Donald and Susan Ware are not strangers to conservation. In 2007, the couple donated a conservation easement on their 120 acres of land in Hopkinton to the Forest Society. In 2009, the couple acquired and added another 50.5 acres to the original conservation easement. In 2015, the Wares purchased another 77 acres and once again the land has been added to the existing conservation easement.

The 77-acre parcel is 80 percent forest and 20 percent wetlands, with the forest last harvested five years ago. The land retains a well-stocked oak-white pine forest, includes Tier 1 wildlife habitat (the best in the state), 26 acres of wetland communities, and 2,700 feet of frontage on Dolf Brook. The property sits 100 percent within the Merrimack Valley Regional Conservation Plan priority focus area.