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PROJECT PROFILE:
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Pittman Property,
Snake Mountain, Bridport
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Gary and Donna Pittman bargain sold 152 acres on the
southern end of Snake Mountain to The Nature Conservancy.
The Nature Conservancy photo
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In 2005, VHCB granted funds to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to acquire 152 acres on the south end of Snake Mountain in Bridport. The property contains cliffs and talus slopes, expressions of the Champlain thrust fault that long ago lifted Snake Mountain up to 1,300 feet above sea level. TNC also reports the property hosts three high-quality natural communities, two vernal pools providing habitat for Jefferson’s, four-toed, and blue-spotted salamanders, and an impressive list of rare and uncommon plants, including dwarf chinquapin oak, which is only known at one or two other locations in Vermont.
The property had been owned by Gary and Donna Pittman of Charlotte. They sold to TNC at a below-market price in order to safeguard the land for its natural values and for public enjoyment.
“With its vistas, somebody with a great deal of money could build a house up on that ridge,” Gary Pittman observed. “That’s the last thing I wanted to happen.”
The Pittman project is part of an assemblage of conserved and public land on Snake Mountain. This assemblage includes the state-owned Snake Mountain Wildlife Management Area, and various protected parcels owned by TNC. Most of this land, including the former Pittman property, is open to the public for dispersed recreation, such as hiking and wildlife observation.
- adapted by Ethan Parke from an article written by Doug Wilhelm
At the Southern end of Snake Mountain, a preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy.
The Nature Conservancy photo
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