The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has acquired 105 acres of forest near the West Greenwich–Exeter town line, further expanding Rhode Island’s network of conserved open space and opening new land for public recreation.
The purchase establishes the Bernard and Donald Harrington Preserve, TNC’s 26th nature preserve in Rhode Island. Combined with previously conserved parcels, the preserve now encompasses 319 acres of forest and fields and features more than three miles of hiking trails. The land is also open for hunting, consistent with state regulations.
TNC purchased the property for $720,000 from members of the Harrington family, longtime Rhode Island landowners with deep ties to the site.
“We grew up on this land and walked it endlessly,” David Harrington said. “We are so happy to preserve it, in hopes that others will be able to enjoy it as much as we have.”
State and federal funding played a central role in the acquisition. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management provided $540,000 through grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program and the state’s voter-approved 2022 Green Bond. In return, DEM secured a conservation easement to ensure long-term protection of the property. TNC matched the public investment with private philanthropic support.
“Don Harrington devoted decades to protecting Rhode Island’s natural resources,” DEM Director Terry Gray said. “This project reflects the collaborative spirit of conservation in our state and expands opportunities for Rhode Islanders to connect with the land.”
The preserve occupies a strategically important location between the Big River Management Area and the Audubon Society of Rhode Island’s Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge, linking more than 9,000 acres of protected forest and wetlands. The land also safeguards a key drinking water supply near the headwaters of the Queen’s River, one of the healthiest rivers in southern New England.
“As a connecting piece, this was an important property to conserve in Rhode Island,” said Scott Comings, TNC’s associate state director. “It’s one of the places that will continue to support wildlife even as climate conditions change.”
The property includes white pine and oak forest, an 11-acre wildflower meadow that supports native pollinators, and a portion of Pendock Brook, a coldwater stream that feeds Fisherville Brook and the Queen’s River. The habitat supports several species identified in Rhode Island’s Wildlife Action Plan as being of greatest conservation need, including bobcats, fishers and deep forest-nesting songbirds.
For more than 50 years, members of the Harrington family managed the land using sustainable forestry practices tied to a local sawmill operation. Earlier conservation efforts in 1999 protected an adjoining 207 acres. The latest acquisition completes a long-term effort to keep the remaining forestland undeveloped and permanently conserved for Rhode Island.
