Nature Conservancy Acquires 355 Acres in Madison to Conserve Pine Barrens and Silver Lake Watershed

Project protects important groundwater supply and stream to Cook’s Pond.

MADISON, N.H. — The Nature Conservancy has acquired a remarkable 355-acre tract in Madison, capping off the land protection phase of a $4.1 million campaign to further conserve the globally rare pine barrens and other natural resources between Ossipee and Silver lakes.

Nearing the homestretch in fundraising, the Conservancy’s Campaign for the Ossipee Pine Barrens and Silver Lake Watershed has been supported by scores of local donations, grants, and $2.34 million in federal Forest Legacy funding. The project has resulted in the protection of five tracts with pine barrens habitat, 721 acres in all, in Madison, Freedom and Ossipee.

In two years, the Conservancy - with help from scores of donors, grants and a federal Forest Legacy grant, has been able to protect 5 tracts in the Ossipee Pine Barrens, 721 acres in all.

Sold by the Goodwin family, the recently protected tract contains 130 acres of high-quality pitch pine barrens and extensive oak-pine forests. It also includes much of Cook’s Pond and a stream connecting the pond with Silver Lake, a popular destination for local paddlers. The tract also abuts the Goodwin Town Forest and overlays the largest stratified drift aquifer in the state. Conserving the forest over that aquifer helps ensure a clean source of drinking water for the area’s businesses and families.

“Protecting this tract is a major milestone for conserving the Ossipee Pine Barrens,” said Daryl Burtnett, state director of The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire. “When we launched this campaign two years ago, we did so because we knew that, if we wanted to protect the last and best remaining tracts in the Ossipee Pine Barrens, we had to act quickly and we had to think big. And we knew that success would hinge on the community’s support – for safeguarding clean water, for recreation, for wildlife and habitat, and for protecting a real local treasure. We are thrilled with the community’s response with encouragement and dollars as we near the goal in fundraising.”

Conservation is a terrific outcome for the land around Cook’s Pond, said Susan Goodwin. “My brother, my sister, and I are delighted that the land will be preserved and can be enjoyed in its natural state for generations to come,” she said.

The Ossipee Pine Barrens is recognized as a top priority “conservation focus area” and “highest quality habitat” in the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's recently completed Wildlife Action Plan. It is formally designated by New Hampshire Audubon as one of the state's Important Bird Areas. The habitat harbors declining songbirds (such as whip-poor-will, Eastern towhee, brown thrasher, and nighthawk) and 17 rare moth and butterfly species.

Largely flat and sandy, the habitat is highly vulnerable to residential and commercial development. The Conservancy has been conserving land here since 1988, but had to respond quickly during the last two years when a number of the most ecologically significant tracts were listed for sale. Recognizing the irreplaceable natural resources at stake and the immediate opportunities for conservation, the Conservancy in 2006 ramped up its protection efforts and applied for funding under the federal Forest Legacy Program. The Conservancy’s Forest Legacy proposal for the Ossipee Pine Barrens ranked No. 2 nationally out of 80 total. A recently approved federal spending bill contains $2.34 million for the Forest Legacy project, which would help the Conservancy’s costs to acquire the tracts. As part of the project, the Conservancy will transfer to the state of New Hampshire a conservation easement on the more than 2,200 acres it has protected here.

Also supporting the project is a recent $300,000 grant from the N.H. Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP). An additional $100,000 has come from the federal Landowner Incentive Program.

The five tracts protected in the campaign include: 28 acres in Madison; 170 acres in Freedom; 65 acres in Ossipee; 103 acres in Ossipee; and the 355 acres in Madison. All contain high-quality pine barrens habitat and overlay the aquifer. All of the tracts are open to hiking, hunting, snowmobiling on designated trails, cross-country skiing, and nature observation.

“There are so many people to thank for this project’s success,” Burtnett said. “A few include the N.H. Division of Forests and Lands, N.H. Fish and Game Department, the LCHIP board, the local volunteer task force, our congressional delegation, and especially the many local donors who understand the importance of protecting these lands, for their water resources, for recreation, and for their intrinsic and unique value as a rare natural community.”

Although the Conservancy’s current land-protection campaign is winding down, there are still several tracts in the area that contain high-quality pitch pine and scrub oak barrens or have habitat that can be restored. The Nature Conservancy will continue to assess these lands and work with willing sellers to conserve this endangered natural community.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Since 1961 The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire has helped protect more than 265,000 acres of ecologically significant land and currently owns and manages 28 preserves across the state. For more information, visit www.nature.org/newhampshire.