The Trust is a private entity and its seventy-nine acres are a small fraction of the total protected lands in Chelmsford. However, the unique features of the Trust properties and the willingness of the Trust to invite the public onto its lands create the conditions for the properties to become important components, not only of the regional wildlife corridors, but also of the human recreation experience in Chelmsford.

The Trust sites that are linked to the downtown and the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail that lies adjacent to Bartlett Park, Bartlett Woodlot, Miriam E. Warren Wetlands Preserve, and the Lt. Edward-Hope Bovey Memorial Woodlot have seen a moderate increase due to access from the Bruce Freeman Bike Path. The outlying properties, not connected to downtown or the bike path and located in residential neighborhoods with little through-traffic might also experience heavier use as result of the increased exposure that the bike path development has brought to the Trust. New signs, printed maps, expanded volunteer opportunities, educational programs, will all contribute to an increased awareness of the existence of the Trust and its holdings, bringing more people to the properties. While increased use of the properties is desired by the Trust, the new situation will not satisfy the Trust’s mission of the preservation and conservation if the increased access destroys the very resource that the Trust intends to celebrate. However, the recreational enjoyment of the properties and their preservation need not be mutually exclusive. With this in mind, future designs for the properties described elsewhere on this website, based on the properties’ relationship to the natural and human landscape of Chelmsford, must seek to balance the needs of the human community with the need to protect the sites’ important ecological systems.