Brooks Woodland Preserve

IUCN Category V - Protected Landscape / Seascape

A hiking trail in the reserve

Brooks Woodland Preserve is a 693 acre (2.8 km ²) comprehensive nature reserve at Petersham, Massachusetts in the United States. It is managed by the organization The Trustees of Reservations and is accessible for free.

History

Until the 19th century, the territory that originally belonged to the Nipmuck Indians, was used for agricultural purposes and was cleared accordingly. Today is located in the same place dense forest. The former use is still based on an idea by stone walls and paved paths.

The reserve was named after the lawyer and diplomat James Willson Brooks, more than 2,000 acres (8.1 km ² ) of forest the city Petersham reserved in his lifetime for nature and landscape protection. At this site also scored the current Harvard Forest.

The first sections of today's Reserve were donated to the Trustees in 1975. More donations followed in 1978, 1980, 1989, 1990 and 1999. 1994 also another section was purchased.

Sanctuary

In the protected area there are more than 13 mi ( 20.9 km ) hiking trails with moderate difficulty, which are accessible at various points in the city. The vegetation consists mainly of red oak, dyer's oak, sugar maple, Canadian hemlock, Weymouth pine, Rötegewächsen, Adiantum Maidenhair fern and holly.

In the immediate neighborhood is the protected area Rutland Brook Sanctuary of the Massachusetts Audubon Society.