Preserving open space and natural resources in Bethel, CT, since 1977.
BETHEL LAND TRUST
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Got skills? We need you!
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Got skills? We need you!
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Protecting land and natural resources in Bethel, CT, has been the cornerstone of Bethel Land Trust’s work since our founding 40+ years ago. Why protect land? The reasons are many:

Good for Our Ecology

  • Diffuses pollutants associated with storm runoff
  • Helps regulate climate and prevent local heat island effect during summer
  • Conserves habitat for multiple flora and fauna species
  • Provides corridors for animals to safely migrate through

Good for Our Community

  • Increases property values, augmenting municipal tax revenue and building homeowner wealth
  • Reduces flooding
  • Purifies water and protects aquifers and reservoirs
  • Mitigates the stress on and the cost of municipal services

Good for Our Health

  • Provides a natural environment for outdoor recreation and exercise
  • Reduces noise pollution, which can disrupt sleep, increase stress and contribute to hypertension
  • Reduces light pollution, which can disrupt sleep and increase stress
  • Reduces ozone, a major trigger of asthma attacks
  • Preserves farmland which provides fresh, local produce

Featured Preserves

More Preserves
 

Wolfpit Preserve

2023 brings a new 4.7-acre acquisition thanks to the cooperation of its previous landowners, Richard and Debbie Sutton, and the...
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Skyedge Preserve

Skyedge was donated by Target Corporation in Bethel in 2004. It is 3 acres of mixed meadow and mixed hardwood...
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Mike’s Pond

Donated by James MacNicholl in 2006. Short, flat trail crosses small brook to area between 2 ponds on 1.5 acres...
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Janet P. Miller Preserve

Donated by John F. Miller in 2013. 10 acres It shares a parking lot with the Wolf Pits preserve. Has...
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Ivy Island

Ivy Island is a land-locked 4.7 acres preserve donated by Dolores Walter in 1996. The preserve indeed is an island, a...
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Boardwalk on the Enchanted Trail

The Enchanted Trail stretches across Wolfpit Preserve, the Bethel Educational park, Boardwalk, and into East Swamp and eventually connects to...
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Events & News

When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.

Aldo Leopold, Author, Scientist & Conservationist

Take good care.

Enjoying Bethel’s beautiful nature preserves comes with a small price: appreciating the land as our own and doing our part to protect its native habitat for future generations.

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