2008 Completed Projects
Maple Homestead Farm Easements, Marlborough, 39.6 acres
Actively farmed since the 1970s, Hank Kenney's farm produces roughly 2% of the state's maple syrup. Prime agricultural soils throughout the property support hay produciton, sugar bush for a large sugaring operation, and cattle and horse pasture.
High on the Town of Marlborough's conservation priority list, the farm abuts other conservation land protected by SPNHF and the Conservancy (executory interest) and is just south of Keene water supply lands. Purchase of the easement was funded by the town and the federal Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP). The Trust for Public Lands also used an FRPP grant to purchase a conservation easement on the Ballam Farm in Walpole, on which the Conservancy holds executory interest.
2007 Completed Projects—
A Record Year!
A record land protection total, new partnerships, fundraising successes, additional staff—a wealth of factors converged in 2007 to create one amazing year for the Monadnock Conservancy. On December 28th, we completed our 150 th conservation project, reaching a year-end total of 39 projects and 3,885 acres of newly protected land, which includes Temple Mountain.
Jaffrey Neighborhood Greenway
Stonewall Farm Easements, Jaffrey, 376.5 acres
White Easement, Jaffrey, 74 acres
Betsey and John Harris and Pamela and Brad White donated easements on 450 acres in Jaffrey, protecting more than a mile of unfragmented forest almost all the way from Frost Pond to Thorndike Pond. The easements also protect more than 3,000 feet of shoreline on Frost Pond, an historically significant stone causeway and old cellar holes along historic roads linking Jaffrey and Dublin, and many trails for backwoods hiking and horseback riding.
Eric Aldrich photo
In making these donations, the Harrises and Whites have preserved forever places for residents of the area to enjoy a long walk in the woods. Betsey Harris told the Conservancy, “For many years we have enjoyed walking on the trails and old roads of this extensive piece of land. We hope someday to have a network of new trails between the ponds, so that as our towns grow, there will always be a quiet and peaceful place for man and beast to enjoy each other’s company.”
Darwin’s View Easement, Jaffrey, 177 acres
Also protecting a significant section of northeastern Jaffrey, Tory McCagg and Carl Querfurth will build a house on a cleared section of the property and protect the rest from the increasing pressure to develop this part of town. The property is a portion of the old Tripp farm off Parker Road and features an open field of prime soil, diverse forest types, several small streams, and the majority of Parker Pond. Wildlife and plant habitats are diverse, including stream corridors, open water, peatlands, steep slopes, middle-aged forest, and young forest. The property is bordered on two sides by Class VI roads, which are popular with pedestrians, and crossed by a hiking trail to Parker Pond.
Walpole Neighborhood Expands
Mapledell Farm Easement, Walpole, 85 acres
Ed Jennison’s property abuts Peg and John Stevens’ Walpole property, another Conservancy easement, on the north side of Watkins Hill Road and SPNHF’s Galloway easement on the south. A large portion of the property is actively farmed by a nearby dairy farmer and is used for haying and pasture.
It also includes a ponded wetland that is the headwater of an intermittent stream. The property has been in the Jennison family since 1946 and Ed, on the advice of his estate attorney, determined that the property should be protected. The Stevens and Jennison families have been friends for many years, and they were delighted to find that, on their own, they each sought the Conservancy’s help almost simultaneously and offered encouragement to each other along the way.
Galloway Easement, Walpole, 22.4 acres
Marcia Galloway's property also is located on Watkins Hill Road near the intersection known as "Christian Hollow" and abuts the Mapledell Farm (Jennison) easement, which abuts the Stevens easements. Other protected lands are nearby, with potential interest for more conservation projects in the area. Marcia loves her land in Walpole and the surrounding rural neighborhood and wishes it to remain unchanged.
Temple-to-Crotched Conservation Corridor
With five easements, the successful completion of the Temple Mountain acquisition, and a pending easement at Crotched Mountain, the Conservancy’s vision of a 15-mile Temple-to-Crotched Conservation Corridor between the two landmark peaks advanced significantly in 2007.
Temple Mountain State Reservation:
Temple, Sharon, Peterborough, 352 acres
Temple Mountain State Reservation became a reality in December when the state of New Hampshire purchased Temple Mountain from John and Connie Kieley for a bargain price of $1 million. The site of one of America’s oldest ski areas, the property includes a prominent ridgeline, a spectacular section of the 21-mile Wapack Trail, a cross-country ski network, and wildlife-rich remote backcountry. Led by the Monadnock Conservancy and the Department of Natural Resources and Economic Development (DRED), the five-year effort brought together state and federal lawmakers, municipal officials, and private citizens.
