Chafee Visits Farms in Warren

Gov. Lincoln Chafee paid a visit to Warren on Tuesday morning to tour protected farmlands, most notably Kee Farm, a historic working farm on Long Lane. 

After more than three years of work, the 64-acre waterfront farm officially became protected land in July after a $1M deal was made using funds from the Town of Warren’s Open Space program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, R.I. Department of Environmental Management and R.I. Agricultural Land Preservation Commission.

The deal allows the Kee family to retain ownership of the home and land, but ensures that it can never be used for anything other than agricultural purposes.

Council President David Frerich called the acquisition and Tuesday’s tour “a great day for the Town of Warren,” while Councilwoman Cathie Tattrie emphasized the necessity to avoid overdevelopment that burdens the town’s infrastructure. Governor Chafee was also thinking fiscally. 

“A lot of the programs that helped save this land came through the state. We want to stay on top of it, see how it’s going and make sure these valuable dollars are working for the state,” Chafee said.

Also on the tour were Janet Coit, Ken Ayars and Lisa Primiano of R.I.D.E.M., representatives from Senator Whitehouse and Senator Reed’s offices, Town Manager Richard Paduch and Town Planner Caroline Wells.

The group started at on Kinnicutt Road with a look at an aerial map and casual discussion of Warren’s protected space. From there they hopped on a bus and made brief stops at Chace Farm on Birch Swamp Road, Sousa Farm and Manchester Farm on Touisset Road before moving on to the Kee Farm, where the family showed off a vintage photograph of the site, gave a tour of the land, including a cow pasture overlooking the Kickemuit River, and posed for a few photos with the Governor.

Wells noted that the soil in east Warren is particularly rich and that it’s been deemed as “prime farmland” by the U.S.D.A. During the tour, emphasis was placed on the diversity of crops grown in the farms, as well as their use in dairy and beef farming and horse rearing. 

Council President Frerich encapsulated the importance of protecting agricultural history with one important rhetorical question, “Once your farmland is gone, where’s your food coming from?”