What to Know Before Clearing Land Around Palmer
Three rivers put many lots near the water. The Quaboag, Ware and Swift meet at Three
Rivers to form the Chicopee. Under the Wetlands Protection Act, the riverfront area runs 200 feet back
from a river's mean annual high-water line, and altering it, a bank or a wetland needs a notice of
intent with the Palmer Conservation Commission first. Requirements vary by parcel, scope and
jurisdiction, and the governing authority makes the determination; the
Massachusetts cost guide
explains the filings.
Flood plain and stony upland price differently. NRCS describes valley flood plain soils
like the Hadley series as river-laid silt and fine sand that floods anywhere from once a year to once in
ten years or more, mostly kept in hay and pasture. Up on the till, it notes that stony areas are mostly wooded. River ground
clears fast once it dries; a stony woodlot slows the mulching head and sits higher in the band.
Autumn olive is a prohibited plant here. It is on the Massachusetts Prohibited Plant
List, and EDDMapS holds reports from Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester counties, two of them within a
few miles of Palmer center. It favors fields, pastures and roadsides and sprouts back when cut, so plan
more than one visit. Our
autumn olive removal guide
sets out the plan.