PORTSMOUTH — Aquidneck Land Trust (ALT) has announced a campaign to conserve two properties in Portsmouth totaling 27.4 acres.

The properties have important conservation values, including farmland, forestland, wildlife habitat, and scenic vistas, according to ALT. The Trust has raised a significant portion of the $1.44 million needed to conserve the properties, but must raise the final $150,000 by December 2021 to permanently protect them from development.

The first property, known as Rego Farmland, is a 12-acre active hayfield with 100-percent prime soil. It’s located approximately a half of a mile north of Glen Road and is one of several farmland parcels that provide scenic views along East Main Road. 

It’s within the ALT Sakonnet Greenway habitat corridor, an area that includes 40 properties already protected by the Trust. The corridor covers 1,365 acres of land on the east side of Aquidneck Island. ALT plans to purchase the land outright and continue to lease it for farming.

The second property, known as Jones Preserve, is a 15.38-acre site situated within a 92- acre tract of forestland, located about half a mile north of Bramans Lane and contiguous to other ALT-conserved land. Like the Rego property, it is also located within the Sakonnet Greenway habitat corridor. The property serves as habitat for resident and migratory birds, raptors, and small mammals. 

Aside from one new home site that will be allowed to be built on site in a half- acre outzone, the land will be managed as a combination of wildlife habitat and farmland protected under a conservation easement, according to ALT.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to conserve two very important properties on Aquidneck Island,” said Chuck Allott, ALT executive director. “We are grateful to the property owners for agreeing to conserve their land, and we are thrilled to extend the acreage in the Sakonnet Greenway habitat corridor. The contiguous wildlife habitat, prime farmland, and scenic viewscapes are irreplaceable.”

More information on the properties is available on the ALT website, www.ailt.org.

The nonprofit ALT has conserved 2,635.84 acres on 84 properties across Aquidneck Island since its founding in 1990.