Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust
PO Box P17
404 Elm Street
Dartmouth, MA 02748
Tel: 508-991-2289
About DNRT | History
1971
A few Dartmouth residents band together to try to purchase and protect the 150-acre Star of the Sea property at the head of Apponagansett Bay. Although they make an offer and put a down payment on the property, the property owner sells the property to a developer without notifying the Dartmouth group. Although the initial conservation effort fails, the loss of Star of the Sea galvanizes public opinion and leads to the incorporation of the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust. (Since this time, DNRT and the Dartmouth Conservation Commission have been able to mitigate the development at Star of the Sea by protecting 104 acres there.)
1972
The first land donation to DNRT is 19 acres of saltwater marshland on the west bank of the Slocum River by Carl and Phyllis Grosswendt, now called the Grosswendt Reserve. The first conservation restriction is 40 acres adjacent to the Little River, given by William and Louise Pinney.
1983
DNRT acquires the 140-acre Smith Farm on Smith Neck Road.
1993
DNRT hires first employee.
1999
DNRT receives a donation of 104 acres along the Shingle Island River. (DNRT now protects over 2,500 feet of frontage along this important waterway.)
DNRT hires a full-time land manager to help steward its growing number of Reserves.
2000
DNRT and the Trustees of Reservations close on the 296-acre Destruction Brook Woods, completing Phase Three of the $8 million, 1,053-acre “Slocums River Conservation Project.”
2004
DNRT closes on the final two Hixville Conservation Project (HCP) properties. In total, the HCP protected 158-acres off Collins Corner Road in North Dartmouth.
2005
DNRT acquires 40-acre addition to Little River Reserve, thus creating block of 350 acres of protected land between Potomska Road and Little River.
