Press Release: Tiverton Land Trust and Town Awarded $500,000 RI DEM Conservation Grant
(Tiverton, RI, February 5, 2026) The Tiverton Land Trust (TLT) and the Town of Tiverton received a grant of $500,000 from the RI Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) through the Green Space Grant Program towards conserving 48 acres of land that is part of the property referred to as Hicks Farm in northern Tiverton.
Hicks Farm lies amid densely developed residential streets and businesses along the northern portion of Main Road in Tiverton, less than a mile from Fall River. No longer farmed, the property holds a mixture of mature hardwood forest, fields, wetlands and many historical stone walls. The terrain slopes downhill from Main Rd. to a pristine shoreline on Mount Hope Bay. The fact that this property has survived undeveloped is a testament to the Hicks Family, who have owned the property for more than 300 years and committed to protecting the land from residential or commercial development. According to family member Amy Marchand Collins, the family mission across generations has been: “Never sell. Never sell. Never sell.”
The RIDEM grant is a significant contribution towards the $2.7 million needed to secure a conservation easement on this property. Upon learning of the grant award, Patrick Jones, Tiverton Town Administrator stated, “Hicks Farm is an irreplaceable asset to Tiverton, particularly because of its location in the northern part of town where open space is limited. Its proximity to Pocasset School makes it especially valuable—not just as preserved land, but as a living resource for education, recreation, and community connection. This grant helps ensure that future generations will continue to benefit from this unique property.”
With this grant, the project team has raised a total of $1,737,000, including $1M from the Tiverton Open Space Fund, a $50K grant from the Bafflin Foundation, and an additional $187,000 from individual donations. That leaves $963,000 additional funds to raise by September. 2027. TLT board member David Elliott said, “This RIDEM Open Space grant is a great boost to the ambitious fundraising goal and extends a long history of RIDEM support for conservation projects across Tiverton.” RIDEM’s contribution to this initiative signals that they are ready to partner with the town, TLT, and the Hicks family in managing this easement into the future.
When opened to the public, this property will shine as a long-overdue asset to the surrounding community. “This land is truly a gem. Once you’ve travelled down a slope or two, the noise of Main Road dissipates,” said Pamela Thompson, Tiverton Land Trust President. “It’s immediately peaceful, enchanting, and begs to be explored.” Glacial erratics and cliffs of puddingstone harken back to the ice sheets that once covered New England. Late successional forest of black, white, and red oaks, hickory, red maple and popular towers over high bush blueberry, American holly, and huckleberry. A laneway, edged by parallel walls of enormous stones cleared from fields more than two centuries ago, leads downhill towards the bay.
Situated within walking distance of the Pocasset School, Hicks Farm offers opportunities for students to explore remnants of the town’s farming history as well as upland and coastal environments. Robert Sarno, TLT board member and former teacher, and Diane Sanna, former teacher and administrator in Tiverton, are leading TLT’s efforts to engage the entire school community with Hicks Farm. First steps include working with Lee Cusamano, Career and Technical Education Coordinator at the high school to engage students and teachers in the Plant Science Program in activities such as mapping the terrain, envisioning a hiking path system, creating signage, or performing an ecological assessment of native plant species. “The opportunities for learning are limitless, and each student interaction with Hicks Farm builds pride in their town, which then translates into care for the land, as one aim is to create new generations of future stewards,” said Sarno.
Brian Janes, a member of Tiverton’s Open Space Commission (TOSP) and TLT board members helped shepherd a long-running dialogue with family members to a point of agreement, honoring the Hicks family’s wish to retain ownership of the land while conserving it with a perpetual easement for public passive recreation. Acquiring the conservation easement on this parcel directly addresses the 2018 Tiverton Comprehensive Community Plan (TCCP) which identifies “...a continuing need for more open space and recreational resources in the northern sector of Tiverton. Unfortunately, that sector of town, with its high population density, has the least amount of available undeveloped land. ...every opportunity should be explored to create more public green space in North Tiverton.” (9-1, TCCP).
Fundraising to secure this easement is ongoing.To learn more and participate in this effort, reach out to the Tiverton Land Trust at info@tivertonlandtrust.org and read more on our website under Conserve Hicks Farm.
ENDS
For further information, contact Pamela Thompson, President, Tiverton Land Trust at pam@tivertonlandtrust.org