John Kieley accepts the check from Bill Carpenter, DRED, to transfer ownership of Temple Mountain to the State of New Hampshire.
Funding included a grant of $135,000 from the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program. Working with officials from DRED and Senator Judd Gregg and Representative Paul Hodes, the Conservancy secured two federal grants for a total of $330,000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The towns of Temple, Peterborough, and Sharon committed a total of $60,000, and the Conservancy raised more than $80,000 from private donors. With encouragement from the Conservancy and Representative Anne-Marie Irwin of Peterborough, Governor John Lynch included $435,000 in his 2007 capital budget. Representative Irwin, Representative Linda Foster, and Senator Peter Bragdon led the effort to obtain the money through budget negotiations in the legislature. They were supported with eloquent testimony from many area residents and scores of calls and letters. The budget item ultimately passed with overwhelming support.
Castle Trust North and South Easements,
Greenfield, 124.4 acres
Roger and Elisabeth Swain signed two easements protecting 124 acres of forest, wetland, and agricultural land. Their primary interest in making these donations was to model sustainable agriculture and forestry and to promote locally grown food. Roger and Elisabeth had been discussing an easement for four years, and with family encouragement, decided to proceed in 2007 as a package with the first of the DuBois easements. The property, located off Gulf, Peavey, and Mountain Roads, features an incised stream ravine and is in the Stony Brook watershed. It lies within a mile of the Wapack National Wildlife Refuge, New Hampshire’s first national refuge.
DuBois-Maille Easement, Greenfield, 33.8 acres
DuBois-Russell Easement, Greenfield, 18.7 acres
DuBois-Cox Easement, Greenfield, 84.1 acres
Phil DuBois signed three easements that play a significant role in helping to create the Temple-to-Crotched Conservation Corridor. Located off Gulf, Peavey, and Mountain Roads, the 136 acres conserved with these easements connect the Wapack National Wildlife Refuge with other large complexes of forest, streams, and wetlands in Greenfield and Peterborough; they lie within a mile of Pack Monadnock conservation land. According to ecologist Rick Van de Poll, the Dubois lands contain a remarkable diversity of natural community types, some of which are “unusual” and many of which are in “high quality” condition. These easements are the first of several expected from Phil and Jennifer DuBois, as part of the Temple-to-Crotched corridor and as a package with the Swain easements, which they surround.
Seven Maples Farm Easement, Temple, 246.8 acres
Not only were John and Connie Kieley instrumental in saving Temple Mountain, they also donated a conservation easement on their own property off West Road in Temple. It encompasses a forested and generally south-facing slope on the east side of the Wapack Range, with a range in elevation exceeding 600’ from the lowest point to the highest. It is part of a major forest block that includes Temple Mountain, several New England Forestry Foundation properties, and much of the southern Wapack Range.
The property is actively managed by the landowners and their forester; old roads and skid trails run throughout. John Kieley hopes to establish an east-west hiking trail near the ridgeline to link the Wapack Trail with points east. Conservation of the Kieley property links an existing LCIP easement to the west with the Conservancy’s Banks Orchard easement to the east.
Marlborough Mini Focus Area
Anyone who has driven down Old Harrisville Road in Marlborough can appreciate why artists come here to paint Mt. Monadnock and why the people who live here have a passion for conservation. Nancy Hayden touched off the effort in 2006, conserving 178 acres of her Too Bad Farm with the Conservancy. In October 2007, Nancy’s sister, Alice Pell, donated an easement on her abutting 15 acres, and then David and B. Howe added their 435 acres on Whippoorwill Farm.
As Alice remembers it, there was no coordinated effort to protect these properties; the idea just evolved through informal chats among neighbors, who agreed that conserving the whole area just made sense. Alice explained, “Once we started to put the pieces in place, it was clear that we had the possibility of protecting a lot of land.”
Pell Easement, Marlborough and Roxbury, 15.4 acres
Alice Pell’s land, strategically located in a large block of conservation land, belonged to her parents and grandparents; Alice and her husband Peter Schofield had been considering an easement as part of the family and neighborhood conservation effort. The hillsides are forested and include many large sugar maples, which are actively tapped for producing maple syrup. The easement also protects scenic forest frontage along Old Harrisville Road.
