Since 2023 a cross-border conservation project involving eight organizations (called the Cooper Hill Alliance) has collaborated to preserve over 1,200 acres of ecologically significant land. It has reached an important milestone – every parcel comprising the original lands in Connecticut and Massachusetts owned by Hollywood producer Robert Boyett is now preserved.

The Salisbury Association now owns and protects the two former Boyett properties in Salisbury, totaling 497 acres. In 2023, neighbors of the properties formed two LLCs and purchased both, giving the Association time to obtain grant funding and acquire them for conservation. The Association applied for a Connecticut Open Space grant for 276-acre Tom’s Hill in 2023 and finalized the purchase in 2025. Grant applications for 221-acre Miles Mountain followed, and closing occurred on September 11, 2026.

The two properties contain hundreds of acres of core forest and habitat for rare species including the Federally Endangered Northern long-eared bat. They protect water quality for the Twin Lakes and the Housatonic River. They are connected to hundreds of acres of other protected lands extending into Massachusetts, creating a protected wilderness corridor where wildlife can safely roam. Both are incredibly scenic.

The new preserve will be named Holly’s Preserve at Miles Mountain. The name honors Holly Bottass, who grew up at her family’s farm on Weatogue Road and was tragically killed in a car accident nearby. The Salisbury Association will develop a hiking trail at the new preserve, to be named the Holly Bottass Trail. The trail will connect with trails at The Nature Conservancy’s neighboring Bartholomew’s Cobble in Massachusetts, giving hikers the opportunity to explore nature in two states.

Thank you to the following organizations which provided funding for these purchases: the State of Connecticut’s Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition program, Federal Highlands Act, The Nature Conservancy, the Anne and Rollin Bates Foundation, the John T. and Jane A. Wiederhold Foundation, and the Connecticut Land Conservation Council’s Land and Easement Acquisition Program and Transaction Assistance Grant program.

The eight-organization Cooper Hill Alliance has been recognized with a Special Award for Excellence in Conservation Collaboration by the Connecticut Land Conservation Council, and with letters of commendation from both of Connecticut’s U.S. Senators, for what CLCC calls “a monumental, once-in-a-generation conservation victory.” The creation of the connecting trail between Connecticut and Massachusetts may be the first of other possible conservation projects in the area, continuing the Cooper Hill Alliance’s work.