We remain focused and must stay ready!
We remain focused and must stay ready!
It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.
Your actions could protect this open space and watershed for generations to come.
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Wear it with pride.
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To everyone who has leant a hand. And an ear.
A Common Goal For An Uncommon and Treasured Resource.
Nearly four years ago, in 2021 we initiated a grassroots (and some said a "long-shot") effort to stop the development of 133 Essex Street in Hamilton. Save Chebacco Trails & Watershed was born. Today, after the multiple successes discussed elsewhere on this site, our goal of long-term preservation of that land for future generations is more clearly in focus. It has been a rigorous ride and there is still much to do, but we are in this fight to the end and we are confident of final success.
Our ambitious campaign has called for hundreds of hours of effort by our core team, and endless attention to detail, to secure the position we are now in. We cautiously but wholeheartedly celebrate our ‘momentum” in the string of victories which have stopped not one but two clustered housing development projects proposed for the site by Chebacco Hills Capital Partners. The developer has now terminated its permit application for a proposed 40b plan (combined luxury units with limited affordable housing) and has agreed with the Town of Hamilton, to end all of its appeals related to the Town's initial unanimous denial of the initially proposed development plan. On July 18, 2024 , the judge dismissed with prejudice these agreements and ended any hope of reviving the original project plan. Fortunately, the land remains unaltered for now, although inaccessible to the public by order of the site owner. Our efforts thus far have provided protection to over 60-acres of wildlife habitat, flora and fauna, age-old trees, and an undisturbed aquifer-based water resource that affects not only Hamilton but the towns of Essex and Manchester. In addition, slowing and hopefully permanently stopping this development has preserved for now acres of farmland and valuable wetlands that abut this pristine forested area essentially untouched for centuries.
We have shared information and strategy with surrounding communities, testified on our own behalf, presented expert analysis before the Hamilton Town’s Conservation Commission, Planning Board, Select Board and finally Zoning Board. We have mounted an energized public relations and information campaign with hundreds if not thousands of committed and contributing members. We thank, and are grateful for that interest and participation which we believe has been key to our success. Committed citizen groups CAN WIN against big money. We hope that interest and effort will continue and that you will "go the distance" in preserving this incredible natural treasure... for good.
We know that CHCP and owner remain involved. Others may be waiting to take the big risk in developing this site. Therefore, we must stay involved and vigilant. Your support of our efforts to protect this parcel further and enable a conservation alternative is needed and indeed crucial in our continuing efforts. We continue to ask for your help until our work is completed for good and the trails are opened again for our communities to enjoy the pleasure of walking, biking, horseback riding, skiing and simple contemplation in the quiet beauty of this parcel. We ALL need to keep watch on this site with preservation being the eventual goal.
This is the last remaining unprotected, undeveloped parcel of this scale in Hamilton. Please, help us continue to keep it that way…
This is the last remaining unprotected, undeveloped parcel of this scale in Hamilton and must be protected. Can you support our efforts to protect this parcel from development and to enable a conservation alternative?
Changing our world is possible. We’ve done it before.
The trails, woods, and water in the surrounding Chebacco Woods Trails area is home to rich coniferous woodland, a multitude of bird life, flora, fauna and a delicate watershed, which supports our local groundwater supplies and ecosystems. The entire area is part of the Chebacco Lake watershed which consists of 3,600 acres. The quintessential beauty of these woods has remained undisturbed for over 100 years; enjoyed by many who venture out seasonally to enjoy the area’s silence and beauty. It is part of a wildlife corridor that extends from Gloucester to Beverly and is buffered from road noise, which makes it seem as though one was hiking through the forests of northern New Hampshire, Vermont or Maine. The exemplary trail network that has existed for well over 100 years and includes historic carriage roads. This location is the only significant remaining piece of open space available to the public in the eastern part of Hamilton. Why destroy that which cannot be replaced?
Why save Chebacco Trails? Simple.
Why do the woods matter to the wildlife?
It may be intuitive: it’s their home! But if this area gets torn down they’ll just move elsewhere, right? Does it matter that much? Unfortunately, it does. In ecology, one of the detrimental consequences of habitat loss is known as ‘edge effects’. When tracts of forest such as Chebacco are broken up, it increases the perimeter of the habitat. If the area on the human side of the border is unnatural and manmade, it compromises the entire ecosystem. When the intrusion is as large and damaging as this one intends to be, wildlife that depend on the depth of the woods can easily be eradicated from the area. From the owls in their deep forest haunts to the salamanders that rely on untouched damp logs decades old, there would be simply nowhere to go.
Why do the woods matter to you?
The evidence is in, and the verdict is conclusive: communities need protected accessible green spaces to thrive. Chebacco provides this essential commodity which, when taken away, can never be replaced. A 2008 Lancet study of 40 million subjects in Britain discovered a powerful link between access to green spaces, income inequality, and life expectancy. Moving along an axis of decreasing access to green space, the difference in life expectancy jumps; a full ten years in the most extreme cases. This is in part due to the variable affordability of these natural spaces (Mair, NHM). The beauty of Chebacco is that it is always open, and open for everyone. Other reservations on the North Shore which have entrance fees or passes just don’t serve the same purpose. Additionally, the implications of green spaces on community mental health are striking. A 2019 Danish study analyzed nearly 35 years of data for a million people, and found that “children who grew up with the lowest levels of green space had up to 55% higher risk of developing a psychiatric disorder independent from effects of other known risk factors. Stronger association between accumulated green space and risk during childhood constitutes evidence that prolonged presence of green space is important” (Engemann, et al., 2019).
The Chebacco trails and woodlands are so much more than another recreational area. They are a unique home to countless flora and fauna, and a gem of the greater Boston area loved and utilized by countless residents and visitors. The wood’s benefits for health and wellbeing are as incalculable as the loss of its would-be destruction.
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Are you ready to hit the trail?
Whether you’re most comfortable contributing time to help achieve our advocacy goals, money to help us grow, or energy to put political pressure on our local leaders to change, we need you on our team.