Whippoorwill Farm East and West Easements,
Marlborough, 434.8 acres
Dave and B. Howe’s Whippoorwill Farm in Marlborough and Roxbury includes a rich complex of forests, wetlands, and cleared land. The land, almost equally divided between the two sections, sandwichs Nancy Hayden’s conservation easements on Too Bad Farm. Conserving the forested landscape maintains a connection between large blocks of unfragmented forest to the east and west of the farm and to lands protected by the Monadnock Conservancy, SPNHF, NEFF, and the City of Keene (Keene Water Supply). Whippoorwill Farm is actively managed for maple syrup, hay, and forest products. The completion of Nancy Hayden’s project and the pending Kenney easement convinced Dave Howe that 2007 was the right time to donate the easements.
The old town center around Frost Hill and along Stone Pond Road, site of the former Frost Trust land, is another high-priority conservation area for the Town of Marlborough.
Athena’s Wood, Marlborough, 224.2 acres
Jeff Miller and Caroll MacKinnon's property is part of the old Frost Trust land, on the north side of Stone Pond Road, just west of Stone Pond. It is almost entirely forested, with several old skid roads in varying states of maintenance crossing the property. The property, all of which is part of the Quabbin-to-Cardigan focus area, is part of a large block of largely unfragmented forest, including an expansive Audubon preserve across the street. The Conservancy's Paine easement is nearby to the southwest. One of the landowners’ daughters named the easement—she even attended the closing—and it is their intent to preserve the property as open space for their daughters’ future. Stone Pond Road is a neighborhood of very strong conservation interest.
Sunnyside Easement, Marlborough, 69.5 acres
Sunnyside is located in the heart of historic and scenic Frost Hill in Marlborough. Owned by Rufus and Mary Frost, the property is highly scenic, with the woods and fields framing their historic house. The mowed fields all feature prime agricultural soil. The forest has good management potential and access; trails and woods roads throughout are used by hikers. One of the fields is believed to be the old muster grounds for the Town of Marlborough. The Conservancy’s Paine easement is across the street, behind which is Audubon’s Kensan-Devan Sanctuary. The Frosts dearly love Frost Hill and wanted to protect its scenery and open spaces.
Forbush Brook Easement, Marlborough, 92.0 acres
This upland property slopes downhill from the top of Page Hill to a low point where Forbush Brook runs through a gorge in the southwest corner of the property. George and Mary Iselin actively farm the land and pasture livestock on part of the parcel, which abuts the Conservancy’s Page Mountain Meadow property and contributes to the open space and wildlife habitat values of an extensive forest block that intersects Marlborough, Swanzey, and Keene. Their intent in conserving the property was to protect the rural character and undeveloped habitat of this part of Marlborough.
Silver Lake Focus Area
The Conservancy continued its relationship with the Silver Lake Land Trust, working with residents of the Sunset Hill area to place conservation easements on two properties and accept executory interest on a third to protect the area’s unique natural and scenic resources.
Innovative Conservation Models in Rindge
Sandback Wilderness East and West Easements,
Rindge, 88.4 and 120.9 acres
Amy Sandback’s forested parcels in the southeastern corner of Rindge immediately east of Lake Monomonac are part of a very large unfragmented forest block extending into Massachusetts; a major portion of which was protected through a recent federal grant. Her goal was to see that these two large parcels were never developed and are maintained “forever wild.” Given their unfragmented nature, abundant wildlife sign, and rare natural community occurrences, these two parcels were ranked very highly in a town-wide natural resources inventory (NRI), and portions are top-ranked by the NH Wildlife Action Plan.
To accomplish her wish, Sandback donated conservation easements on both of the properties to the Conservancy and then donated the eastern property to the Town of Rindge. The western parcel, allowing one buildable houselot in an exclusion area, was then donated to the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, which will sell it as a single estate lot, with the proceeds managed in a charitable fund according to Sandback’s wishes.
Converse Meadow Easement, Rindge, 240.8 acres
Selectboard members Patricia Lang Barry, Art Fiorelli, and Timothy Halliday, and Conservancy board president Jack Calhoun signed a conservation easement capping two decades of work to protect 240 acres of forest and wetlands in the heart of Rindge, as town administrator Carlotta Lilback Pini looks on.
The town purchased Converse Meadow in 2004, following an ambitious fundraising campaign, which included passage of a $220,000 town bond, thousands of dollars of private donations, and the raffle of a hybrid car. In 2005, Rindge voters approved a measure authorizing the town to place conservation easements on all town-owned conservation lands, including Converse Meadow.
Pratt Family Easement, Winchester, 71.2 acres
Located just one mile from the center of Winchester, the Pratt family property consists of a 5.2 acre parcel on the north side of Clark Road and a 66 acre parcel across the street to the south. The larger parcel spans the distance between Clark Road and Route 119 and has about 1,000 and 800 feet of frontage, respectively, on these two roads. In addition to other conservation goals, the Pratt family wanted to maintain a long strip of rural, forested scenery along Clark Road and preserve open space for the public and habitat for wildlife within an increasingly developed residential area.
