PLAINFIELD — Thelma Nye Pilgrim grew up feeding apples to beavers, exploring woodlands, and observing the open fields and winding stream that ran through her family’s 86-acre property.

Others will be able to do the same for years to come now that Nye Pilgrim has donated the property to the Franklin Land Trust, which will conserve the land and open it to the public for birdwatching, hiking and other recreational enjoyment. The land acquisition was finalized on Sept. 21.

“I wanted to keep it for the wildlife,” Nye Pilgrim said. “I wanted to keep it from being messed up with all these houses or other developments, and that’s when I decided I should contact Franklin Land Trust.”

Alain Peteroy, director of land conservation at Franklin Land Trust, said, “We’re thrilled that she felt comfortable giving it to us, so we could take care of it for a long time.”

“It is a beautiful property, with some open shrubby fields where the turkeys come out, which is just lovely,” Peteroy added. “And then it’s bisected with this beautiful stream that has some nice wetland attributes to it, and then it goes up a slope that is mostly then forested.”

The Nye family has a long history with the land, tracing all the way back to 1635, when Benjamin Nye arrived by ship from England to what was then known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Later on, in the 1900s, Nye Pilgrim’s parents harvested wood and grew potatoes in the fields, before she and her late husband took it over in 1987.

“I really like it here because this is where I grew up,” said Nye Pilgrim, who retained a 4½-acre house lot. “Now that I’m a little older, I don’t go out and do a lot of walking around by myself … but there’s a beautiful big field that I look at out my kitchen window where I see the wildlife.

“I’m not seeing as much wildlife as I did. … There were skunks and snakes and bears and woodchucks and hawks, mice and chipmunks and squirrels,” she added. “I don’t mind a deer. They do like to eat whatever they come to; they are not fussy, they’ll just nibble away.”

Peteroy said that in the coming year, Franklin Land Trust will work with licensed foresters to develop a forest management plan to manage the land for wildlife, watershed protection and possibly timber, depending on what they find.

“The forester comes out, works with us, and walks all over the property. They assess what is on it, what type of tree species, what type of habitat, where the stone walls are,” Peteroy explained.

The end result will be a 25-page document with maps and descriptions of different zones on the property — whether they be conifer forests, birch trees or sugar maples. The plan will also include recommendations on potential salvage cuts of damaged trees, invasive species management and other items.

“Just from our initial observations, the forests have some very interesting characteristics that we’re going to look at,” Peteroy said.

One of those characteristics is an unnamed tributary stream that flows down to a larger cold water stream, Mill Brook, which supports native brook trout.

“They’re really feeling a lot of stress now because of climate change, so anything that we can do to protect some of these upper headwater areas where the trout come to breed, such as this spot … is really important,” Peteroy said.

The property, off West Hill Road, is also located within a region of other significant conservation areas, including the West Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary to the northwest and protected farmlands to the east and north.

Franklin Land Trust expects to open the land to the public for passive recreational activities by spring 2024.

Until then, the land trust is working on creating a pull-off area for vehicles to park, along with a map and signs.

“We are so excited to share the beauty and tranquility that this land offers with the community,” Franklin Land Trust Executive Director Mary Lynn Sabourin said in a statement.

Maddie Fabian can be reached at mfabian@gazettenet.com.