The Sharon Select Board and Conservation Commission filled a gap in the town’s conserved land by signing a conservation easement for a 28.3-acre parcel of land on Swamp Road on Dec. 17. The parcel is owned by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (The Forest Society), which granted the easement to the Town of Sharon.
“The Sharon Conservation Commission contributed Conservation Fund money in aid of the Forest Society’s purchase of this key parcel,” members of the Conservation Commission wrote in a statement. “The ecologically rich property contains approximately a mile and a half of frontage on the Gridley River, and includes a dramatic gravel deposit esker and a spruce bog. It is a small gem in a large area of conserved land as it is nearly encircled by the Forest Society’s Milt Street, Sharon Bog (a rare kettle bog), and David Wilson properties. Its conservation also provides added protection to the Sharon Bog.”
“We wouldn’t have had the funding to do the project if it wasn’t for their gift,” Vice President for Land Conservation Brian Hotz said. Transferring the easement to the town was the last “piece in the puzzle” to complete after the Forest Society purchased the property a year ago. He described the easement as an “extra layer of protection” on the property, which has been open for hiking, hunting, and fishing since the Forest Society purchased it. The Forest Society plans to leave it unmanaged and undeveloped, which means trailless, he said. “This is a property that’s pretty fragile and unique and ecologically important,” he said, with “not a lot of dry ground” on the parcel. There are several established trails on some of the neighboring parcels of conserved land, he said, and there is well over a thousand contiguous acres of conserved land in the area now.
Hotz cited the project as a good example of how conservation groups work with towns to conserve a piece of land that’s meaningful for both parties. “They’re great supporters of all of our work that we’ve done,” he said.