Tag: new hampshire

Q2C Partnership Awards Fall 2015 Land Grants

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The Quabbin-to-Cardigan Partnership (Q2C) today announced the recipients of its eighth 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 $90,152 to seven projects that will conserve a total of approximately 4,442 acres of land. The total value of the land to be protected in the latest grant round is conservatively estimated at $11 million.

The two-state Quabbin-to-Cardigan region spans one hundred miles from the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts northward along the western spine of New Hampshire to the boundary of the White Mountain National Forest. Encompassing approximately two million acres, the region is one of the largest remaining areas of intact forest in central New England, and is a key headwater of both the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers.

The Q2C conservation grants are guided by a strategic plan that prioritizes the region’s most ecologically significant forests, and key connections between them for wildlife passage and human recreation. All projects are on a strictly voluntary, willing-seller/donor basis. Sixty-two percent of the acres protected in the latest grant round are located within areas identified as conservation priorities in the Q2C land conservation plan – falling within either “conservation focus areas” ranked as the most ecologically critical lands in the region, or “supporting landscapes” that buffer and connect the core focus areas. The funded projects are: Continue reading →

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

 

Manchester youth group help improve state trails

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SCA_Manchester_Kearsarge_Crew_2013_rockworkShe has never camped out before, let alone wielded an ax to cut brush all day on a mountain slope, but for the past two weeks, Manchester high school student Saraswoti Dhimal has been on Mount Kearsarge improving the trail.

She is among a group of city youths helping the state with its backlog of deferred maintenance and giving a willing arm to volunteer members of a regional greenway to improve the popular 1.8 mile Barlow Trail.

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

Manchester youth group help improve state trails.