CONSERVATION CONNECTION

Dracut family and dignitaries celebrate farmland preservation

DRACUT, Mass. (September 12, 2006) – Members of a Dracut farming family were joined by local, state, and federal officials, and other area farmers in celebrating the permanent preservation of 30 acres of farmland on Parker Road that the family owned for 87 years.

Wanda Leczynski Bozek led the dedication on behalf of the Leczynski family, which recently sold the land to farmer David Dumaresq and the development rights to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The farm will now remain in agriculture in perpetuity thanks to the state Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program, the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) and the Town of Dracut Community Preservation Committee.

“This land has been farmed by our family for several generations,” said Wanda Leczynski Bozek. “After much discussion, we all agreed that the best legacy we could leave to our family and to Dracut would be to preserve it as farmland. Our work with David, and the state, federal and town governments have helped us keep the land in agriculture.

Read Wanda Leczynski Bozek's memories of hardship and joys on the family farm.

Jan and Jadwiga Leczynski acquired the property in 1919 as a mix of farm and woodland. In the early years, the Leczynskis operated a commercial dairy with 40 cows and their calves. The dairy business was phased out in the late 1950’s and the farm has since been used to grow hay for commercial purposes. It had remained in the Leczynski family until its sale this past June to Dracut farmer, David Dumaresq, subject to an agricultural preservation restriction that assures it will remain a farm forever.

“This project is an example of how public dollars, together with the unselfish values of a family, the Leczynski and Bozek families, have made it possible for a competent young farmer, Dave Dumaresq, to grow fresh, local and safe food for Dracut families,” said Warren Shaw, former First Selectman and advisor to Dracut’s Community Preservation Committee.

I’m very happy with this public/private cooperative effort, James Carr, Vice Chairman of CPC. “In the long run the Town of Dracut will benefit immensely.”

“This was a signature project for the Town because it represents a public/private cooperative partnership that furthers one of the principal goals of the Town’s planning efforts, namely the preservation of open space and our agricultural heritage for future generations to enjoy,” said Dennis E. Piendak, Town Manager.

“I grew up working on farms in Dracut. After I returned to Dracut after working in the Peace Corps, I worked to build a farm business that includes farms and farmstands in two towns as well as farmers’ markets in eight cities,” said David Dumaresq, new owner of the protected farmland. “This, my first land purchase, confirms that I’m in farming for life. The new Dumaresq Farm will provide space to grow crops such as blueberries, apples, pears, and peaches and will certainly be there for the future.”

“The Department of Agricultural Resources is proud to be part of an innovative land preservation partnership that starts with the farmers and landowners who are willing to place restrictions on their agricultural land in order to protect it for future generations,” said Douglas P. Gillespie, Massachusetts Commissioner of Agricultural Resources, which administers the APR program.

“This year marks a decade that the Natural Resources Conservation Service has partnered with the Commonwealth to accomplish its agricultural land preservation goals by leveraging state funds with federal funds,” said Cecil B. Currin, State Conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Massachusetts. The agency administers the FRPP program.

Since the inception of the APR program in 1977, the state has permanently protected 58,732 acres on 680 farm properties with $163 million in APR funding. With this acquisition, the state has preserved 245 acres in the town of Dracut with $1.5 million in state funding.

From the beginning of the federal Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP), first authorized in the 1996 Farm Bill, NRCS has awarded nearly $20 million in federal funds to purchase easements on more than 9,000 acres of farmland in Massachusetts. In Dracut alone, 130 acres have been protected with $1.3 million in FRPP assistance.

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