News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2007

CONTACT: Richard Ober
(603) 357-0600

MONADNOCK CONSERVANCY PROTECTS
700 ACRES IN SEVEN TOWNS

Preserving Generations of Stewardship is a
Common Theme

( KEENE)—Preserving multi-generation family legacies was a common theme in several major land conservation projects completed by the Monadnock Conservancy recently. In all, six families in seven Monadnock Region towns donated conservation easements on nearly 700 acres of open space for agriculture and forestry, wildlife habitat, water resources, and recreation.

“These tremendous donations demonstrate that we can still conserve a lot of highly significant land for relatively low cost in the Monadnock Region,” said Richard Ober, executive director of the Monadnock Conservancy. “However, that won’t last forever. We are grateful to these landowners and many others who recognize that we need to act now if we are to retain rural character in our distinctive corner of New Hampshire.”

By donating a conservation easement, landowners retain ownership of their property while permanently restricting its use to certain conservation purposes. The Monadnock Conservancy’s responsibility is to monitor the property in perpetuity to ensure the terms are upheld. Currently the Conservancy oversees 108 easements covering roughly 8,200 acres in 27 towns. Following are descriptions of the recent projects.

Dugdale Tree Farm, Sharon, 136 acres

Richard and Ann Dugdale of Walpole, Massachusetts, donated a conservation easement on 136 acres of their land in Sharon. A certified New Hampshire Tree Farm, the Dugdale easement will protect a large area of well-managed timberland, portions of an adjacent wetland, and extensive wildlife habitat for deer, moose, black bear, wild turkey, fisher, and numerous smaller animal species. The Sharon Conservation Commission partnered with the Monadnock Conservancy in bringing this project to fruition.

Liz LaRose, chair of the Sharon Conservation Commission, expressed the town’s appreciation: “The Sharon Conservation Commission is truly grateful for the Dugdales’ generosity in donating this conservation easement. Because the Dugdale property abuts the Robert P. Bass Memorial Town Forest on two sides, this gift protects an even larger area for wildlife to roam freely, ensures high water quality in Meadow Brook, and provides additional opportunities for hiking, hunting, snowshoeing, and other pedestrian public uses.”

Richard Dugdale has owned and improved the land since 1969. He said his motivation was “to protect this property for future generations and for wildlife to enjoy. The Conservation Commission and the Monadnock Conservancy made this protection possible.”

Stevens, Walpole, 130 acres; Alstead Center, 122 acres

John Stevens of Walpole met and married Peg Squibb of Alstead. They had both grown up on their family farms, which they inherited. One of their children, daughter Gretchen, approached the Conservancy about making her parents’ dream of preserving the two farms a reality.

The 130-acre Walpole property is where John Stevens grew up and consists of extensive open fields and a large expanse of unfragmented forest. The land offers spectacular views of the Connecticut River valley and the Vermont hills and contains two woodland pools, at least five intermittent streams, and frontage on 1 st order streams. The easement protects stream frontage and watersheds, significant agricultural and forest soils, working hay fields, wildlife habitat, scenic views, and established trails.

Peg Squibb grew up on her family’s 122-acre farm in Alstead Center, which is largely forested and lies in the watershed of Warren Brook, a tributary of the Cold River. Conservation values protected by this easement include stream frontage, protection of a significant wetland and undisturbed acidic bog, important forest soils, documented wildlife habitat, and a network of walking trails.

Too Bad Farm, Marlborough and Roxbury, 188 acres

Two conservation easements on Nancy Hayden's Too Bad Farm will protect 188 acres in Marlborough and Roxbury for wildlife habitat, scenic views, public pedestrian access, and continued agricultural use. The property has been in Nancy’s family for three generations, and the easement will ensure it remains mostly undeveloped when it eventually passes to her children and grandchildren.

Too Bad Farm, which includes several small areas of highly productive agricultural soil, also features a variety of forested and open wildlife habitat types, including that of deer, moose, black bear, and wild turkey. A small but dramatic granite cliff also provides important porcupine habitat, and a large wetland at the southwest corner of the property is home to beaver and possibly river otter. The property features breathtaking views of Mount Monadnock and adjoins other protected land, including that which surrounds the Keene water supply in Roxbury. It is in an area identified by the Town of Marlborough as being of the highest priority for conservation.

Blood Farm, Swanzey, 10 acres

Jean Blood and her late husband Elton first inquired about preserving the family farm in the mid-1990s. A conservation easement on the 10-acre working livestock and Christmas tree farm preserves wildlife habitat, which includes edge cover along agricultural lands; protects ground water supplies over which the farm lies; and conserves productive fields, which have been producing hay for livestock and growing the Christmas trees. The property is surrounded on three sides by hundreds of acres of forestland owned and managed by Yale University. Long a priority of the Swanzey Open Space Committee, preserving the farm will help maintain the rural character of the region and preserve open spaces and passive recreation for the general public.

Daniels Mountain, Hinsdale, 140 acres

A conservation easement on Daniels Mountain in Hinsdale will protect nearly 160 rugged acres for timber production, wildlife habitat, and pedestrian public recreation. It protects the entire summit and much of the upper slopes of Daniels Mountain and is visible from many points. The steep slopes of the property feature a forest type rare in New Hampshire that includes many oak and hickory tree species more common in warmer forests to our south. Numerous south-facing rocky ledges and boulder-strewn slopes provide important habitat for a variety of small mammals and reptiles.

Two public hiking trails managed by the Chesterfield Conservation Commission and Friends of Pisgah ascend the mountain, along which several open ledges afford spectacular views to the south and southwest. The easement on this property will extend and link both existing and potential conservation land. “The importance of the easement on Daniels Mountain,” said Tom Duston, chair of the Chesterfield Conservation Commission, “is that it is another link in the proposed Wantastiquit Monadnock Greenway.” Hikers could someday walk all the way from the Connecticut River valley, through Pisgah State Park, to Mount Monadnock.

Founded in 1989, the Monadnock Conservancy is a non-profit land conservation organization that serves 35 towns in southwestern New Hampshire. Its mission is to identify, promote, and actively seek protection of significant natural, aesthetic, and historic resources in the Monadnock Region; and to monitor and enforce the protection of lands in the trust.
More information about the Monadnock Conservancy is available at www.MonadnockConservancy.org or by calling 603-357-0600.