More land along Allens Pond and in North Dartmouth is now protected from development forever, as two major land conservation projects took a big step forward.

Both the Powel Woodland property in South Dartmouth and a property on High Hill Road in North Dartmouth are now under conservation restrictions, which blocks further development of the largely untouched pieces of land.

The restriction in North Dartmouth is on a 57.8-acre piece of property which, as of this week, is now owned by the Dartmouth Conservation Commission. Town Meeting members approved $400,000 for the purchase at the Fall Town Meeting last year.

Walking trails are planned for the site, but long-term, officials hope to build a continuous, three-mile path greenway between two major nature reserves: the Acushnet Cedar Swamp, and the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve.

“The idea is to have a continuous link of public, protected properties,” said Environmental Affairs Coordinator Michael O'Reilly.

The purchase and conservation restriction creates that continuous link between the two properties.

The Powel Woodlands property on Jordan Rd. in South Dartmouth, furthers the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s long-term plan to permanently protect the entirety of the Allens Pond watershed from development.

“We are very excited to be partnering with Mr and Mrs Powel in the protection of this property on Jordan Rd,” said Alan Decker, Director of Land Protection at the Buzzards Bay Coalition.

It is one of several major initiatives the coalition has spearheaded to protect the vital watershed, which is recognized for its natural importance.

“The property is entirely either contributing critical natural landscape or core habitat,” Decker noted.

In 2017, the Coalition, working with Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust and Round the Bend Farm, secured the largest remaining property on Allens Pond: Ocean View Farm. DNRT now operates a public reserve on half of the land, while Round the Bend Farm uses the remaining land.

“If you’ve had an opportunity to get down there, you know how spectacular it is,” Decker noted. “If you haven’t, you should.”

The Powel property will not be open to the public, and will remain owned by the Powel family.

Overall, the projects will preserve a total of 217 acres of coastal farmland.