Please Support Our Annual Fund

Dear Forest Society Member,

            For nearly eight years, the Forest Society has been fighting the biggest threat to New Hampshire’s conservation lands in more than a generation.  Although the fight is not yet over, the first round has gone to the people of New Hampshire!  The New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee (SEC) denied a permit to Eversource’s Northern Pass project by a unanimous 7-0 vote, then voted to deny a motion for rehearing.

            The SEC finding confirms what we have long known to be true:  Northern Pass as proposed would have had profound negative consequences for New Hampshire’s forests, conserved landscapes, scenery, and economy, while offering meager benefits to its citizens.

            We are so very grateful for your support as this struggle played out.  You helped the Forest Society continue our vital day-to-day work protecting forests and conserving land.  Together, we were able to conserve an additional 34,000 acres throughout New Hampshire while the battle over Northern Pass raged!

            These lands include places for you to walk the trails, take in the views, paddle the streams, pick blueberries, and enjoy the wildlife.  They include farms and forests, mountaintops and wetlands; they safeguard our waters and refresh our spirits. 

            Your generosity makes this possible, and we urgently need you to continue your support now with a gift to our Annual Fund.  Your gift will help ensure we have the resources to defend our most special places from threats like Northern Pass and continue to conserve our most treasured lands in every corner of New Hampshire. 

            Here are just a few of the iconic land conservation successes your support has helped the Forest Society achieve in recent years:

            The Powder Major’s Forest – a beautiful new 193-acre forest reservation and historic property near the Seacoast, located within a Source Water Protection Area, with frontage on the Oyster River.  Featuring a popular trail system, it’s the central parcel in a three-town effort to connect conservation lands into a regional greenbelt.

              Additional conserved lands in Lempster and Washington – a total of 1,200 acres adjacent to the 1,800-acre Ashuelot River Headwaters Reservation vital for public recreation, forestry, wildlife, and the preservation of water quality.  These lands are expanding the conserved lands in the critical corridor between Pillsbury and Sunapee state parks to the north and the 11,000-acre Andorra Forest to the south.

              Mount Major in Alton – more than 700 acres on and near this tremendously popular mountain, climbed by more than 80,000 people each year, famous for its spectacular views of Lake Winnipesaukee!

              Mount Monadnock – nearly 500 acres on its forested slopes, including important public access points to popular trails and significant wildlife habitat, have become wonderful additions to this cherished landscape we have been protecting for nearly a century.

              Hedgehog Mountain Forest – this Deering reservation has doubled in size with the addition of 493 acres that include the summit of Hedgehog Mountain, completing the permanent conservation of the entire undeveloped Hedgehog Mountain ridgeline.  A 5-mile trail along the ridge was completed in 2016, offering expansive views of the Contoocook River Valley. 

            Opportunities to protect more special places across the state abound.  Right now, we have dozens of projects in the works totaling almost 14,000 acres!

            Of course, while we continue this important, day-to-day work protecting forests, the fight over Northern Pass isn’t over.  Eversource has indicated that it plans to appeal the SEC decision to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.  We will remain vigilant, engage at the Supreme Court, and continue to defend New Hampshire’s landscapes from Northern Pass.

            Can you help now with a gift of $50, $100, $200, or perhaps even more to our Annual Fund?  Your continued support is urgently needed to defend our conserved lands from threats such as Northern Pass and respond to new opportunities for land protection throughout our state.

            I am confident you will want to help – above and beyond your generous support as a member – at a time when there is so much we can accomplish.  Together we can conserve more of New Hampshire’s most special places and protect them from threats such as Northern Pass. Thank you for your gift and all you continue to do for land conservation in New Hampshire!

With heartfelt thanks,

Jane A. Difley

President / Forester

 

P.S.  Your gift now will help the Forest Society ensure the SEC’s decision on Northern Pass is never reversed and continue to protect our most treasured lands.  Any gift you can make – when combined with the help of others – will accomplish great things!  Thank you so much!