None The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire Press Releases Search All Press Releases Eric Aldrich 603-224-5853, ext. 26 E-mail: ealdrich@tnc.org

A Gift of Land Furthers Conservation in Loudon

Call it "re-gifting" if you will ... the end result is conservation.

Loudon, N.H. — August 25, 2004 -- A gift of land to The Nature Conservancy in 1998 is now a gift of conservation to the town of Loudon and the Five Rivers Conservation Trust, a land trust based in Concord.

The Conservancy has recently donated one of the land gifts -- 50 acres in Loudon -- to the town. And the Conservancy has sold another parcel in Loudon -- 79 acres -- to a local family while ensuring the property remains protected and well managed. The Five Rivers Conservation Trust now holds conservation easements on both tracts.

The story began in 1998 when the family-owned Bear Paw Timber Corp. donated to The Nature Conservancy 35 parcels scattered throughout New Hampshire and Maine -- more than 8,000 acres in all. At the time, it was one of the largest private gifts of land for conservation in both states. In New Hampshire, the gift consisted of 2,825 acres on 23 parcels; six of those tracts essentially doubled the size of the Conservancy's Green Hills Preserve in North Conway.

The other tracts donated by Bear Paw Timber are spread throughout New Hampshire, including two tracts in Loudon: one of 50 acres near Bumfagen Brook, the other of 79 acres on the Soucook River.

Bear Paw Timber principals knew that the Conservancy might ultimately sell or donate other parcels. Those tracts are nice, but lack the key ecological values that The Nature Conservancy looks for when protecting land. Bear Paw Timber also knew that the Conservancy -- or the buyers of its lands -- may want to manage the tracts for forest products. If so, the company wanted the forests managed in a sustainable manner, following a written land management plan.

The intent of Bear Paw Timber was simple: to make sure that the lands it donated to the Conservancy would remain protected from development and that the forests were well managed.

The Conservancy honors those wishes with its own recent transfers.

The Conservancy has donated 50 acres along Bumfagen Brook to the town of Loudon, with a conservation easement donated to the Five Rivers Conservation Trust. The easement prohibits development there in perpetuity.

"We certainly appreciate this gift to the town," said Roger Maxfield, chair of Loudon's board of selectmen. "This gift ensures that this land will be preserved in its natural state forever."

Julie Robinson, chair of the Loudon Conservation Commission, said the town will be able to carefully manage the land for timber, yielding income to allow the town to purchase and protect additional property. The town may also manage habitat there for the benefit of wildlife, she said. "This is an excellent deal for the town," she said.

The Five Rivers Conservation Trust is also delighted that it has been entrusted with the long-term protection of the land. "As a regional land trust, we are pleased to help facilitate the public use of this beautiful property while ensuring that it remains protected," said David Howe, chair of the Five Rivers Conservation Trust's board of directors.

Meanwhile, The Nature Conservancy has recently sold the other Bear Paw Timber parcel in Loudon -- the 79 acres on the Soucook River. After advertising the land and carefully reviewing proposals from would-be buyers, the Conservancy has sold the tract to Jack Bronnenberg, a well-respected logging contractor from Strafford.

Bronnenberg is a member of the N.H. Forest Advisory Board, is treasurer of the N.H. Timberland Owners Association, past chair of the N.H. Timber Harvesting Council, and is New Hampshire's representative to the American Loggers Council. Bronnenberg's son, who recently earned a degree in forestry from the University of New Hampshire, now works with his father in the family business.

"We look at being selected for this purchase by The Nature Conservancy as a source of pride, confirmation of a job well done over the years," Bronnenberg said.

The 79-acre tract "is a wonderful woodlot," Bronnenberg said. "It's well-drained, has a long frontage on the Soucook River. And the easement made it affordable to us."

Bronnenberg said he sees using the parcel "as an asset, an ongoing sustainable woodlot for my business and my family in perpetuity." He would also like to use the land as an outdoor classroom to show local school children how forests can be managed sustainably in multiple ways.

The Conservancy has also donated a conservation easement on that property to the Five Rivers Conservation Trust.

The Loudon Conservation Commission's Julie Robinson says protection of the Soucook River tract is important because it helps ensure the purity of a major aquifer there.

Proceeds from The Nature Conservancy's sale of that tract will help provide a stewardship endowment for Five Rivers, pay transaction costs and help the Conservancy protect other ecologically significant lands in New Hampshire.

"We're grateful for a family's generosity and history of careful stewardship, which now is advancing the conservation work of two groups and the town of Loudon and sets the stage for another family to practice sound forestry," said Daryl Burtnett, state director of the New Hampshire chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

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Five Rivers Conservation Trust, formerly known as the Concord Conservation trust, is a regional land trust established by citizen volunteers to assist in the land protection strategies of the following communities in central New Hampshire: Boscawen, Bow, Canterbury, Concord, Chichester, Dunbarton, Henniker, Hopkinton, Loudon, Northfield, Pembroke, Salisbury, Webster, and Warner and other communities as needed. The Trust protects 637 acres, 13 parcels by easement and one by outright ownership.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Since 1987 The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire has helped protect more than 121,000 acres of ecologically significant land and currently owns and manages 30 preserves across the state.