WEEKS FAMILY HONORED AS FOREST SOCIETY CONSERVATIONISTS OF THE YEAR
This past weekend, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests presented the organization’s Conservationist of the Year award.
Among the organization’s most prestigious recognitions, this annual award honors those exemplary people whose have worked to promote land conservation through many different avenues, often with significant sacrifice. It is the Forest Society’s highest recognition.
In this special year of the Weeks Act Centennial, the Forest Society recognized the descendants of John Wingate Weeks for the conservation work they have accomplished to further the protection of New Hampshire’s forests that John Weeks began 100 years ago.
The children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren of John Weeks have been long-time members, promoters, and supporters of the Forest Society and its work. Each in their own way, they have helped conserve New Hampshire’s forests, scenic vistas, and recreational assets.
In 2000 the grandchildren of John Weeks protected the original Weeks Family Estate on Martin Meadow Pond in Lancaster. The family donated a conservation easement to the Forest Society on 479 acres surrounding the pond, including most of the shoreline. The property also includes a Christmas tree plantation, fields, a small orchard, and a sugar bush. Views of the White Mountains from the estate are spectacular.
These lands are just down the road from Weeks State Park – 430 acres given to the State of New Hampshire in 1941 by John Weeks' children, Katherine Weeks Davidge and Sinclair Weeks. Set at the very top of Mt. Prospect in Lancaster, the house and grounds provide a 360-degree panorama of mountain splendor, including the Presidential Range of the White Mountains, the Green Mountains of Vermont, the Kilkenny Range, the Percy Peaks, and the upper Connecticut River Valley.
In 1990 it was members of the Weeks family who helped the Forest Society add a wing to the Conservation Center in East Concord. Named for John Wingate Weeks, the wing was constructed from native wood and contains innovative energy conservation features, natural lighting, and a portrait and bust of John Weeks donated by the family.
“Sometimes collectively, sometimes individually, Weeks family members continue to leave their conservation mark on the New Hampshire landscape,” said Forest Society President/Forester Jane Difley, who presented the award. “For all their work and their conservation ethic, we are proud to recognize the Weeks family members as our Conservationists of the Year.”
The award was presented at the Forest Society’s 110th Annual Meeting, held last Saturday at the Mountain View Grand Hotel in Whitefield, NH.
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. For more information, visit www.forestsociety.org.