Conservation Restriction

Conservation for kids and community—for centuries to come.

Upcoming Events

Residents of Dover and Westwood are invited to join Executive Director Eric Arnold for coffee and conversation on Wednesday mornings throughout the summer to stay up to date on Hale’s conservation restriction efforts. These will be held from 7:30–8:30 AM at Hale (80 Carby Street, Westwood). Click here to sign up.

Are you interested in hosting an information session for your friends or neighborhood? Email cr@hale1918.org to learn how you can help spread the word about our conservation efforts and what they mean for Hale’s programs and property.

The Future

Hale’s century-long commitment to preserving land, protecting nature, and building community has never been stronger. Our work has impacted millions of lives and continues to be rooted in the belief that nature, education, and recreation inspire us to learn, empower us to lead, and challenge us all to create a world in which people, place, and purpose are united. It’s with that in mind that we look to the future.

Hale may be a small nonprofit, but our community is large. It includes residents of Dover and Westwood, as well as friends and neighbors from surrounding cities and towns. Our longstanding ties to Boston’s people and institutions run deep, and our programs serve tens of thousands of people every year.

Everyone in this larger community deserves a Hale education, and we’ll ensure they get one by preserving our land, expanding our programs, improving our facilities, and making outdoor learning accessible to all. Achieving this goal will require immense time, effort, and support. To realize Hale’s full potential, we must leverage all of our resources.

The Land

Hale’s historic property is a resource we believe should be available to all. Our 1,000+ acres of forests, ponds, and meadows support learning, reflection, discovery, and wellness. Cities and towns benefit from open spaces such as Hale—surrounding property values tend to be higher as a result of the cleaner air and water they produce, opportunities for passive recreation they provide, and natural beauty and health benefits they offer.

While Hale’s land is in many ways priceless, its value is not incalculable, and people are often surprised to learn that it is not protected from development. In the 1950s, our Board of Directors was forced to consider selling parcels to sustain the organization. Today, our board is pursuing ways to fund the achievement of Hale’s long-term vision and mission.

Our board intends to do so by unlocking the value of Hale’s land.

The Plan

Hale is committed to reimagining learning and making it available to the communities we serve. To do this, Hale needs funding—tens of millions of dollars of it. Much of it will come by way of private philanthropy, but a sizable portion of it must be realized through our most valuable asset: our land.

Hale’s Board of Directors could simply subdivide and sell parcels to private buyers, but would strongly prefer an alternative solution that allows Hale’s current property to remain intact. In the spirit of being a good neighbor and protecting nature, it presented the Towns of Dover and Westwood with an opportunity to place a conservation restriction (CR) on the property.

Doing so would be the first step in permanently protecting more than 1,000 acres in what could be the region’s largest conservation project in many years.

If Dover and Westwood seize this opportunity:

1. Each town’s leadership will determine the best way to support this effort
2. Residents will likely be asked to invest in permanently protecting Hale’s land
3. Funds will lay the groundwork for an endowment that, combined with private philanthropy, will sustain Hale and enable it to expand programs that serve our children and communities

Without the towns’ support, Hale’s Board of Directors will have no other option than to consider selling land (at market value) to meet the organization’s optimal need.

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