The Lakes Region Conservation Trust is pleased to announce the conservation of the 96-acre Red Hill Pond-Winona Handford property in Sandwich.
The property is located between Top of the World Road and Red Hill Pond and encompasses a large intact mid-aged forest with areas of open field, scenic frontage on Top of the World Road, and extensive wetland and forested shoreline on Red Hill Pond. Before LRCT’s acquisition, this parcel was one of the few unprotected parcels around Red Hill Pond. It is now an important addition to the expanse of conserved lands around the Pond and in the Red Hill River Watershed in Sandwich and Moultonborough that include: (1) 846 acres around the Pond conserved beginning in the 1980s by the Town of Sandwich through the Land Conservation Investment Program; and (2) 2,250 acres along and near the Red Hill River and its tributaries in Sandwich and Moultonborough, from Red Hill Pond south to Garland and Lee’s Ponds, that have been conserved by the two towns, The Nature Conservancy, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and LRCT.
The Handford Property will be open to the public for hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing, and LRCT plans to create a small trailhead parking area at the southeast corner of the property on Top of the World Road. We will be working on these details and sharing our plans once complete.
Thank You!
The project’s success was made possible by extraordinarily generous contributions from donors and grants from the NH Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP), the Moose Plate Program, the Town of Sandwich Conservation Fund, and LRCT’s Sandwich Land Conservation Fund. Thank you to everyone who donated in support of the project and who assisted with the project in other ways, particularly former LRCT Trustee David White, who played a key role in talking with Ms. Handford about how to accomplish her vision for her land and introducing her to LRCT; LRCT Lands Committee and Staff members, who contributed their time and talents to site visits and project planning; former LRCT Board Chair Peggy Merritt, who played essential roles in project strategizing and fundraising; and Ms. Handford‘s friend and neighbor Peter Wobber, who assisted her with the work needed to plan and achieve her conservation vision.
