Conservation Commission Unanimously Backs McDuffie for Board Seat

SHUTESBURY -- March 12, 2026, Shutesbury Conservation Commission unanimously recommends Michael McDuffie to the Select Board for a conservation commission seat. The commission also received an informal presentation from National Grid and its environmental consultant, BSC Group, on the Central to Western Mass Improvement Project, a planned replacement of lattice transmission towers with steel monopoles along a 67-mile corridor affecting 17 municipalities, including two miles through Shutesbury crossing Amherst watershed land and the Walter Cowles Jones working forest. Temporary wetland impacts in Shutesbury are projected at 32,585 square feet, with 8,712 square feet of canopy cover conversion; no permanent stream or wetland crossings are proposed. Formal notices of intent are targeted for filing beginning June 2026, with construction not expected to begin in the region until spring 2029. Commission member Bob pressed the National Grid team to include Shutesbury among communities receiving mitigation funding, and the BSC consultant said the town would be added to the list of opportunities being evaluated alongside DCR, Kestrel Land Trust, and Mass Audubon.