Land for the Future
Land for the Future
An Introduction to Conservation Land, Land Trusts and Places to Walk
Have you been looking for places to walk? Some of your favorites may be town owned lands, state parks, or national forests. At other places you visit, you may see a sign stating that the land is conserved or there may be mention of a land trust or a conservation easement. But what makes land into conservation land? And what is a land trust? Do you know what a conservation easement is? Local land trust, Moose Mountains Regional Greenways (MMRG), answers those questions and points to a few favorite places to walk; MMRG also suggests some reasons why it’s so important to conserve land.
Big sky over Leary hay field with view of mountains. (Kirsten Gehl)
‘Conservation land’ means the land will never be developed, not in 10 years or 100 years or even in 1,000 years. Land in ‘current use’ does not qualify as conservation land because it is not permanently protected. The landowner can choose to build houses or erect other structures on it at any time and simply pay the resulting penalty, called a land use change tax. Although protected from development, ‘conservation land’ is not automatically open for public use. Lots of conservation land is owned by private landowners who want their land to stay just the way it is, forever, but do not want it to be open to the public.
What makes conservation land special is the guarantee of ‘forever’. Such a strong guarantee requires an organization or entity whose mission (primary purpose) is to watch over that conservation land forever. That’s where a land trust can come into the picture.
A land trust is a non-profit organization (charity) whose mission is to protect land from ever being developed. Land trusts may have other related purposes as well, such as forestry or education, which is a key part of MMRG’s work. Land trusts come in all sizes, such as:
worldwide – The Nature Conservancy
statewide – Society for the Protection of NH Forests (SPNHF); owns Mount Major and many forestlands around the state
regional – Moose Mountains Regional Greenways; owns Branch River Conservation Area; watches over several privately-owned conservation properties in the seven-town service area of Brookfield, Farmington, Middleton, Milton, New Durham, Wakefield, and Wolfeboro
Girl dipping for minnows in a stream on Leary conservation land
How does a land trust accomplish its goal of conserving land? It starts with people, including those who believe so strongly in the importance of conserving land that they volunteer their time to the organization. Other essential people are the landowners who love their land so much they want to conserve it. Still others believe wholeheartedly in the organization’s mission and donate money. Sometimes a land trust can conserve a property by acquiring it, but that requires special conditions: the landowner must be willing to sell or donate the land, the purchase price must be raised, and the timing must be right to complete the sale before another buyer purchases it. More often, land is conserved because the landowner wants to permanently protect it from development, and voluntarily agrees to place it under a conservation easement held by the land trust. (A future MMRG article will explain what a conservation easement is and the role of the land trust in ‘holding’ it.) The key fact is that a conservation easement allows you to conserve your land, to ensure it is never developed, while retaining ownership of it.
Wendy Scribner, a forester with Carroll County Cooperative Extension, is one of those people so dedicated to land conservation that she volunteers her time to serve on MMRG’s Board of Directors. Wendy explains, “Being in nature has always been refreshing and rejuvenating for me. As a child, I had great experiences feeding the ducks at a local pond. As I got older, I spent more time hiking and exploring. I want other people to have opportunities to be in nature like I did. I am also captivated by wildlife – stopping to watch a squirrel or a bird go about its business helps me feel more connected to the world around me.”
Wendy adds, “In the last 20 years, Moose Mountains Regional Greenways has worked with numerous landowners and organizations to help conserve more than 7,000 acres close to home. Many of these properties are open for you to visit, including the recently conserved Leary Field & Forest in Farmington. The Leary’s maintain a beautiful system of trails throughout their forest and up their sloping hayfield. You can see an historic stone bridge as well as foundations of the old farm structures that speak to the land’s past uses. Beautiful views can be found at the top of the hill, where you can watch for hawks, or at dusk, you may hear owls and see bats.”
Winter view over hayfield by Kate Wilcox
Bob and Debbie Leary exemplify landowners who love their land and wanted to make sure it would never be developed. Bob Leary explains, “Conservation of this land was important to us to preserve it for agricultural uses as a legacy for our family and for the history of the land. It’s also too nice a resource to be selfish with it, so we invite the public to walk the trails and enjoy them, as we do.”
Visit www.mmrg.info for maps of trails on local lands with public access that MMRG has helped conserve.