Smith Pratt and his mother Irene preserved their family farm with an easement in 2007. Behind them is one of the many maple trees Phillip planted during his lifetime.
Irene Pratt and her deceased husband Phillip bought this property in 1958, and both developed close ties with the community: Phillip as a high school science teacher and Irene as a representative in the state legislature. The entire family felt strongly about protecting this relatively natural area as a personal and community resource. Daughter Susan Mooney recalls her childhood experiences tapping maples, raising livestock, and exhibiting home-grown vegetables at the Cheshire County Fair: “We hope the property will continue to be a place to raise a family, with the same opportunities we had.”
Perry Farm Easements I and II, Swanzey and Richmond,
110 and 149 acres, respectively
Perry Easement III, Swanzey, 110 acres
Dr. Lewis Kibler and his wife, Priscilla Perry Kibler, live in the Swanzey house where Priscilla was born, on land worked by the Perry family since 1804. The Kiblers hope to keep the land in the family, and to encourage their children’s sense of place, they have constructed trails named for family members—Herman’s Sugar Trail and Glen’s Glen. This fall, with financial support from the towns of Swanzey and Richmond, the Kiblers and their sister-in-law, Mary Jane Perry Gill, donated easements on a total of 369 acres in Swanzey and Richmond. These easements provide important protection for the upper watershed of Perry Brook, a conservation priority for the town of Swanzey.
Auchincloss Easement, Dublin, 53.2 acres
The Auchincloss property is located north of Dublin Lake on Old Harrisville Road along the Dublin-Harrisville line. The property is generally forested in older mixed stands, with a good diversity of species, including abundant mature red oak and several dense hemlock stands, some quite mature. The easement on the property augmented nearly 650 acres of existing conservation land to the west, with more nearby to the north and northeast. Steena Auchincloss’ family (Eaton) has maintained and enjoyed this property for decades. She wished to see its conservation values protected forever from development.
Trask Easement, Chesterfield, 51.6 acres
Located in the California Brook Natural Area (CBNA) with frontage on the brook itself, Jim Trask's property is located off a Class VI road running south from Atherton Hill Road. It abuts conservation land on two sides and helps complete more of the CBNA puzzle.
By the close of 2008, the California Brook Natural Area will be within two small parcels of Pisgah State Park.
Doyle Fee Simple, Keene, 6.0 acres
The undeveloped 6-acre Doyle property is located in Keene along the border with Gilsum. It abuts the Conservancy's Maynard Forest property, which must be traversed to access the Doyle property. The property is part of a large forest block in Gilsum and northeast Keene and helps to fill the gap between Maynard Forest and Keene's nearby Goose Pond Preserve. Alec Doyle’s family has owned land in Keene for many years and the family donated the land to the Conservancy as part of settling the estate.
Snowman Easement, Keene, 27.9 acres
It had long been Louisa Snowman's dream to conserve the Snowman family's property on Daniels Hill Road on the north slope of West Hill in Keene. Although only minutes from downtown, the property has a deep-woods feel. It abuts the Horatio Colony Preserve on the south and east boundaries; the preserve is the northeastern terminus of the Conservancy's California Brook focus area. Forest management in recent years has been very well-planned and executed by a member of the Snowman family. Diverse plant life and abundant wildlife have been observed on the property.
Meyer Easement, Keene, 37.3 acres
The Meyer property is located on the north side of Daniels Hill Road, on the north slope of West Hill in Keene. The forested property frames a beautiful registered historic home, and Daniels Hill Road is designated scenic along the entire frontage. Though technically not part of the California Brook watershed, the property functionally is part of the greater California Brook forest block, which is reflected in its Tier III rating by the NH Wildlife Action Plan. Both Del and Ruth Meyer are active in land conservation efforts in Keene, and the couple succeeded in a massive effort to move their registered historic home from downtown Keene (West Street, Ocean Bank location) to its current location in the 1970s. The structure was moved uphill through the forest on the property from Route 9. They are also pursuing efforts to preserve the house.
Viles Easement, Harrisville, 67.7 acres
The largest parcel in the Lampman Road neighborhood, the Viles property is completely forested except for parts of the large scrub-shrub wetland in the lowlands between three hills. A variety of forest types occur on this property, and a nice system of trails wanders through the scenic woods and up to hilltops with sweeping views of undeveloped land to the West. Doug hopes that conserving his land will create momentum for a broader neighborhood effort to link up large areas of open space in this part of Harrisville and Dublin. It has the potential to expand into a conservation corridor between Beech Hill and the Conservancy’s and the Harris Center’s easements on land abutting Lake Skatutakee.
