Our Reservation Stewardship Department is responsible for the management of the Forest Society’s fee-owned lands, which includes The Rocks and its certified Tree Farm®. These lands are managed with a vision that is focused on the future, ensuring the biological richness of the state while providing economic and social returns to the organization, its members, and the public.
Our foresters work to develop a Tree Farm® certified management plan for each property. These plans include management goals and objectives related to the key resource areas of timber, wildlife habitat, water quality, natural communities, unique natural and cultural features and recreation.
What is a tree farm? A Tree Farm is woodland that is managed to produce forest products with the added benefits of improving wildlife habitat, water quality, recreation, and scenic values. While most Tree Farms are privately owned, there are also municipal, school, and other public forests certified as Tree Farms. A Tree Farm must be at least 10 acres in size, have and actively use a written management plan, and demonstrate a commitment to forest stewardship. There are approximately 1,500 Tree Farms in New Hampshire.
The Forest Society has been caring for the land since 1978, when two of John and Frances Glessner's grandchildren donated the property to the Forest Society to be protected from development forever. The only requirement was that there always be a crop in the field. For more than three decades, that crop has been Christmas trees.
Learn more
- You can learn more about wildlife at The Rocks here.
- Walk on the trails at The Rocks to see our mission in action.
- Attend an event to learn more about forestry, natural history, and wildlife at The Rocks.
- Find out more about New Hampshire's Tree Farm Program and learn about our forestry practices.