Spring Hill Tract

This 187-acre forest lies south of Storrs between Chaffeeville Road and Route 195.  It includes nearly three-fourths of a mile frontage on Chaffeeville Road and abuts UConn farm land with frontage on route 195.  The tract is dominated by timber sized, second growth deciduous trees in the 80 to 100-year age class.  As one of the largest contiguous forests in the Storrs area this tract has considerable local environmental importance.  It abuts the Army Corps of Engineers flood control land to the east, which in turn bounds the Mansfield Hollow State Park and Reservoir.  The 100+ acre abutting tract to the north called the Fifty Foot Preserve is owned by the Town of Mansfield. The parcel contains intermittent streams, vernal pools and other wetland areas. Recent management activities include the implementation of a “Stormwise” management prescription along Chaffeeville Rd. and a silvicultural treatment on approximately 30 acres in the interior of the parcel, best described as a “group retention” irregular shelterwood treatment to foster oak and hickory regeneration and young forest habitat conditions.