Outdoor Life Honors BNRC with 2014 Open Country Award
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Outdoor Life magazine has named Berkshire Natural Resources Council as one of its four 2014 Open Country Award winners in honor of the conservation group’s work to conserve land and keep it open to the public for recreation.
In addition to BNRC, three other winners were announced: Powderhook, a Nebraska company that matches sportsmen with open land via an online application; Idaho Fish and Game, for its “Access Yes!” program; and Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, for her legislative advocacy on behalf of conservation.
It was BNRC’s work along the Clam River in Sandisfield, Massachusetts that drew the attention of the magazine’s editors. In 2012, BNRC and its supporters conserved a 55-acre tract that completed a two-mile, 548-acre linear greenway along the Clam, all of which is open to the public.
“Our supporters care about scenery and farms and clean water and wildlife,” said Tad Ames, BNRC president, “and they want to be sure that future generations have the chance to get out to feel and smell and hear the outdoors with the same excitement we’ve enjoyed.”
In 2014, BNRC started work on a 2.5 mile trail through the Clam River Reserve. This trail will be supported by an Open Country grant, and is also the subject of an Indiegogo campaign launched by Outdoor Life (www.indiegogo.com/projects/put-your-feet-on-the-clam-with-the-bnrc).
Open Country Award winners were announced in Outdoor Life’s December 2014-January 2015 issue.
The citation for BNRC reads, “The goal of the scrappy, influential Berkshire Natural Resources Council, based in Pittsfield, Mass., is to preserve the open, rustic landscape of the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. But the BNRC is also committed to keeping land open to hunting, fishing, and other public recreation. The group owns nearly 9,000 acres and oversees conservation easements on another 10,000 acres.”
To learn more about how BNRC’s work benefits people in Berkshire County, visit www.bnrc.net.
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