LRCT has acquired a conservation easement that protects 1,615 acres owned by The Farm Trust in Tamworth, New Hampshire.
Conservation of land in the Ossipee Mountains has long been one of the Lakes Region Conservation Trust’s highest priorities. For more than 10 years the LRCT has been working to protect these lands that encompass scenic mountain summits and slopes, the upper part of the Cold River Valley, productive farmland, working forests, and pristine wilderness. With the support of a grant from the Open Space Institute’s (OSI) Resilient Landscapes Initiative, LRCT has permanently conserved this landscape for future generations.
Many qualities make the permanent protection of this property particularly noteworthy. The conservation easement protects significant areas of biodiversity and substantial wildlife habitat highly ranked by the NH Fish and Game Department. The Nature Conservancy and OSI has also identified this area as a resilient landscape, naturally resistant to drought, flooding, and changing temperatures. This project provides critical protection for vernal pools and the water quality of Cold Brook, which is a tributary of the Bearcamp River.
The land includes vast woodlands used for sustainable forestry, virtually untouched wilderness areas and old growth forests, and farmland used for livestock pasturing and haying. The land also provides access to Larcom and Little Larcom Mountains on abutting LRCT land and opportunities for nature education and scientific study. Finally, the property’s scenic value is unsurpassed.
The conservation easement will ensure that all of these qualities are protected forever. The land is part of a 21,150-acre conserved landscape in the Ossipee Mountains. Thousands of acres have already been protected by LRCT, such as the Ossipee Mountains Preserve in Tamworth abutting The Farm Trust land and the Castle in the Clouds Conservation Area in Moultonborough and Tuftonboro.
This project has been critical to the ongoing efforts to preserve unspoiled landscapes in the Ossipees and the creation of a habitat corridor connecting the Ossipees to the White Mountains.
We are grateful to The Farm Trust for wanting to work with LRCT to pursue a conservation vision for this magnificent landscape and the support from OSI for making this project a reality.
