Everyone is invited to join us at the end of Dyke Road in Sugar Hill, where we cars can be parked. Bring your kids, dogs, bug dope, and water. We can walk from there and/or take 4-wheel drive vehicles up to the big log landing facing southwest into Landaff. From there we’ll walk up old skid trails into the forest. The views will be spectacular.

For more information please call Rebecca Brown at 603-823-7777 or e-mail brown@aconservationtrust.org.

The hike will start from the end of Jim Noyes Hill Road in Landaff (in Sugar Hill, it’s called Dyke Road). You can reach this spot from Pearl Lake Road in Lisbon, driving around Pearl Lake, taking a left onto Jim Noyes Hill Road (it is a T, you must go left or right), and going to the end.

Looking north toward the Presidentials.

As we all know, it’s an unpredictable time of year. Hopefully there will be lots of snow! But be prepared for ice. Bring your snowshoes or other traction (Yak Trax, etc.), camera, kids, and dogs. This hike will be good for people of all ages who are reasonably fit. We will walk up a Class VI road and then up a snowmachine trail to a large log landing with great views of Landaff and beyond. We’ll then walk up into the land on old skid roads.

Promise: no bushwhacking (unless you want to! The moose trails are pretty easy to follow now).

The views are magnificent and there is a lot of wildlife activity on this young forested landscape. We will see lots and lots of moose sign, deer, and likely bobcat and we will look for pine marten tracks. If we are exceptionally lucky we may find the track of a lynx.

Sunday’s hike is a great opportunity to see the rugged and beautiful land of the proposed community forest. Join members of the planning committee of residents of Easton, Sugar Hill, Lisbon, Landaff, Bethlehem, and Franconia who have been working together to create the 840-acre community forest.

For more information, contact Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust volunteer Angela Broscoe at (978) 828-5903 (cell) or e-mail ambroscoe@yahoo.com. Directions and information are also at www.townforest.org. Please send us an e-mail or leave a phone message that you will be joining the hike (hot chocolate and snacks will be provided). Any last minutes changes will also be on the website.

The hike will start from the parking area at the end of Trumpet Round Road in Sugar Hill. Trumpet Round is off of Jericho Road, which is a left turn as you head uphill on Dyke Road.

American marten

Bring your snowshoes, camera, kids, and dogs. This hike will be good for people of all ages. It will go uphill through young conifers and a mixed hardwood forest. Moose and deer abound on this land, and we may get lucky and find tracks of bobcat and American marten. If we are exceptionally lucky we may find the track of a lynx.

Smaller than a fisher and stouter than a weasel, American martens (also called pine martens) are a rare and important species in New Hampshire. They were nearly trapped out, but have rebounded after being reintroduced. Their numbers are still small enough, and their status uncertain enough, that they are listed as “threatened” in the state.

According to NH Fish & Game, marten are of particular concern because of their status as an “umbrella species.” Their large range and sensitivity to disturbance make them broad indicators of ecosystem health. Marten have been seen in the vicinity of the community forest. Martens like large tracts of open space.

Sunday is a great opportunity to see the rugged and beautiful land of the proposed community forest, and to get some exercise before the Super Bowl!

For more information, contact Rebecca Brown at the Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust,  603-823-7777, or e-mail rbrown@aconservationtrust.org. Please send us an e-mail or leave a phone message that you will be joining the hike (hot chocolate and snacks will be provided) and also so we may contact you in case of really horrid weather. Any last minutes changes will also be on the website, www.townforest.org.

In addition, the Davis Conservation Foundation has given $20,000 for the project.

This brings our fundraising total to $557,000.

We need $650,000 to close by June, 2013. Our total project budget is $725,000.

These awards are extremely competitive. Being recognized by LCHIP and the Moose Plate program are great honors –  the committees that review the millions of dollars worth of proposals represent a cross-section of our state, and it is a very detailed and informed process. This is really a stamp of approval from the citizens of New Hampshire.

The Davis Conservation Foundation is a generous and extremely important private foundation dedicated to conserving the forests and important habitats of northern New England. We are grateful to all of these funders who see the importance and potential of this Community Forest.

The proposed community forest is in Easton and has major impact on Sugar Hill, Landaff, and Franconia as well as Easton. Citizens from the four towns have been working with the Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust (ACT) to acquire the land and create the forest, which would be managed for the benefit of the participating towns.

