The Lauzier Farm on Alvord Street is the last farm of its size in South Hadley—205 acres— and now has been permanently protected with strong support from the community. The Town of South Hadley worked for several years in partnership with Kestrel Land Trust, the farm owners, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, and the community to protect Lauzier Farm with an Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) now held by the Commonwealth’s Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR). The APR protects the farmland from development, requires that it remain in active agricultural use, and keeps the land affordable for future owners. To leverage $1.7 million in state and federal funding to purchase the APR, the Town needed to raise a local match of $190,000. The South Hadley Conservation Commission committed $40,000 and local residents donated $7,000, and Kestrel raised the remaining funding from generous local residents and Kestrel donors. These included gifts from more than 150 individuals, including a former South Hadley resident who reached out to Kestrel and generously offered to bridge the final gap with a leadership donation. Local businesses supported the effort as well, including Route 33 Pizza House, Parkview Financial, and Peoples Bank. Read the full press release here: