Conservation Center

The Conservation Center, headquarters of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, is located in Concord, N.H., on 103 acres of conserved land on the Merrimack River. The Conservation Center demonstrates the use of renewable natural resources and energy conservation techniques in design and construction. The campus is a great example of the evolution of energy-conscious design since 1980.

The SPNHF sign at the entrance to the Conservation Center.

The original building’s energy-efficient, passive solar design was cutting edge for its time and received many accolades for its use of energy conservation, renewable energy sources, and imaginative use of native forest products.

The Weeks Wing addition in 1990 and French Wing addition in 2000 further demonstrated the Forest Society’s commitment to walking the walk by pursuing the same goals and achieving the first LEED-Gold certification in New England in 2003. The Conservation Center has won many awards over the years, including the 25-Year Award for Excellence in Architecture from the AIANH for its design by acclaimed architect C. Stuart White.

Visit the Conservation Center

The lobby of the Conservation Center is filled with natural light. — The lobby of the Conservation Center.

You can visit the Conservation Center during open business hours, from 8:30 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday.

Things to do:

Check our events page to see what art exhibit is on display.
Visit our logo shop to purchase a walking stick, ball cap, or sweatshirt with our iconic tree logo. Members receive a 10% discount!
We also host community events and offer rentals of conference spaces.
Our staff would love to meet you, whether you're on your way to walk on the floodplain or just in the Concord area!
Charge your electric vehicle with ChargePoint. The station is located in the visitor parking lot.

An EV charging station at the Conservation center.

Art Exhibits

Ongoing exhibits are listed in our upcoming events.

We're also seeking artists who want to share their works in an exhibit at the Conservation Center in Concord. All of the prints displayed at art exhibitions are for sale and a portion of sales will benefit the Forest Society's conservation work.

Photos, prints, collages, and paintings using any media are welcome. Art depicting flora, fauna, landscapes, and other outdoor scenes are preferred.

The exhibit is in the center's main conference room and throughout the main office building. The Conservation Center is open weekdays from 8:30 am. to 5 p.m. to the public. If you would like more information or would like to sign up, please email Tina Ripley at tripley@forestsociety.org.

Thank You

Annual sponsorship of the Merrimack River Outdoor Education and Conservation Area generously provided by Merrimack County Savings Bank and Northeast Delta Dental.

Two young boys walk through the pine forest.

Explore the Merrimack River Outdoor Education & Conservation Area

The Conservation Center is located on 103 acres of conserved land on the Merrimack River, known locally as "the floodplain." The Merrimack River Outdoor Education & Conservation Area is open to the public for many different recreational uses.

Visit the Conservation Area in Concord

News

Love of the Land: Art Exhibit by Alicia Drakiotes on Display at the Conservation Center

July 16, 2025

Now on display at the Forest Society’s Conservation Center: Love of the Land by New Hampshire artist Alicia K. Drakiotes. Her expressive oil paintings capture the beauty and impermanence of rural landscapes, stonework, and coastal scenes. On view through August 30.

On Display: "Sweet Season" Exhibit Featuring Kate Wilcox

March 12, 2024

The exhibit is open to visitors through the end of April.

Outdoor Education for New American Middle Schoolers

Linden Rayton | October 4, 2019

On a cloudy but warm Thursday recently, I met seven 6th-8th grade English Language Learning (ELL) students and their two teachers from Rundlett Middle School here at the Conservation Center. It was the first session of a pilot program with several exciting goals: to introduce our local ELL students, most often coming to Concord from central Africa, Nepal and Bhutan, to their new nature; explore various STEM concepts through outdoor lessons; and to use these outdoor experiences to frame writing activities back at school.

So here we were today to use our engineering skills to build some boats from natural materials and set them free in the river while observing river dynamics, using words and concepts like “float, sink, heavy, light.” At least, that was our plan. Alas, we were to find that the Merrimack was not going to provide much of any “river dynamics” this day, but despite that our group had a great time.

We took our time traveling out to the river, several students laughing at me as I tried to pronounce their names correctly. I covered my name tag and turned it back on them- none of them could remember my name either. We stopped to examine mushrooms and pull them apart to look for maggots. “Can you eat these?” the students asked. I showed them the many small worms eating the inside of the mushroom and, over a few squeals of disgust, said, “Not these ones!”

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On one of the flat river bank areas currently exposed by the low river levels, I had staged a number of items: thin, flexible bittersweet vines, some paper birch bark, small strong sticks and twigs, and partially-decomposed branch pieces. These were our boat-building supplies. This is an activity I’ve been doing since I was little. I think my parents taught me but I’m not sure where exactly I picked this up. The basics of a successful boat are this: you find a piece of soft, partially decomposed branch. You test it out to see which way floats up (a critical step). You stick a tall twig in a squishy area as your mast. You thread a leaf or two onto the mast to serve as sails. Then you release your boat!

Almost everyone I’ve ever taught how to do this loves it. It is so satisfying to build your boat and then watch it stream away from you. The kids foraged for some of their own materials and then got down to building.

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Our boats floated admirably- but didn’t go anywhere. There was hardly any current to take them away from us, something which deflated me a little bit but didn’t seem to affect the students much. They cheered, waded in the water, were silly or very serious as their preferences led them. It was hard for me to tell whether they had enjoyed the overall experience or not, but one major clue told me they did: they talked! If middle schoolers answer your questions, and then talk to you while you walk back on the trails, generally your lesson has been a success. Later their teacher confirmed that they all had a wonderful time and couldn’t wait to come back.

And come back they will, in October, May and June. Next up is leaves and trees. We will make leaf “color charts” to demonstrate the autumn progression of leaf pigments; do some bark and leaf rubbings; choose a small tree to do some measurements and observe the late fall atmosphere at the Conservation Center. Hopefully we’ll find a time for me to visit them at school and see some of their writing projects. I think our first session of this pilot project was very successful, and I am looking forward to seeing them again in a few weeks!