Tom Carvalho cuts the ribbon on Tuesday, 11/26/19, to officially open the Carvalho Farm Trail, now open to the public, on property his family once owned. L-R: Mark Rasmussen, President of the Buzzards Bay Coalition, which bought the property with Fairhaven Community Preservation Act funds; Fairhaven Selectboard member Bob Espindola; Mr. Carvalho; Joe Costa, Executive Director of the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program. Photo by Glenn C. Silva for the Neighb News.
Press Release
Officials and members of the public gathered in a Fairhaven meadow in the November sunshine on Tuesday, 11/25/19, to celebrate the opening of Carvalho Farm, the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s newest public reserve. This coastal property features a native grassland meadow, active agricultural field, forested wetlands, and salt marshes on 61 acres along the shore of Nasketucket Bay.
“It was more than 20 years ago that the Carvalho family began a discussion with the Buzzards Bay Coalition about conserving their beautiful farm here on Shaw’s Cove,” said Mark Rasmussen, Buzzards Bay Coalition President. “Their thoughtfulness and deep commitment to this land has now succeeded in ensuring that these scenic open fields and sensitive coastal wetlands will always be here and always bear their name. I know that generations to come will thank them for their vision.”
Following speaking remarks from Rasmussen; Robert Espindola, Vice Chairman of the Fairhaven Board of Selectmen; Joe Costa, Executive Director of the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program; and previous owner Tom Carvalho; roughly 40 visitors joined land protection staff to walk the scenic, roughly one-mile Indian Rock Trail.
For more than a century, the property was owned by the Carvalho family and served as a base for dairy operations, as well as land for pasture, corn, and hay.
When the Carvalho family decided it was time to sell the land, the Coalition knew there was significant risk the land could be converted to residential development. Carvalho Farm’s open fields on Shaw Road make these pastures and fields excellent for agriculture, but they also make this site easy to build on, and its rural, waterfront location make it a highly desirable home site.
L-R: Joe Costa and Mead Binhammer lead the way hiking the Carvalho Farm Trail on Shaw Road in Fairhaven after a ribbon cutting ceremony officially opening the property to the public on 11/26/19. Photo by Glenn C. Silva for the Neighb News.
Attendees exploring the site marveled at how their surroundings changed as they walked the trail, from open meadow, to wetland-studded woods, to scrubby coastal forest and salt marsh. A shared favorite spot on the trail was the view from Indian Rock, a massive boulder in a clearing at the trail’s end, where visitors could look over acres of salt marsh colored orange by the setting sun.
With the support of Fairhaven Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds, the Coalition purchased the land in 2017 and placed it under a conservation restriction that permanently protects it from development. Under this conservation restriction, the property will also continue to support agricultural operations.
Carvalho Farm is part of the growing complex of protected lands around Nasketucket Bay, which include Nasketucket Bay State Reservation and the Coalition’s Shaw Farm Trail. The lack of development around Nasketucket Bay helps to make it one of the healthiest of all Buzzards Bay’s waterways.
The property is at 201 Shaw Road, Fairhaven. Parking is on the south side of the road next to the Carvalho Farm field.
For more information about this property and other places around the Bay to explore, visit www.savebuzzardsbay.org.
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