The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR:   http://www.thetrustees.org/)   turned to the UMass Amherst Department of Environmental Conservation this semester seeking assistance in conducting a natural resource inventory  on a newly acquired property in nearby North Hadley,  just west of campus and within sight of Holdsworth Hall. students meet with UMass Department of Environmental Conservation alumnus Walker Korby who now serves as the Trustees' superintendant of Mt. WarnerThe Trustees own over 100 properties throughout Massachusetts, amounting to almost 25,000 acres. Their new Mt. Warner property is 170 acres of woodland playing a unique ecological role in what is otherwise a landscape  heavily dominated by agriculture and development.   Lisa Gagnon, Keith Dinardo, Rene Veiera, Jim Boehmer, and Eric Kells applied their diversity of skills to assemble inventory information on wildlife, habitat,  hydrology, cultural history, vegetation, invasive plants and insects, and recreational usage to assist the Trustees with the development of a management plan for the property. See the class web site (NRC 597I: Natural Resource Inventory of Local Lands) to view a copy of the report.

students present their inventory findings at the end of the semester to TTOR's Walker Korby and ecologist Julie Richburg (also a Department of Environmental Conservation alumna)