Patton Easement, Harrisville, 10.0 acres
The landowner wanted to honor family wishes and protect in perpetuity the pristine woods, wetlands adjacent to springs providing drinking water, and possible aquifer recharge area and maintain the peace and tranquility of the area.
Dudley Easement, New Ipswich, 42.3 acres
Protecting open space in an increasingly dense part of town, this property is located along Poor Farm Road in a rural-residential section of New Ipswich. It is forested, with well-maintained walking trails and a pretty brook. The topography slopes gently down from the Dudley’s home to the wetland and beaver pond along the parcel’s eastern border. The Dudleys are responsible stewards of this natural area and enthusiastic about its protection. They generously share the use of their trails with neighbors and friends. Most importantly, the property provides additional watershed protection for the streams, wetlands, and reservoir within the state’s adjacent flood control dam site.
New Paradigms
Land will stay open if people have a place to live. Two projects offered new models of how conservation and residential development can be merged to meet community land use goals.
Cranberry Pond Easement, Peterborough, 100 acres
In Peterborough, a partnership of investors averted a proposed 74-unit development by buying the 200-acre property and reducing the development plan to no more than 12 units, with the remainder of the land permanently protected as open space.
The 100-acre conservation easement they donated on Cranberry Meadow Farms included the property’s entire frontage on Cranberry Meadow Pond and the corridor through which a pedestrian footpath is envisioned that would link downtown Peterborough to trails on Pack Monadnock to the east.
New Ipswich Harmony Hills Easement, New Ipswich, 12 acres
Dixie Rhoads and Steve Crook broke ground on their New Ipswich Harmony Hills project, a 24-unit affordable senior housing development, the back yard of which includes 12 wooded acres with streams and trails now permanently protected by a conservation easement.
Silver Lake Focus Area, Harrisville and Nelson
Easements donations by Doz and Francois Delori, Eleanor Drury, and Wally Francis protected 29 acres of shoreline, Loon Island, and upland forests on the western shore. Silver Lake Land Trust and the Harris Center are our partners in this ongoing effort to protect the pristine lake.
California Brook Focus Area,
Swanzey and Chesterfield
Houghton Farm, Chesterfield, 197 acres
Carl and Patricia Houghton sold a conservation easement protecting the headwaters of California Brook and the northern gateway to our focus area.
Forecastle Timber, Chesterfield, 381 acres
Purchased with grants from state, local, and private funders, this easement protects riparian areas, wetlands, trails, and timberland in the heart of California Brook.
Hanna Land, Chesterfield, 105 acres
Tom Hanna’s easement donation protected land he has owned since the age of 12 and helped to leverage $410,000 in grants to preserve other key parcels in the focus area
Colony Memorial Trust, Swanzey, 199 acres
By buying this land and donating an easement, the Colony Memorial Trust expanded their nature preserve on West Hill and linked it to the larger California Brook focus area.
Other Projects
Holbrook Tree Farm, Richmond, 194 acres
Allen Holbrook’s remarkable donation protects wildlife habitat and working forestland and links two existing conservation areas covering nearly 2,000 acres.
Too Bad Farm, Marlborough, 178 acres
Nancy Hayden’s tremendous easement donation protects forests and wetlands, scenic views, trails, and verdant hayfields. The farm is one of Marlborough’s top conservation priorities.
Daniels Mountain, Hinsdale, 140 acres
An easement donated by Clesson and Joan McDonald protects the summit of Daniels Mountain, superb hiking trails, and some of the best views in the region.
Dugdale Tree Farm, Sharon, 136 acres
Dick Dugdale donated a conservation easement to protect his certified Tree Farm, portions of an adjacent wetland, and extensive wildlife habitat – all connected to the Sharon Town Forest.
Stevens Farm, Walpole, 109 acres
With its rolling fields and hundred-mile views to Vermont, this classic upland farm where John Stevens grew up is one half of the family conservation legacy. The other half is . . .
Stevens Farm, Alstead, 110 acres
Margaret Squibb of Alstead married John Stevens of Walpole (above). With the encouragement of their children, they donated easements on both sides of the family legacy.
Blood Farm, Swanzey, 10 acres
Long a priority for Swanzey’s Open Space Committee, this scenic Christmas Tree Farm is surrounded on three sides by Yale Forest.
In 2005, the Monadnock Conservancy worked on more than two dozen land conservation projects. These included the following …
