Everybody Hikes Mt. Major! Campaign to Protect Belknap Mountains and Trails Gets Climbing
Partnership Raising $1.8 Million to Buy 950 Acres
ALTON – Thousands of hikers exult in the view from the top of Mt. Major in Alton each summer. Most have no idea that there’s nothing to stop a ‘no trespassing’ sign from going up in the future to block the trails that cross private land on their way to the summit.
The Society for the Protection of N.H. Forests and the Lakes Region Conservation Trust (LRCT) are joining forces to prevent such a loss and to start safeguarding not only Mt. Major but the rest of the Belknap Range’s views, recreational opportunities and wildlife habitats.
The two organizations, with support from other members of the Belknap Range Conservation Coalition, are working together to raise $1.8 million by Dec. 1 to purchase and protect four key properties – about 950 acres – being sold by separate landowners. One of the parcels, 331 acres that include parts of four recreational trails, is in Gilford’s Moulton Valley and on the slope of Piper Mountain. The other three are on or near Mt. Major.
Mt. Major is on the eastern end of the Belknap Range. The state owns the Route 11 parking area and the summit (the 60-acre Mt. Major State Forest). The land in between is private.
“For thousands of people around the region, Mt. Major was the first mountain they climbed, and they’ve since climbed it many times and with their children and grandchildren,” said Don Berry, LRCT president. “If these lands are sold or transferred, the owners could cut off the access, and the recreational opportunities and the wildlife habitat may disappear as well.”
A successful fundraising campaign will ensure that all four properties are kept open to the public for hiking, hunting, snowmobiling and other recreational activities. The LRCT plans to own and manage the Gilford parcel, while the Forest Society will own and manage the three parcels on or near Mt. Major.
“For more than 100 years, the Forest Society has worked to conserve New Hampshire’s most treasured and iconic landscapes, starting with the White Mountains and including Mt. Monadnock, Mt. Sunapee, Mt. Kearsarge and Franconia Notch,” said Jane Difley, Forest Society president/forester. “Mt. Major and the Belknaps make up another beloved landscape, the beautiful backdrop for Lake Winnipesaukee, and we are excited to be working in partnership with the Lakes Region conservation community to protect it.”
The Forest Society, the Lakes Region Conservation Trust and other members of the Belknap Range Conservation Coalition view the fundraising effort as a first step in a long-term commitment to conserving and ensuring the wise stewardship of more land in the region. The Belknap Range features large, as-yet unfragmented forests covering more than a dozen mountains with extensive trail systems and opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking, snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing. Besides their recreational, scenic and habitat value, these forests protect the water quality of Lake Winnipesaukee.
“The Belknaps, along with the Ossipee Mountains and Red Hill, form the natural setting for Lake Winnipesaukee. Protecting these uplands has been an important priority for many years,” Berry said.
The partners are aiming to raise the money to buy the properties by Dec. 1, so they can begin closing on the purchase and sales agreements that month. “We anticipate being able to announce soon commitments of up to $385,000, leaving $1.12 million still to be raised by Dec. 1,” Difley said.
To find out more about the fundraising effort and to donate, visit www.forestsociety.org or www.lrct.org.
Founded in 1901, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is the state’s oldest and largest non-profit land conservation organization. Supported by 10,000 families and businesses, the Forest Society’s mission is to perpetuate the state’s forests by promoting land conservation and sustainable forestry.
The Lakes Region Conservation Trust is a member-supported, community-based, non-profit organization. Founded in 1979, it has protected more than 22,000 acres of shore frontage, islands, forest and mountaintops.