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Please help the Forest Society protect the Ashuelot River Headwaters
The more we learn about preserving water quality, the more we understand the importance of protecting the headwaters of the New Hampshire rivers that provide our drinking water. Today we need your help to purchase 1,750 acres of forestland and streams that are the source of the Ashuelot River. Its watershed encompasses 25 towns as it flows to the Connecticut River, providing drinking water to citizens of Keene.
Located in Lempster just south of the conserved lands surrounding Mount Sunapee and adjacent Pillsbury State Park, the Ashuelot River Headwaters project includes more than two miles of undeveloped frontage on two great ponds, Long Pond and Sand Pond, and more than 11,000 feet of frontage on the Ashuelot River—all used heavily by the public for recreation. Also included is the summit of Silver Mountain, a popular hiking and blueberry picking destination with spectacular southern and western views. In fact, these lands include the entire viewshed from state-owned boat launches on Sand and Long Ponds, and their preservation would secure a state-designated snowmobile corridor.
The Ashuelot River Headwaters is a high priority in three state-of-the-art natural resource conservation plans: the bi-state Quabbin-to-Cardigan Conservation Plan, the New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan, and the regional Ashuelot River Land Conservation Plan.
The Forest Society only has until December 1, 2009 to raise the funds to conserve the land. If we do not successfully raise the $2.18 million, we cannot guarantee the permanent protection of this land.
With six months to go, we have already raised $1.17 million toward the completion of the project thanks to grants from the state-funded Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, NH Fish & Game LIP program, and a total of $500,000 from two private foundations. However, with the deadline fast approaching, we must still raise another $1 million—or more than $165,000 per month!
Please make your gift today to help us permanently conserve 1,750 acres providing clean water, recreational activities, scenic values, and wildlife habitat forever.
Click here to see the project brocure (425 KB). 
Help the Forest Society Conserve the Bound Tree Forest
We’re closing in on our goal to conserve an important 420-acre property in the Mink Hills. Conservation-minded owners are willing to sell a conservation easement at a bargain price, and the Town of Warner is able to provide up to $100,000 from its Conservation Fund. Now the Forest Society must raise the final $25,000 needed to complete the project.
The Bound Tree Forest gets it name from the large white oak that marked the boundary between the towns of Henniker, Hopkinton, and Warner for more than 250 years. Located in the Mink Hills, the proposed easement land is a critical link to more than 2,500 acres of conserved land and is a conservation priority for not only the Forest Society, but also for the bi-state, 20-member Quabbin-to-Cardigan Initiative, the New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan, and the Towns of Warner and Henniker.
The property includes approximately 380 acres of excellent forest soils, indicating that the land has a promising future as a productive working forest. It directly abuts the Contoocook Village Precinct's Bear Pond water supply lands, a drinking water source for Contoocook Village.
The Bound Tree Forest also offers many opportunities for hiking, bird watching, hunting, snowmobiling, and other outdoor recreational activities. The easement will guarantee public access – including the snowmobile trail.
We simply can't take our treasured places like this for granted. The protection of this property will preserve a stunning environment that you and future generations can enjoy. Please help by making a generous tax-deductible donation to this special conservation effort today.
If you have any questions, please contact Susanne Kibler-Hacker at 603-224-9945 or email  .
Help the Forest Society Conserve 230 Acres along the Pemigewasset River
The Pemigewasset River Forest is sited off the river's west bank in Bridgewater. Comprising 230 acres of forests and wetlands, this scenic property includes more than 2,500 feet of undeveloped river frontage as well as Woodman Brook and Great Brook. Part of the property overlays a stratified drift acquifer that has the potential to provide drinking water in the future.
A Home for Rare and Wild Creatures
Because the river's corridor is mostly undeveloped, the natural resources of the area and river are of especially high quality. The land contains top rated wildlife habitat as identified in the NH Department of Fish and Game's Wildlife Action Plan. Endangered birds, including the golden eagle, upland sandpiper, and peregrine falcon depend upon the river and its banks for nesting and feeding. The bald eagle, osprey, northern harrier, and common loon are just a few of the threatened wildlife species that are also dependent upon the river and its resources.
