Tonight our family realized its dream of saving our family land. For the past two years, I and two of my uncles have been negotiating the sale of a conservation easement or restriction over about 20 acres of woodland in Wareham, Massachusetts. This land is part of a larger waterfront property we call Windrock that my grandparent's purchased in 1947 for $11,000. The cost of keeping the place today is many times more than that, and the value of the entire property with the big, ramblong house and outbuildings is $3 million. There is not one of us who could afford a place like this today. Thanks to this transaction, there will be enough funds for a modest endowment that with continued family contributions and summer rental of the smaller house on the property, should ensure that future generations of the family will know and love it as we have.
It was an extremely complex transaction, involving public funds, public access, town politics, non-profit partnerships, and saving the family along with the land. Because this is also my stock in trade, I was able to make what I know is the the single most meaningful contribution I could to my family by leading this effort and guiding us (and our conservation partners) through the many twists and turns we had to travel to get to this day. I first told you about it here: http://whorledleaves.blogspot.com/2006/12/saving-windrock.html
