The Wintonbury Land Trust (WLT) in August 2017 acquired an important Urban Forest and Watershed parcel just 1.25 miles from Bloomfield Town Center. We were able to purchase the Evans Family Meadows with financial assistance from the Bafflin Foundation, Fields Pond Foundation Inc., the State of Connecticut DEEP Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition (OSWA) fund, and private donors.
The diverse open space is 22.8 acres, of which 2 acres are meadows, 12.4 acres are hardwood forest and stream beds; the remaining land is wetland and new growth woods. We have discovered several vernal pools in the Wash Brook floodplain region. The land serves as a critical piece of resilience protection by preserving a valuable flood retention zone to control flooding of the Town Center in future years.
The property has two public access points along Tunxis Avenue and will support abundant trail opportunities.
The Evans parcel will be part of the planned East Coast Greenway through Bloomfield, offering .4 miles of wooded route options to the Rail-Trail Planning Team. A future Land Trust trail project will be to resurrect the East-West ‘Wintonbury Trail’ and link it into the planned East Coast Greenway on this parcel. The land also links to a local trail directly west as part of the Reservoir #3 public access.
November 2020 Update
Evans Family Meadows was dedicated to the Evans family on November 14. Seven family members were present: Marguerite Evans, her daughter Dayle and husband Mike Williams, her son Donald Evans Jr. and wife Patricia, his daughter Deborah Quigley, and grandson Kaie Quigley.
Dayle reminisced about growing up on the property. When she was 10 years old, she had her own ‘jeep’ and would roam this mini-farm with her pet goat on board. Marguerite would have lunches ready for the children and their friends when the crew would return from their morning adventures exploring the 23-acre wood. The family also maintained riding horses in the 2-acre pasture. The Wintonbury Land Trust is truly grateful to Marguerite and Don Evans for choosing to keep this precious land in conservation for future generations to enjoy!