Lined with trees, absent of utility poles and defined by stonewalls and fences, Ives Road in Potowomut is a slice of countryside within a few minutes of busy Post Road.

On the left heading east is Goddard Park, the horse stables and then the rolling terrain jarred by rock outcroppings before the greens and fairways of the park golf course. The right side of the road is private property with glimpses of the occasional home, but predominately open fields and swatches of reflections from the Greene River.

That scene promises not to change for decades thanks to the action of the Gammell and Klebenov families. Last week, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announced the sale of the development rights to 125 acres of the farm – The Meadows – that has been part of the Gammell family since the Revolutionary War. The Greene family, which operated an iron smelter on the Hunt River that feeds into the Green River, sold the land to the Gammells.

For years, the family has worked on preserving the property without being driven to sell it because of almost $100,000 in city taxes annually. Now, it will stay farmland and only used according to the terms of the agreement.

Fran Gammell-Roach, her husband, Nick Roach, and Tim Mooney of The Nature Conservancy, which played a key role in engineering the deal, toured the property Sunday morning. In places, snow from the previous night’s storm patched the fields. It was brisk. Sun sparkled off of the Greene River, also known as the Potowomut River, that with a high tide was at its banks, clear and black. On the far side of the river is the wooded embankment of Pojack Point. Ducks took flight and a red tail hawk soared above the fields.

With Nick at the wheel of the Kubota RTV and staying close to the edge of the field, Fran pointed out how rising sea levels have resulted in marshlands extending into the fields. Tim trains his binoculars on the ducks.

“Buffleheads?” inquires Nick. Tim confirms his sighting. Nick talks about the wildlife and how in recent years with the proliferation of coyotes the turkeys and deer have disappeared. At one time they would see rabbits in the fields that are cut for hay, but with the coyotes the only ones they see now are close to the house and barn where they can take refuge.

Fran points to a dead tree on the far bank of the river. She has seen as many as six egrets perched on its branches. Osprey are common and, in fact, cleaned out a small pond they had stocked with goldfish. The river is shallow. The herring run in the spring and the stripers are often not far behind. Oysters and mussels are harvested. In warmer weather, kayakers have become frequent visitors.

Further on is an overlook with a dock, burn barrel and chairs. The sun is warm.

Fran talks about her late husband, A. Middleton Gammell, and his lifetime goal to reassemble the property that had been divided over the years and to preserve it for generations to come.

“It was towards the end of his lifetime, that the opportunity was there,” Fran says. It was Fran and Nick, with the support of the extended family, who carried out that wish.

“The family has always wanted this land to stay the way it was,” Fran said. “And the dilemma was, the taxes were getting to be impossible. And, you know, Nick and I realized that the next generation was going to have an even harder time keeping the land.”

Pulling it together didn’t come easily. They reached out to the Audubon Society, Ducks Unlimited and other groups. They made a video of the property and defined the goal to save it. They spent a lot on appraisals and attorneys with no guarantee of saving the land, although they would be giving up the prospect of making a fortune if they opted to subdivide and develop the property.

Fran said there was a lot of interest but questions remained on the partnerships and funding.

In the end, according to the press release, TNC and DEM purchased the development rights to four adjoining parcels from seven descendants of William Gammell Jr. for $1,551,000. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service contributed $987,000 in funding and the Agricultural Land Preservation Commission provided $200,000 from a farmland preservation bond approved by Rhode Island voters in 2014. TNC raised the remaining funds through grants from the Bafflin Foundation, the Hope Goddard Iselin Foundation, the Mary Dexter Chafee Fund and contributions by individual donors. The owners donated nearly a quarter of the value of the development rights, which were appraised at $1,974,000.

Fran said proceeds from the sale are being placed in an LLC that will providing funding for the maintenance of the property and payment of taxes.

“By providing funding through the federal Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, we were able to help the landowners and our partners protect working agricultural lands and prime farmland soils, which provide many environmental benefits for the Ocean State,” R. Phou Vongkhamdy, Rhode Island State Conservationist for Natural Resource Conservation Service, said in the release.

DEM Director Janet Coit is quoted: “Once you’ve seen this magnificent parcel overlooking the Potowomut, you can’t imagine not seeing it again in its natural state. The 2020 green bond proposes $3 million in Natural and Working Lands Bond funding, which will unlock more important farmland protection projects to help farmers stay in business, keep land productive, protect ecosystems and native habitats, support our local food system, and provide jobs.”

For all that the mile-long stretch of the Greene River brings to the property, it is the rolling fields that capture Fran. Like waves they catch morning light, flickers taking flight and then landing in the close cut grass.

Those same fields are all part of what makes Potowomut a special place – and an escape – for so many.