Current Projects

  • The WCC recognizes that the areas around the Winchester drinking water supply wells are of extreme importance and has targeted these areas for consideration as a prime wetlands designation.
  • Members are attending classes in Mammal identification for the Natural Resources Inventory. 
  • The town obtained three parcels of land using money from the Conservation Fund. 

» The first parcel abuts one of the larger pieces of property owned by the town (189 acres on Snow Brook with a deeded restriction.) This parcel is wooded and provides improved access to the Snow Brook property and provides watershed protection to both Snow Brook and Mirey Brook.

» The smallest parcel the WCC will manage for the town is located across from the town Hall between Mt. Pisgah Diner and the Smallez building. One possible plan for the property is to build a mini park with tables and benches and a place to set one end of a pedestrian bridge to go across the Ashuelot River. 

» The third parcel is on Pinney Woods Road. It has been determined that this would be a great site for a town well in the future. At that time Scotland Road water lines could be tied to the water lines of Warwick Road. 

» The town property at Forest Lake allows year-round foot traffic access to the lake. Boat owners using Forest Lake also have access from a small dock. This area is now open to public use. Work has continued on the recreation area on the Ashuelot River. When completed, it will provide walking paths, an area for fishing, and a launching site with public access for canoes and kayaks, and a pavilion where people can picnic. The launch and path is now 90% completed. The concrete pad for the pavilion is in place, and all the timbers for the pavilion have been cut. The highway department provided some backhoe work and some materials for the pavilion.

» A Conservation Commission should keep an index of all open spaces and all esthetic or ecological areas in a town. This index will be the Natural Resources Inventory, a chapter in the Winchester Master Plan. The WCC has commissioned the SWRPC to prepare a Winchester Natural Resources Inventory.

Field and Mountain Landscape