Newton Conservators has been successful in protecting land in our community since 1961. By working with the City of Newton and Community Preservation Act funds, we have protected farming at Newton Community Farm, habitat at Dolan Pond, open space at the Newton Commonwealth Golf Course, and a recreation area at Crystal Lake, to name a few recent notable victories of Newton Conservators holding a Conservation Restriction – here is the entire list. We also have in the past occasionally protected land by accepting donated land. Our lovely neighborhood park, Ordway Park, is a wonderful example of this. In the past, Newton Conservators evaluated each opportunity individually and in 2004 adopted a set of land acquisition criteria. In 2025 a new policy was adopted.
We want to help you protect your land, if you have an appropriate piece of property. However, criteria and state regulations have become more stringent at the same time as undeveloped properties have become more rare in Newton.
Accepting Donations of Land or CRs
Newton Conservators supports the permanent protection of land in Newton through perpetual conservation restrictions (CRs).
Our preference is for land to be donated to the city government or a state agency, with Newton Conservators holding a perpetual CR on the land. We hold CRs in this way on many public spaces the City of Newton has purchased with Community Preservation Act funds. In very rare cases, Newton Conservators itself may accept a donation either of land, ideally with a perpetual CR held by a public agency or another conservation nonprofit, or of a CR on land that otherwise remains in private ownership.
Land that is donated or on which a CR is placed should be important for conservation or open space, open to the public and meet the state of Massachusetts’ requirements for having a CR placed on it (see state application form and draft conservation restriction, last updated in 2023). Ideally the land would also be listed as a priority for protection in Newton’s Open Space & Recreation Plan (last updated in 2020).
Newton Conservators’ current policy is to follow the State of Massachusetts’ criteria for evaluating a potential land donation or a potential Conservation Restriction. This is because the state’s Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs must review all CRs to ensure they are in the public interest.
The state’s Model CR shows the kinds of criteria used to explain a property’s conservation values. These conservation values must be detailed, specific, and based on data rather than generalities. Together they must demonstrate that it is necessary to protect the property and there is a significant public benefit to doing so. The state’s Model CR’s criteria, which are not a comprehensive list of all possible conservation values, are summarized below. Conservation Values may include but are not limited to:
– Open Space protection, including scenic and natural character, including abutment to land already conserved
– Public Access for such things as passive outdoor recreation, education, nature study
– Water quality, water supply, and floodplain protection if within the 100 year floodplain of a water body
– Working Farmland and forest Protection and soil types protection
– Wildlife Habitat Protection, i.e. state designation as “Priority Habitats of Rare Species”, designation as vernal pool, BioMap2 status such as Core Habitat (wetlands, forests, vernal pools, etc.), Critical Natural Landscape (buffer area, coastal area, forage area, etc.) needed by rare and other native species per the MA Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program
– Covered by a governmental conservation policy such as a state Wildlife Action Plan or local Open Space Plan; inclusion on MA DCR’s Heritage Landscape Inventory, Scenic Landscape Inventory
Financial considerations
For donations of land or CRs directly to Newton Conservators, the donor is asked to cover the legal fees associated with the property transfer, including state approval and recording of any CR at the Registry of Deeds, and to provide a significant endowment for maintenance, monitoring and enforcement through the years.
Legal considerations
Newton Conservators lacks the legal expertise to advise landowners about donating land or CRs. We urge landowners to obtain advice from qualified conservation or land attorneys. We cannot provide referrals or endorsements, but several larger conservation organizations in Massachusetts offer useful resources, including attorney listings:
Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions
• Resource Library includes a specific link for Conservation Restrictions
• Directory of Services includes attorneys
Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition
• Landowner Resource Library includes Conservation Restrictions: A Tool for Landowner and Community
• Service Provider Directory includes attorneys
Mass Audubon
• Publications & Resources include Mass Audubon’s widely used Conservation Restriction Manual (last updated 2024)
Lincoln Land Conservation Trust and Rural Land Foundation
• under “What We Do,” Land Conservation includes information about conservation restrictions
Sudbury Valley Trustees
• Landowner Resources include Conservation Restrictions: A Guide for Landowners
Trustees of Reservations
• conservation restrictions resources include sample legal documents and Conservation Restrictions Landowner Handbook