The Whole Forest: A Unified Path for New England’s Landscapes
May. 19, 2026
A guest blog from Yale School of the Environment students
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This May, NEFF hosted a woods walk at Thissell-Smith Memorial Forest in Ossipee, New Hampshire. Participants learned about NEFF’s Exemplary Forestry practices and the value of thoughtful, climate-smart forest management.
As NEFF’s Marketing Manager, I was there to document the day, but I also came with a personal goal: to meet Elizabeth Gillette and learn more about her family’s longstanding relationship with forest management and NEFF. It quickly became clear this walk wasn’t just about forestry — it was about legacy, and the people who ensure conservation continues from one generation to the next.
Elizabeth has long been a steward of Thissell-Smith Memorial Forest, a property with deep family roots and a remarkable conservation history. Elizabeth’s aunt, Geraldine Smith, donated the original 165-acre Thissell-Smith Memorial Forest to NEFF in 1989 in memory of her parents, Warren A. Smith and Gertrude Smith Thissell, and her stepfather, Theodore D. Thissell. She also founded the Geraldine D. Smith Conservation Trust, which conserved 155 acres through NEFF conservation easements. The first conserved 82 adjacent acres in 1992, and the second conserved another 73 acres in 2016; Geraldine had by then passed away, and Elizabeth and her sisters, Lois Toomey and Janet Kenty, took over management of the Trust. This summer, they completed the arc by donating the combined 155 acres outright to NEFF, nearly doubling the size of the memorial forest.
Geraldine D. Smith deeded much of her family’s forested homestead to NEFF as permanent green space. The Geraldine D. Smith Conservation Trust, now managed by her three nieces, has just donated 155 acres of forest land to NEFF. Photo provided by Elizabeth Gillette.
“My sisters and I, through the Geraldine D. Smith Conservation Trust, are very proud to pass onto NEFF a memorial forest that will soon be about 320 acres in size, knowing that it represents and will remain a true working forest in New Hampshire,” said Elizabeth, “and we are grateful that our families support this step.”
“This is an incredible property that has been managed with great care for generations,” said Sophie Anthony, NEFF Conservation Project Manager. “With this generous donation, the property will come under NEFF management and serve as a model of Exemplary Forestry.”
The land was originally settled in the early 1800s as a family homestead known as Rough Acre Farm. What wasn’t cleared for dairy pasture was kept as forest. Forested areas provided wood for farm families or were cut when cash was needed.
Left: Theodore “Dode” Thissell with horse and buggy in front of horse barn (which adjoined original cow barn). Right: Open pastures on Rough Acre Farm hillside offered views of Mount Washington as late as the 1950s until trees overtook the pasture. Photos provided by Elizabeth Gillette.
After the 1942 death of Elizabeth’s step-grandfather, Theodore “Dode” Thissell — the last dairy farmer on the property — the farm became a summer home for her grandmother, Gertrude Smith Thissell, and their extended family. “I have spent every summer at the farm ever since I was four months old,” recalled Elizabeth. “As a kid, I remember running through the open fields with unobstructed views of the White Mountains. But eventually, those fields returned to forest — nature always takes over.”
NEFF forester Mike Burke
The transition from pastureland to forest was guided by professional forestry from the start. Elizabeth credits NEFF forester Mike Burke for introducing the family to forestry in the 1980s. “He conducted a tree survey every 100 feet across the property west of Route 16. He let us walk with him — we found glacial erratics, massive trees. One oak even just missed being the largest in New Hampshire.”
Mike arranged for the family to meet with then-County Forester Peter Pohl, laying the foundation for decades of stewardship. The property was officially enrolled as a tree farm in the late 1980s, and for the next ten years, Mike helped manage the land until his untimely passing.
“For generations this was not wilderness, rather it was working forest,” said Elizabeth. “We were proud to be stewards of a tree farm. My aunt felt very strongly that working forests were becoming fewer and fewer. It was important to preserve them for wildlife, wood products, and history.”
Elizabeth Gillette (left) and NEFF Stewardship Manager Beth Gula (right) atop a glacial erratic at Thissell-Smith Memorial Forest. Photo taken by Jay Kenty during a 2019 conservation easement monitoring visit.
Jay Kenty (left) and Elizabeth Gillette (right) extend their arms to show the size of an old oak wolf tree at Thissell-Smith Memorial Forest. Photo taken by NEFF Stewardship Manager Beth Gula during a 2019 conservation easement monitoring visit.
In the mid-1990s, forester Peter Farrell stepped in, managing the forest for more than three decades and coordinating harvests to treat the land as one ecologically unified whole.
NEFCo consulting forester Peter Farrell leads a woods walk on May 15, 2025, at Thissell-Smith Memorial Forest in Ossipee, New Hampshire. Photo by David Ayers.
“We’ve had such a positive relationship with NEFF through the years,” said Elizabeth. “Everyone we’ve worked with has been knowledgeable, supportive, and respectful of our wishes. There was never any pressure. When we were ready, we moved forward with the donation.”
This readiness included a years-long discussion among Elizabeth and her sisters. “When it came to the trust, my sisters and I didn’t do anything quickly,” said Elizabeth. “In 2016, we put conservation easements on the two parcels being donated. We knew those were going to be conserved. It was a positive step toward protection from development. We’ve been in total agreement throughout. It’s been a privilege to have this responsibility.”
Elizabeth’s conservation impact extends beyond her family land. As former Chair of the Ossipee Conservation Commission, she played a key role — though she’s quick to credit the Commission team — in securing funding to purchase 30 acres that now form Window on the Ossipee Mountains, an adjacent property to Thissell-Smith with educational signage and sweeping views.
The view from the Window on the Ossipee Mountains outlook. Photo by David Ayers.
Thanks to these efforts, there’s now a protected mile-long stretch along Route 16 — Thissell-Smith, the Window on the Ossipee Mountains, and town land that includes Boulder Hill — that forms an important wildlife corridor.
On the day of the NEFF woods walk, Elizabeth invited staff to the family home for refreshments. We gathered around the kitchen, surrounded by the warmth of an 1824 Cape that has changed little in 160 years. The home felt like an extension of the landscape outside: resilient, grounded in history, and lovingly cared for.
NEFF Stewardship Associate Corey Wrinn recently installed a new property sign at Thissell-Smith Memorial Forest. Photo by NEFF Stewardship Manager Beth Gula.
Corey Wrinn, NEFF’s Stewardship Associate, has worked with Elizabeth and her family for the past three years.
“Elizabeth’s passion for the memorial forest and conservation easement land has been ever apparent,” Corey said. “The donation of the western parcels is so generous — it really cements her family’s legacy in conservation here in New Hampshire. It also highlights NEFF’s unique role in forest management, especially at the memorial forest, which Elizabeth is always psyched about.”
“This forest has been part of our family story for generations,” Elizabeth said. “We couldn’t be happier with what we’ve been able to do for this small part of New Hampshire.”
