1) Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) land of two farms on Tuttle Rd., approximately 253 acres

2) Land owned by the Trust on the other side of the parcel.
19 acres

3) Lands owned by the Town of Clinton known as the Wekepeke watershed. The Town of Clinton entered in an agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2004 placing a Conservation Restriction on some 500 acres.

4) Approximately 50 acres of Sterling town forest

As land purchases go, eight acres might not seem significant — but context is everything.

The Sterling Land Trust has negotiated the purchase of eight acres in the Tuttle/Heywood roads area that will preserve an unbroken block of protected watershed, woodland and agricultural lands totaling hundreds of acres.

The parcel is a portion of the farm owned by the late Roger S. Pillsbury, whose three children have chosen to sell the other 45 acres, according to Eric Starbard of the land trust.

The land trust was particularly interested in the eight acres because of its unique location. The wood section projects directly into already conserved land — Maple Brook Farm and Crystal Brook Farm, owned by Starbard, which are held under the Agricultural Preservation Restriction program. The farms total 253 acres.

Also surrounding the parcel are 19 acres owned by the land trust, and 500 acres owned by the town of Clinton known as the Wekepeke watershed and protected by a state conservation restriction.

According to Jim French of the land trust, the eight acres are capable of sustaining three house lots. To date the land trust has received a donation from a private individual of $140,000 toward the $340,000 purchase price of the land. To meet the price, the trust might have to sell off one house lot on the Heywood Road side of the parcel.

“That particular portion of the property is already straddled by two other houses; there’s enough frontage to allow for one house,” he said. By allowing a house in an already existing residential neighborhood, the trust will be able to preserve the Tuttle Road woodlands, protecting what French calls “the finest view in this part of town. It’s like a painting on a canvas.”

French describes the Pillsbury parcel as a “peninsula in a sea of green,” noting the “wealth of protected open space and watershed land” surrounding it. Negotiations for the purchase have taken about two years, he said.

“It’s to the Pillsburys’ credit that they believe in what we’re trying to do with these farms, fields and forest,” French said.

Starbard said people are beginning to sense the urgency for land preservation as farms and other opens spaces gradually disappear.

“If you go to Vermont and talk about land preservation in the rural towns they’ll say, ‘Are you kidding?’ Until the land is nearly gone, there isn’t the momentum to do anything about it,” he said.

The Sterling Land Trust will hold a public information meeting on February 5 at 2 p.m. at Crystal Brook Farm, 192 Tuttle Road. Donations can be made to: Sterling Land Trust, Inc., P.O. Box 106, Sterling, MA 01564. Anyone interested in viewing the proposed house lot can contact Gary Griffin at Sholan Realty (978) 422-3344.