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- Land Conservation
CONCORD, N.H., July 10, 2012—The Forest Society is currently raising money to conserve a 270-acre parcel owned by the Hazelton family on Braley Road in Hebron, New Hampshire. A $30,000 grant from the John Gemmill Newfound Fund gives the Forest Society a great start to meeting its goal of $300,000.
The historic farm features important farmland, extensive frontage along the Cockermouth River and Wise Brook, and its forested hillsides on Tenney Mountain are visible from Newfound Lake. The conservation easement will protect the property’s water resources and wildlife habitat, while allowing the Hazelton family to practice forestry, agriculture and recreation on the property. The land will continue to be owned by the Hazelton family and the Forest Society will ensure the terms of the conservation easement are followed.
Helen Gemmill established the John Gemmill Newfound Fund on August 21, 2011 in honor of her father, the late John Gemmill. John served as director of Camp Pasquaney in Hebron, New Hampshire for 22 years. Helen grew up on the grounds of the Camp, attended, and was counselor at the nearby Camp Onaway. Helen describes, “Throughout his upbringing and education, it was to Newfound Lake that my father returned every summer, and developed a lifelong devotion to the place in general, and to environmental issues and conservation in particular.” The $750,000 fund will incentivize additional land conservation work in the Newfound watershed, and amplify the reach and leverage of the great environmental work already being done there to ensure a clean lake and healthy hillsides for many generations to come.
“The grant awarded by the John Gemmill Newfound Fund sets us on a strong course as we look to raise the remaining funds to purchase a conservation easement on this important piece of land,” states Jack Savage, vice president of communications for the Society to Protect New Hampshire Forests. “This is a beautiful landscape that has great significance for the water quality of the Cockermouth River and Wise Brook, both of which feed into Newfound Lake. The Hazelton family will also continue to use the land for agriculture and forestry.”
The property is also a registered Tree Farm, has approximately 35-acres of agricultural fields, is a conservation priority for the Hebron Conservation Commission, and falls within the focus areas expressed in the Newfound Lake Region Association’s Watershed Master Plan, the Lakes Regional Conservation Plan, the Quabbin-to-Cardigan Conservation Initiative, and the NH Fish and Game Wildlife Action Plan. “This truly is a key parcel of land and we are thankful to the Hazelton family for wanting to protect this land for future generations,” adds Savage. A public field trip will be held at the property on Saturday July 21, 2012 from 10 am to 2 pm. There will also be a presentation about the project at the Hebron Conservation Commission’s regular meeting on July 25, 2012 at 7 p.m. in the Hebron Land Use Office on the Hebron Green.
About the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire ForestsFounded in 1901, the Forest Society is a 10,000-member, nonprofit organization that has helped protect more than one million acres in New Hampshire. Visit forestsociety.org for more information, or call (603) 224-9945.
For more information:
Jack Savage
Society for the Protection of NH Forests
603-224-9945
or
Kelly Cioe
Whalen Public & Media Relations
603-436-2347