Recently the project planning committee hosted a tour of the property for the U.S. Forest Service. Forest Service experts in wildlife, trails, and forestry spent a day walking the land and discussing how best to protect and enhance wildlife habitat while creating a multi-use trail system.

“This is an outstanding opportunity,” said Roger Simmons, the natural resources staff officer in the WMNF Supervisors office in Campton. “There is plenty of room here to do excellent recreational trail building, plan for future forestry, and protect some very outstanding wildlife habitat.”

Biologist Clara Weloth and Planning Committee member Steve Sabre of Easton.

District Biologist Clara Weloth noted that the land provides plenty of young forest habitat that is very important for large animals like moose and deer, as well as potential range for American marten and lynx – both species being watched closely in the state. It also is nesting habitat for a variety of songbirds whose numbers are declining throughout the Northeast. For example, ACT Executive Director Rebecca Brown reported that this summer, numerous pairs of Canada warblers were on the property.

Suzanne Beauchesne, Justin Klein, Gardner Kellogg, and Dan Kenerson, who have been involved with the planning for the forest, detailed their goal of mountain bikes trails on the land. WMNF Assistant District Ranger for recreation, Tom Giles, agreed it would be good to look at extending the Jericho Trail, which starts on Route 116 in Easton and ends at the old fire tower at the boundary of the community forest property.

Emily Platt, an art teacher at Littleton High School and also a member of the forest planning committee, described her goal of using the community forest as an outdoor classroom for both science education as well as creative arts. The Forest Service representatives offered their resources through the “Trail to Every Classroom” program.

Throughout the spring, summer, and fall, ACT and the planning committee have hosted hikes and bird walks on the proposed forest. According to Brown, snowshoe hikes and animal tracking excursions will be scheduled as soon as the snow cover is suitable. The tracking work will help in the creation of a natural resources inventory for the land.

ACT is raising $650,000 to purchase the land, with a deadline of next June. To date $472,000 has been raised for the project. For more information, and to receive notices of planned hikes, see the planning committee records, as well as maps and photos of the land, please visit www.townforest.org.

We will meet at 9 a.m. at the end of Dyke Road in Sugar Hill. We’ll drive up to the Landaff access point and walk up from there.We plan to be done by around 1 p.m.

Labor Day hike.

Saturday’s  hike will start at 9 a.m. at the end of Dyke Road in Sugar Hill. We will walk – or drive if there are 4-wheel drive vehicles present – to the trail going into the forest from Landaff. The walk will be on a Class VI Dyke Road, a gravel logging road, and then old skid roads as we gain elevation. We’ll be back by noon. Bring your kids, dogs, snacks, water, and bug dope! Binoculars and camera, too – there are fantastic views in all directions from little known vantage points.

Come learn about the project, with maps, photos, and potential trail routes. We will describe the community planning process, timetable, and cover frequently asked questions about ownership, governance, management, and costs.

For more information click here.

Sunday’s hike will start at 9 a.m. at the end of Dyke Road in Sugar Hill. We will walk – or drive if there are 4-wheel drive vehicles present – to the trail going into the forest from Landaff. The walk will be on a Class VI Dyke Road, a gravel logging road, and then old skid roads as we gain elevation. Plan for  2 – 3 hours. Bring your kids, dogs, snacks, water, and bug dope! Binoculars and camera, too – there are fantastic views in all directions from little known vantage points.

The 840-acre proposed Town Community Forest is part of the largest privately owned roadless area in this region, making it ideal for recreational trails, for wildlife, and for long-term timber management. The Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust (ACT) has a purchase agreement for $600,000 on the forest, negotiated on behalf of the towns of Easton and Sugar Hill. This beautiful and fairly rugged ridgetop land is very prominent from Sugar Hill, Easton, Landaff, Franconia, and Lisbon. A committee of local residents from these communities has started work on raising the funds to acquire the land and planning for its long-term management.

Mountain bikers, trail runners, hunters, snowmobilers, horseback riders, birders, backcountry skiers, naturalists, and others are volunteering on the planning committee and on working groups that will focus on trail planning and management of key recreational uses.  More volunteers are welcome and needed! For more information on the project or Sunday’s hike, please call Rebecca Brown at ACT, 823-7777, or rbrown@aconservationtrust.org.