DEM and The Nature Conservancy Conserve 27 Acres in Tiverton

Published on Tuesday, September 08, 2026

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have conserved 27 acres of forestland in Tiverton, connecting Pocasset Ridge Conservation Area with Pardon Gray Preserve and Weetamoo Woods. TNC purchased the property for $400,000, with support from the Thomas and Dorothy Ginty Memorial Endowment Fund, the Bafflin Foundation and individual donors. DEM secured a conservation easement from TNC with $225,000 from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program through the Inflation Reduction Act. The property will be managed as an addition to the Pocasset Ridge Conservation Area.

Over the past 25 years, DEM, TNC, the Tiverton Land Trust and the Tiverton Open Space Commission have partnered to increase conservation beyond Pardon Gray and Weetamoo along iconic Pocasset Ridge, protecting 1,600 acres of contiguous forest overlooking the Sakonnet. The Forest Legacy Program has been a cornerstone of the campaign, contributing more than $750,000 in federal funding to the effort.

“Forest conservation projects are challenging, and this high-priority acquisition was successful because of strong collaboration, support, and partnerships,” said DEM Director Terry Gray. “DEM is grateful for the support of the U.S. Forest Service, along with TNC’s proactive dedication to protect this property, which enabled this conservation win for the people of Rhode Island and our environment.”

 “Pocasset Ridge is truly exceptional, a classic example of the type of the diverse, mature forest that covered the Southern New England coast 400 years ago,” said John Berg, TNC’s Sakonnet landscape manager. “We’ve come such a long way toward conserving it for the future, but we still have more work to do, and not just for the wildlife, but for clean water, clean air and a healthy climate.”

Rising dramatically from the Narragansett Bay basin, the two-mile-long ridge, which is now 80 percent conserved, contains a coastal oak-holly forest that is unique to southeastern New England and is considered globally rare. It provides vital habitat for wildlife including fishers, bobcats and many deep forest-nesting songbirds like wood thrushes and scarlet tanagers that winter in Central and South America. This forested ridge is also the last known location of a breeding timber rattlesnake population in Rhode Island, now considered extirpated from the state.

Pocasset Ridge protects the headwater streams that flow into the Seapowet Marsh Management Area and the Audubon Society’s Emily Ruecker Wildlife Refuge. These nearby conservation lands provide habitat for the federally endangered Saltmarsh sparrow, which is also designated as a Rhode Island Species of Greatest Conservation Need. In decline due to sea-level rise and coastal development, this tiny sparrow’s nest is especially vulnerable to stormwater runoff that’s often caused by loss of forest cover upstream of their marsh habitat. 

The Forest Legacy Program is administered by the U.S. Forest Service in partnership with state agencies to encourage the protection of important forest lands. Created by Congress in 1990, the Forest Legacy Program has conserved over 3 million acres of forestland in 53 states and territories. These “Legacy” forests protect water quality and provide wildlife habitat, forest products, opportunities for recreation and other public benefits.

 For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@rhodeisland.dem) for timely updates.