Pepperell Conservation Commission Accepts Forest Legacy Restrictions on Five Wellhead Parcels

PEPPERELL — July 23, 2024 — Pepperell Conservation Commission agrees to hold conservation restrictions on five parcels near town wellhead under $8.6 million federal grant. The commission voted unanimously July 23 to accept and administer conservation restrictions on five Nissitissit Conservation Trust parcels along Gulf Brook, adjacent to Pepperell's municipal wellfield, as part of a Federal Forest Legacy Program award of $8.6 million covering 20 forested tracts across the Nashua Wild and Scenic Rivers watershed. No town funds are involved; all survey, appraisal, title, and baseline monitoring costs are covered by federal funds. Conservation Administrator Paul noted the parcels sit near the town's wellheads and said of the permanent protection, "something like this being so close to the wellhead is so important." Two commission members disclosed board membership in the Nissitissit Conservation Trust, with one, identified as president, recusing from the vote. The commission also voted to extend a water chestnut foliar herbicide treatment order on the Nashua River for three more years and ratified an enforcement order against a Park Street property owner found filling a wetland pond fed by a stream running under Countryside Road.