DUMMERSTON — The Vermont Nature Conservancy's purchase of an additional 400 acres on Black Mountain is almost completed. The $900,000 project is within $7,000 of its goal to expand Nature Conservancy land to more than 1,000 acres at Black Mountain.
The purchase includes the 275-acre ZFR property, a crown jewel of the Conservancy land. Here, hikers will be able to see much of the bowl of the horseshoe-shaped pluton, an exposed granite dome creating a unique, natural habitat. A beaver pond and a seasonal creek that cascades over solid granite will be sites along an expanded Black Mountain trail system.
A second parcel is the 126-acre Stahl property on Black Mountain Road. This land, with its beautiful vernal pools and significant road frontage, will be protected from development.
According to Lester Humphreys, a Nature Conservancy trustee and a member of the Friends of Black Mountain Committee, the remarkable success of the fundraising effort is a tribute to the many Friends of Black Mountain, including the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, private foundations, local companies, and individual donors, who have joined to support the acquisition of additional land.
Fundraising is scheduled to be completed by year's end.