Thanks to funding from private and public partnerships such as the Sudbury Valley Trustees and Westford Town Meeting voters a few months ago, the O'Brien Farm on Vose Road is now officially an open space where the public can enjoy nature until the end of time.

Most of the farm's 25 acres, which had been owned by the McColough family since 1886, were placed into a conservation restriction at the Registry of Deeds during the last week of December.

“It was a remarkable alliance between the landowner, four conservation non-profits, the Town of Westford and the Commonwealth,” reflected Selectman Andrea Peraner-Sweet, the President of the Westford Land Preservation Foundation. “Charlie (McColough) had already invited the Sudbury Valley Trustees to consider being the co-holder of a conservation restriction on the land with the Westford Conservation Commission, and then he wrote to our Board.”

McCollough agreed to accept $345,000 less than the $1,290,000 amount for the land, and the the last few dollars came in when voter Denali Delmar donated Peraner-Sweet $40 at Fall Town Meeting itself.

“Our success once again demonstrates what a committed, hardworking group of people can achieve as well as just how important open space is in our town," said Peraner-Sweet. "Westford endeavors to be a town that strives to combine and balance residential and commercial development with the preservation of our open space, our history and our natural habitat.”