Five Rivers Announces 134 Acres in Dunbarton Conserved
August 1, 2024 – Five Rivers Conservation Trust is pleased to announce the permanent conservation of the 134-acre Kathryn Layne property near the center of Dunbarton.
Kathryn’s brother, Ken Koerber, is a longtime Dunbarton resident who owns a 131-acre farm in the center of town that he conserved with Five Rivers in 2021. The latest in the family’s generous contributions to land conservation was made by Kathryn, who, on August 1, 2024, donated a conservation easement on her 134 acres to Five Rivers Conservation Trust.
“From a Dunbarton Conservation Commission perspective, it is wonderful that so much of Mrs. Layne’s property has been conserved,” said Brett St. Clair, chair of the Dunbarton Conservation Commission. “Now two large abutting farms, owned by a brother and sister, are permanently conserved and help maintain the rural character of our town.”
The 134 acres that Kathryn Layne conserved contributes to a large block of over 750 mostly contiguous acres protected by Five Rivers in Dunbarton, including the Koerber Family Forest (conserved 2021), Stone Farm (conserved 2017), and the Farley property (conserved 2013).
The property is mostly wooded, but three open fields remain, remnants of the Ryder farm in the late 1880s. The land includes uplands, fields, shrublands, forest, young forest, pond, brook, and wetlands. In addition to protecting the land and important wildlife habitat, conservation of the Layne property allows the Dunbarton Conservation Commission to extend walking trails from the Dunbarton Elementary School parking lot and loop through both the Koerber and Layne properties.
The Dunbarton Conservation Commission funded $30,000 of transaction costs, including a survey, to finalize the easement.
