The town of Hamilton is home to an exclusive hunt club and horse farms set on gently rolling hills, but it is a 99-acre tract owned by Harvard University that has college alumni and preservationists engaged in an intense behind-the-scenes battle.
The land, known for its vibrant flame azalea and stands of Douglas fir, was a gift to Harvard College from Nathan Matthews, a Boston mayor who bequeathed his Black Brook Farm in 1928 under the condition that it be maintained as an "experimental station in forestry for the benefit of all persons and institutions in New England."
But now Harvard has indicated it may want to sell the land, leading to complaints that the university would violate the deed restriction laid down by Matthews, a gardener and a graduate of Harvard College and its law school.
Preservationists fear that the land, known locally as Harvard Forest, would be snatched up by developers, even in a down market. There is talk among residents, town officials and preservationists that a potential buyer would save most of the woods, but sell off some of the lush land, to pay for the transaction.
The growing imbroglio echoes another from two decades ago, when Harvard infuriated some alumni by selling its 3,600-acre Black Rock Forest in New York, a gift from a 1908 graduate, who also had a strong interest in forestry research.
Now, as then, some Harvard alumni are saying their Ivy League school, with one of the richest endowments in the country, is not playing by the rules in the town of Hamilton.
"I'm upset that Harvard is violating the trust they agreed to accept," said John Hamilton, a lawyer and Harvard graduate, who lives in Hamilton and is a member of the town's Conservation Commission.
"I also wonder if this action doesn't cast a cloud on future restricted gifts," he said. "Why would people give gifts if they thought Harvard wouldn't comply with the conditions of the gift?"
Precisely what Harvard's intentions are is not clear. Robert Mitchell, a spokesman for the university, declined to answer questions, but did issue a statement.
"In response to an abutter's inquiry, regarding their acquisition of a small piece of the property, Harvard Forest initiated an evaluation of our property in Hamilton," Mitchell said. "The situation is proving very complex and this evaluation is ongoing."
Local preservationists say Harvard went so far as to send the director of Harvard Forest to tour the property with The Trustees of Reservations, in October and indicated it wants to sell the property, which is less than a mile from the Myopia Hunt Club.
"Some of the Harvard Forest folks contacted The Trustees of Reservations initially, and the trustees in turn let us know that [Harvard] was doing preliminary planning work in connection with disposition of that property," said David Santomenna, director of land conservation for the Essex County Greenbelt Association, a nonprofit that protects land from development and owns property adjacent to the Harvard Forest.
The Trustees of Reservations is a nonprofit that has preserved about 25,000 acres of open space statewide, including the 259-acre Appleton Farms Grass Rides, a park that is across the road from the Harvard Forest. Santomenna said he and a trustees representative told Harvard that their organizations would be keenly interested in acquiring the university's land, and would be "happy to work out a conservation plan," if Harvard decided to sell. He said no sale price was discussed.
Wesley Ward, the trustees vice president of land conservation, confirmed the initial discussions, but would not elaborate. "We have had informal and confidential discussions with Harvard and with others, and I am not free to comment on them," Ward said.
But others in Hamilton's tightly knit preservation circles say discussions have progressed so far that the trustees are already talking about selling some of the forest - potentially to developers - to help offset the cost of the purchase.
"I heard about it at a Planning Board meeting, where someone from [Essex County] Greenbelt disclosed to us that this property is possibly going to be subdivided," said Peter Clark, a board member. He said that many residents believe that Harvard plans to sell the property and invest the money in its main campus for forestry research in Petersham, about 70 miles west of the university's Cambridge campus.
Back in 2002, preservationists who were tracking the amount of Hamilton's open space asked the town's lawyer whether the 90-acre parcel owned by Harvard could be counted on as undeveloped land. In her written opinion, town counsel Donna MacKenna said she checked with a colleague who formerly worked in the state attorney general's Public Charities Division, and then concluded that Harvard was required to use the land under the terms outlined in Matthews's will "in perpetuity."
She also noted, however, that Harvard could seek the state attorney general's permission to transfer the land to another charitable organization, which would follow the conditions of Matthews's will "as closely as practicable." Under the law, the attorney general oversees charitable properties.
A spokesman for the state attorney general's office said they have not received a request from Harvard regarding the Hamilton property.
Still, preservationists say they are so convinced that Harvard intends to sell the property that they have started lining up funds for a coalition of conservation groups to make a bid for it. Gretel Clark, a member of Hamilton's Open Space committee, recently submitted a $500,000 request to the town's Community Preservation Committee to "help save the property."
Ultimately, the brouhaha over Harvard Forest in Hamilton may be decided the way the earlier one was settled in New York - in the courts. After more than five years of negotiations and protests, a State Supreme Court judge in 1989 approved the transfer of Harvard's Black Rock Forest to a consortium of 15 scientific and educational institutions who agreed to keep the forest forever wild. But the deal also allowed Harvard to keep the estimated $3 million endowment that went with the property, an agreement that infuriated some alumni.
Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com.
