The Piscataquog Land Conservancy is pleased to announce that we have signed a purchase and sale agreement to acquire 205 acres of ecologically-rich forest and pristine wetlands bordering our Ferrin Pond Preserve in Weare. The land is currently owned by Meadowsend Timberlands (MTL), a New Hampshire-based company that owns and manages working forestland throughout the state and New England.
Regular readers of this newsletter will recall that consulting foresters from MTL planned and supervised timber harvests at PLC’s Ferrin Pond and Tuthill Preserves last winter. This working relationship led to discussions this spring about the company’s property in Weare, which is a top priority in PLC’s strategic conservation plan for the Piscataquog watershed. Once PLC established that Meadowsend was willing to entertain an offer on the property, we negotiated an agreement that gives us until June 2019 to raise the needed funds and close the purchase.
Located almost a mile into the woods from the nearest paved road, the land is a hidden gem. It contains almost 23 acres of wetlands, or 11% of the total tract, comprised of a string of beaver-impounded wetlands that run north-south down the center of the property, and at least eleven vernal pools scattered across the remainder of the tract. The largest of these pools is a half-acre basin swamp that includes black gum trees approximately 400 years in age. The property also features 4,700 feet of frontage on Bartlett Brook, which flows north through the property’s beaver ponds and meadows towards the main branch of the Piscataquog River.
The property’s wetlands are home to waterfowl, otter, mink, and beaver, and likely support rare turtle species. Its upland forests are roamed by moose, black bear and bobcat. NH Fish & Game’s Wildlife Action Plan designates 43% of the property as best-in state habitat, and another 36% as the best in the southern NH biological region. If successful, the project will also link 473 acres of existing conservation land owned by PLC and the Town of Weare. The existing walking trail system on PLC’s abutting Ferrin Pond Preserve could be extended into the target property if it is successfully protected, and at least one club-maintained snowmobile trail bisects the land.
PLC has between now and June 30, 2019 to raise $299,000 and complete the purchase of the property from Meadowsend. We have already submitted major funding proposals to the state’s Aquatic Resources Mitigation (ARM) grants program, which focuses on the conservation and restoration of wetlands, and the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP). We will hear back on both later this fall. If these large grants are secured, we will work to raise the balance of funding from private sources in the first half of 2019.
PLC Land Protection Specialist Tom Jones says “this is another example of how PLC actively goes after land that we have identified as ‘best of the best.’ We are grateful to be working with a landowner who also understands and appreciates the property’s ecological value, and shares our goal of permanently conserving open land in New Hampshire.”