In an open letter to the committee, printed in the "Marshfield Mariner" on October 1, 1980, Wayne Petersen, then a school teacher in Hanover, but who would be on his way to a position as a field ornithologist for the Mass Audubon, outlined some of the important reasons why, for nature's sake, the farm should be saved as open space. “The farm includes Red Maple swamps, dry hay fields, moist meadows, and protected backwaters and muddy river edges. This combination of habitats produces not only a remarkable diversity of birdlife, but also supports a few species generally uncommon or rare throughout southeastern Massachusetts.” He listed it as hunting grounds for various birds of prey, and nesting grounds for several species of ducks; as “critical feeding grounds” for the six species of heron, ibis and egret that then nested on Clark's Island in nearby Duxbury Bay; and as home to several species of mammals, from rodents to foxes. “This combination of features all points to an area worthy of whatever means may be required to preserve it.”