Tag: conservation

Ausbon Sargent increases conserved land in Q2C region

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In 2014, Ausbon Sargent closed on conservation easements in Goshen, Wilmot and Danbury with the help of Quabbin-to-Cardigan Partnership funding.

Jillette closingThe 51-acre Jillette Conservation Easement is located in Goshen with over 815 feet of frontage on the east side of Brickyard Road.  Landowner, Bea Jillette, manages the property for timber production and her large field, with its beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, is maintained by a local farmer for hay production.  The property is highly rated for wildlife habitat and highly ranked forestry soils and is very close to over 17,000 acres of contiguous conservation land.

Paul and Jan Sahler placed a conservation easement on 21 acres of their 23.4-acre property in Wilmot, NH.  This property includes a maintained logging road that extends back to Cascade Brook.  This and some additional side trails now provide opportunities for outdoor recreation and for observing many forms of wildlife.Their property is adjacent to or near over 3,918 acres of other conserved land nearby.

The 159.2-acre LeBaron-Brewer Property was also conserved in Danbury, NH in 2014.  This property includes two-thirds of Severence Hill in Danbury with over ½ mile of shore frontage on Waukeena Lake. The property protects important wildlife habitat for the loons on Waukeena Lake and abundant moose.

Click below for more information on Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust and the above conservation lands. Photos courtesy Ausbon Sargent. Top photo – LeBaron-Brewer Property.

Ausbon Sargent News Room

Conservation of 245-Acre Forest Protects Water Quality, Recreation Opportunities in Washington

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The Society for the Protection of N.H. Forests (Forest Society) and the Washington Conservation Commission have conserved a 245-acre forest above Millen Lake in Washington.

The Forest Society acquired the property from the MacNeil family, who sold the land for significantly below its market value so that it could be conserved. The property’s location made it a priority for conservation, because it links lands that are already protected from development, creating a large, contiguous block that will remain open for wildlife habitat, recreation and the safeguarding of water quality. Accessed from Farnsworth Hill Road, the property abuts the Forest Society’s Farnsworth Hill Forest, Washington’s Town Forest, the Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest and the Long Pond Town Forest.

Click below to read the full story. Photo courtesy the Forest Society.

Conservation of 245-Acre Forest Protects Water Quality, Recreation Opportunities in Washington

Sunapee and Kearsarge trails challenge Manchester youth

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SCA_Manchester_SRKG_2014_crewstairsThe day the crew finished their largest staircase, they felt so proud of the work that they accomplished.  Looking back at what had to be done on the first day, they all got a little glazed over in the eyes and could not grasp the scope of the project.  As they worked day after day on the project and got to see it come together, it was easy to sense the ownership they were taking over it.  Many of the crew members started to want everything done not only well, but well to the point where it would last forever.  They wanted their stone staircase to be a sort of legacy they left behind.  When they finally did finish the staircase and had the chance to take pictures with it, there was nothing but joy and pride to be seen on their faces.

In July 2014, two crews of 5-6 high school youth from Manchester, NH completed trail work projects on Mount Kearsarge and near Mount Sunapee. The students met a variety of challenges on the trail, but accomplished a great deal toward improving public trails. The two separate projects were completed with the Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition and the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail Club and funded in part with Q2C Partnership.

Click below to read the full stories. Photos courtesy the SCA NH Corps.

Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Project

Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail Project

New maps and kiosks unveiled at Chesterfield Gorge

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Construction of the kiosks — completed by Rick Contino, of Brattleboro — was funded by a $1,200 grant from the Quabbin to Cardigan Initiative (Q2C), a collaborative effort to conserve the Monadnock Highlands of north-central Massachusetts and western New Hampshire.

Click below to read the full story. Photo courtesy Jeff Newcomer, Chesterfield Conservation Commission.

New maps and kiosks unveiled at Chesterfield Gorge

Quabbin-to-Cardigan Partnership continues preservation efforts

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Though the Quabbin-to-Cardigan Partnership has only been around for a decade, the effort to preserve a 100-mile swath of land from central Massachusetts to central New Hampshire has been more than a century in the making.

The Quabbin-to-Cardigan Partnership, known as Q2C, is a conservation project that has brought together private landowners, conservation groups and state agencies to protect as much land as possible between the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts and Mount Cardigan at the southern edge of the White Mountain National Forest.

Click below to read the full story. Photo courtesy Jerry and Marcy Monkman, Ecophotography.

Quabbin-to-Cardigan Partnership continues preservation efforts

Q2C Partnership Grants $100,000 to 13 Conservation Projects

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The Quabbin-to-Cardigan Partnership (Q2C) today announced the recipients of its sixth round of Land Conservation Grants, which help underwrite conservation projects that protect ecologically important forests in the highlands of western New Hampshire and north central Massachusetts. In the latest round, the Q2C Partnership awarded grants totaling $100,000 to 13 projects that will conserve a total of approximately 2,500 acres of land. The total value of the land to be protected in the latest grant round is conservatively estimated at $3.4 million.  Continue reading →

Mayor-Niles Forest provides unbroken link in valuable wildlife habitat

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Set on Moose Mountain, the 92-acre property is the gift of Michael and Elizabeth Mayor and John Niles, who owned the land for 30 years.

The forested parcel cloaks the west slope of this iconic ridge just below the North Peak, connecting with National Park Service lands surrounding the Appalachian Trail.

This property provides an unbroken link in valuable wildlife habitat and expands the protected high elevation lands that are key to conferring resilience to climate change. These cooler forests will become an increasingly critical refuge for birds and other wildlife.

Click below to read the full story. Photo courtesy the Hanover Conservancy.

Mayor-Niles Forest Project

 

Quabbin to Cardigan Trail Grants Update

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As of August 1, the Quabbin to Cardigan Partnership has awarded five Q2C Trail Grants totaling just over $31,000 in its first round.

The projects awarded grants are:

Project: Building a Trailwork Community
Sponsor: Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition (SRK)…
Category: Trail Maintenance & Improvement; Volunteer capacity building
Award: $2,622
Miles of trail improved: 4 mi. +/-
Summary: Q2C is funding a series of outdoor workdays this summer and fall, aimed at attracting and training new volunteers to help maintain and improve the SRK Greenway, a 75-mile loop hiking trail in the Sunapee/Kearsarge area of NH.

Continue reading →

Anonymous donor, one loud statement

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As they stare at the reality of smaller government, organizations dependent on state and federal support are scrambling to extend critical work as funding dries up. One such program is the Quabbin to Cardigan Initiative, which for the past three years has used federal funds to jump-start land conservation on a 100-mile stretch from the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts to the Mount Cardigan area in the southern tip of the White Mountains National Forest. This two million-acre stretch of ecologically significant forestland cuts right through the heart of the Monadnock region.

Photo courtesy the Forest Society.