Thompson, Putnam

Tamler Preserve

The Tamler Preserve was donated by Mrs. Nettie Tamler in 1990 and consists of 79.4 acres just east of the Quaddick Reservoir in Thompson. You can enter the preserve though an aluminum gate on Elmwood Hill Road. An old cart road leads into the property and connects with a loop trail that was created for an Eagle Scout project in 2002. The total length is about one mile.

Julie Tamler, Nettie’s daughter, donated an additional 140 acres to the land trust in 2015. The end result—the 220-acre Tamler Preserve—provides a significant block of protected habitat for both plants and animals.

“It’s wild, remote, untouched, hilly, wooded, and rocky,” said Jeff Stefanik, who surveyed the property and is a board member of the land trust.

“The most striking thing to me is how this property is contiguous to or near three different state forests–the Quaddick State Forest in Connecticut, the George Washington Management Area and Buck Hill Wildlife Management Area in Rhode Island, and the Douglas State Forest in Massachusetts. The end result is a massive forest block. I don’t think folks are aware of the significance of this block is because it is divided between the three different states. The Tamler Preserve fits right into that.”

“I believe that the best thing we can do for our children is to have them spend time in the wilderness,” said Julie Tamler. “It’s through walking in the woods, and playing in the woods, and being away from electronics and noise and light pollution, that our children can know what is real and truly important. They can spend time with themselves and know that’s good, enough, rewarding, fulfilling, nourishing. They can connect with the seasons, the weather, the plants, and the animals and know peace.

“If we are no longer connected with the land then we have lost something forever.”