New England Forestry Foundation’s land conservation team works to make sure each land acquisition has an outsized impact. Conserving individual parcels of forestland makes a difference, but land conservation has a greater impact when newly protected parcels connect to other conserved land and to important natural features like waterways and wildlife habitat.
NEFF conservation projects completed from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018—NEFF’s fiscal year—all further our work to stitch together just such a network of permanently protected forests. The new Community Forests are linked to rivers and critical ecosystems, and the conservation easements share a neat common thread—they are all the second easement granted to NEFF by their respective owners, and so each is in easy reach of other protected land.
Project Highlights
The Heart of Poland
Poland, ME | 101 Acres | Conservation Easement | Acquired Aug. 10, 2017
A new easement granted to NEFF by the town of Poland provides double protection for a conservation area owned by the town since 2015. True to its name, it sits at the core of Poland’s town center. Nearly three miles of trails traverse the property, and its unique features include vernal pools, small caves and a dramatic ledge. The forest is well-stocked thanks to decades of excellent management by town forester Fred Huntress, a past and long-serving NEFF forester.
The Heart of Poland is part of an impressive—and growing—local conservation network. Not only does NEFF’s Bragdon Hill Community Forest lie nearby, but NEFF also holds an easement over the 230-acre Poland Town Forest, and Poland has now voted to protect two additional Town Forest areas with NEFF conservation easements.
Dame II
Gilford, NH | 58 Acres | Conservation Easement | Acquired Dec. 27, 2017
Barry Dame granted NEFF a conservation easement to protect his 58-acre woodlot and fields, located across the road from a 14-acre easement he granted NEFF in 2007. The land has been in Barry’s family since 1863. It is in a quickly developing section of Gilford near Lake Winnipesaukee, which means Barry’s foresight will protect woods that otherwise might be cleared and developed.
Maple Lane Farm
Whitefield, NH | 180 Acres | Conservation Easement | Acquired Dec. 27, 2017
David and Tanya Tellman donated a conservation easement to NEFF to protect more than 180 acres of forest and farmland; this newly protected land abuts the 792-acre Pine Knob Forest easement, which the Tellmans granted to NEFF just the year before. The property is located along a designated Scenic Town Road and is within view of several prominent peaks in the nearby White Mountain National Forest.
Marc and Roberta Glass Community Forest
Westhampton, MA | 82 Acres | Community Forest | Acquired July 19, 2017
Marc Glass donated an 82-acre woodlot that he has owned since 1972. The property is protected by a conservation easement (technically referred to as a conservation restriction in Massachusetts), in this case held by the Hilltown Land Trust, a subsidiary of The Trustees of Reservations. It is home to a mix of forest types, including a few acres dominated by Sugar Maples. Langdon Brook bounds the property to the east, and the North Branch Manhan River bounds it to the west.
Anne S. Carey Memorial Woodland
Rowe, MA | 90 Acres | Community Forest | Dec. 28, 2017
The Riggan-Katz family provided a bargain sale of this Rowe forestland to NEFF at half of the appraised value. Bargain sales make acquisitions more affordable and leverage NEFF supporters’ donations to the organization, while also providing the landowner with some charitable tax benefits. The forest has been under active management for many years, and most of it is designated as “critical natural landscape” in Massachusetts. NEFF’s Harriet Carpenter Read Forest lies a short distance to the south, which means this new forest is not only near other protected land, but land that is also being managed sustainably with NEFF’s Exemplary Forestry standards.
Writing by Tinsley Hunsdorfer, photo of trees with autumn foliage at Maple Lane Farm by Andrew Bentley