ALT AWARDED GRANT FOR MAINTENANCE TRUCK AND MOWER

Middletown, RI. – May 17, 2018 – Aquidneck Land Trust (“ALT”) announces the purchase of a 2010 Toyota Tacoma truck and new field and brush mower with a grant awarded by the Champlin Foundation. The truck will be used for work related to the monitoring and maintenance of ALT’s 78 conserved properties, five of which are owned by the land trust. The field and brush mower will be used to maintain ALT’s extensive walking trails, including the 10-mile Sakonnet Greenway Trail (“SGT”), the Oakland Forest Trail, and new trails at recently-conserved Spruce Acres Farm. The land trust will close on Little Creek Preserve in Portsmouth in early June and will extend the SGT into the new property.
“ALT is committed to creating public outdoor trails and open spaces for the enjoyment and health of our community. The truck and brush mower will make a tremendous difference in our operations,” said Chuck Allott, Executive Director. “We were using staff vehicles to transport large, dirty machinery and tools around the island because we had no other option. We are thrilled with our ‘new used truck’ and are very grateful to the Champlin Foundation for providing the funds for it and the brush mower.” The grant was awarded in November, 2017. ALT spent several months researching available used trucks and determining the most suitable brush mower before making the purchases.
The land trust’s newest property, Spruce Acres Farm, has an existing trail system from its former days as a Christmas tree farm, but the trails require new cuts, extensive grooming, and new signage, said Stewardship Director Alex Chuman. With the help of the new machinery,
ALT expects the Spruce Acres Farm trails to be open to the public later this year. A new environmentally-friendly parking lot for twenty cars will be installed pending completion of a new curb cut at the entrance of the East Main Road property.