A local land trust has purchased a property abutting Dublin’s Howe Reservoir, formerly owned by the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains, protecting the land and trailhead.

The parcel, about 132 acres and valued at $132,000, has been purchased by the Monadnock Conservancy.

Since 1961, the property was used by Girl Scouts occasionally for hiking and training classes for outdoor skills and summer wilderness camping. But the property is no longer used.

Monadnock Conservancy Land Protection Director Anne McBride said the conservancy was approached about the property, and were immediately interested for its existing features.

“We don’t have immediate plans,” McBride said, about developing further recreation options on the property. “As we get to know the property, we might have other ideas, and there’s always the option of another trail, but for right now, our interest was in keeping access on the Greenway.”

The area is wooded, with an access point for hikers off Route 101, through the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail, but there is no entry to the land for cars, and there is no buildings or developments on the property.

What is on the property is more than a half-mile of the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway trail and access to Wight Pond. The preservation of the trail access, as well as the conservation of the shoreline of Wight Pond were two major goals of the purchase of the property.

Creating blocks of conservation property helps to create corridors for local wildlife. The property has been observed to be habitat for red-backed salamanders, Eastern milk snakes, woodcock, Eastern cottontail rabbits, fox and moose.

The property stretches north to the Harrisville town line, and connects with the Leighton State Forest and the Eliza Adams Gorge, both of which are protected properties.

Protection of the Monadnock-Sunapee trail is specifically noted in the town of Dublin’s Open Space Plan as one of seven priority areas for protection.

The Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail is a 48-mile track, which crosses multiple properties and require owner permission to use and maintain. The Conservancy has committed to keeping its section of the trail open to the public.

Moving forward, the property will be known as the Gertrude Russell Forest, and the Monadnock Conservancy will continue to allow recreation to occur on the property.