Last week, REWHC hosted Ted Clement, Executive Director, Aquidneck Land Trust (ALT), as well as Andy Arkway, ALT's Stewardship Director, and Dave Guertin, their new Development Director, for a walk on our Woodland Wander Trail and a quick look into Lawton Valley. It was the first time Andy and Dave had seen our trails, and they were checking out the signs, trail construction features (thank you, Harry!) and thinking in terms of some of their recent efforts. One of these is the Sakonnet Green-way, a planned seven mile trail through Portsmouth and Middletown.

On Thursday November 10, several of us had the privilege of attending a presentation by the Land Trust (ALT) to Mike Slein, Mark Ferguson and Bob Yetner regarding potential partnership opportunities. Ted Clement, ALT's executive director, outlined their main goals: preservation of open land and stewardship of preserved lands. He described how conservation easements can work to protect lands and benefit landowners. ALT has preserved over 1200 acres of land on Aquidneck Island.

ALT has identified Raytheon's property as one of high intrinsic value in terms of conservation potential. They are eager to pursue ways of involving Raytheon in proceeding to preserve parts of the site, most particularly Lawton Valley.

REWHC has had the preservation of Lawton Valley as one of its goals (the following is from the REWHC managment plan):

Goal 3: Protect our Environment For the Future
Objective:
Protect Lawton Valley
Prescriptions:
1. Survey species in the valley.
2. Create photo documentation,
3. Involve local organizations and experts such as the Aquidneck Island Land Trust and Tree Steward Matt Largess,
4. Meet with corporate management to discuss permanent protection.

One of the actions from today's meeting was to produce a "white paper" that we might move forward making the case for Raytheon to become involved with ALT and the community to preserve these lands. REWHC is seen as a key contributor to this process, and Mike Slein has asked us to come up with all the reasons why we think this is the way to go: with respect to employees, the community, wildlife, preservation, etc. I will start to put together some thoughts but would value any and all input.

In response to meeting with the Aquidneck Land Trust, a whitepaper was generated to support the preservation case to Raytheon Management and our neighbors. It can be accessed via a link at the bottom of the page:
http://rewhc.org/lawtonvalleyintro.shtml

The purpose is informing Raytheon Leadership, our neighbors, and the community of a special environmental stewardship opportunity for this natural and historic treasure.

Feel free to review and comment to webmaster@rewhc.org