Good Fishing
Of the approximately ten fish species the Pemigewasset River supports, Atlantic salmon, bass, and trout are among the most popular sought by anglers. Southern segments of the river are used by New Hampshire's numerous bass clubs for their annual tournaments. The portion of river fronting the parcel has suitable spawning habitat for trout and salmon, and the property is a stocking point for salmon fry.
A Popular Boating Destination
The Pemigewasset River provides scenic vistas throughout the valley for residents and tourists. Canoeing and kayaking are popular boating activities along the river, which offers whitewater, quickwater, and flatwater paddling experiences.
A Limited Opportunity
We have already raised $175,000 toward this $202,500 project. The owner of the Pemigewasset River Forest has generously offered to sell a conservation easement for less than its appraised value. The easement will guarantee public access to the land, eliminate the threat of development and fragmentation, protect water quality, and support the many living creatures that depend upon the river and surrounding landscape for survival.
This is a region under increasing development pressure, where habitat fragmentation is an imminent threat to water quality and wildlife populations. If the sale of an easement can not be completed by the end of the summer, the landowner will likely be forced to sell off sections of the land to pay the outstanding mortgage.
Please help us to raise the remaining $27,500 by July 17 to conserve this critical land- and waterscape. For more information, contact Susanne Kibler-Hacker at or 603-224-9945.
The Conservation Center, home of the Forest Society, needs your help!
As the Forest Society's main headquarters, the Conservation Center in Concord hosts more than 10,000 visitors each year with an interest in land conservation, sustainable forestry, and "green building" techniques.
Our headquarters are a reflection of who we are and the work that we do. Because so many form their first impression based upon this initial experience, our educational materials and interpretive displays are essential tools for creating and enhancing awareness of our organization and its mission.
Today, we need your help to update our educational displays. Our plans include two new display panels to welcome visitors in the lobby, an interactive map of conservation lands, a computer kiosk that offers in-depth information about the buildings' energy-saving systems, new interpretive signs in- and outside the building, and an updated audio tour. We are also rebuilding the deck that overlooks the Forest Society's protected 100-acre Reservation along the Merrimack River.
This is no small task. With $10,000 raised so far, we must raise an additional $25,000 by September 1, 2009 in order to complete the first phase of the project.
Our educational displays are essential for communicating our organization's proud history and accomplishments, our mission, and the importance of our states' precious natural resources. Please make your gift today to help us continue to promote our legacy of conservation and enhance your visits to the Conservation Center.
The Forest Society holds conservation easements on more than 100,000 acres. When landowners convey a conservation easement to the Forest Society, they are both expressing their desire to keep their land forever open, and trusting the Forest Society to ensure that this goal is met.
The 11,000-acre Andorra Forest, which spans
five towns including Washington, Stoddard,
Sullivan, Marlon and Gilsum, is one of the many
conservation easements monitored by the Forest
Society.
Photo: Geoff Jones
We need your help to fulfill that obligation.
Once a conservation easement is in place, the Forest Society bears the responsibility of regularly monitoring the land to ensure the terms of the easement are respected-in perpetuity.
The Conservation Easement Stewardship Endowment was created to ensure that the land on which the Forest Society holds conservation easements remains in the undeveloped state that the original landowner sought to preserve. For every new easement, we must add $10,000 to the Endowment. Income from the Easement Stewardship Endowment supports our professional work to ensure the integrity of the more than 600 conservation easements we hold.
Contribute to the Easement Stewardship Endowment today to make sure that the integrity of farms, forests, wetlands and scenic landscapes across the state remains intact forever-which is a very long time.
Please use the Donate Now! Button below or send a check to:
Forest Society Easement Stewardship Endowment
54 Portsmouth St.
Concord, NH 03301
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