting! Thank you to Ms. Westcott for her generous donation of property to the Audubon Society of Rhode Island! It fills me with hope for the future generations.