Society For The Protection Of New Hampshire Forests

Land protection: the forest society conserved 2,307 acres through 9 land protection projects across the state. Among the projects were five fee acquisitions totaling 1,814 acres added to our land ownership and four conservation easements totaling 493 acres on land owned by others. We continue to administer regional land protection partnerships for the quabbin to cardigan regional partnership and merrimack river conservation partnership, which involve organizations in new hampshire and massachusetts working together to protect the vital natural resources of each region.

Education and outreach: selected outreach education, communications, recreation stewardship eventsfy'25 outreach education highlights and events listmay 4 nh farm and forest expo at deerfield fair grounds 100+ visitorsmay 15th - creek farm poetry reading with benjamin doyle -20 participantsmay 18th creek farm: woods, whales & water festival at creek farm with blue ocean society. 30 participants june 7 rocks adult field camp birding / birdhouses - 9 participantsjune 8th birding with jack swatt at ashuelot river headwaters -7 participantsjune 8th- celebration and hike with landowner, ken stern at the deepwood forest conservation easement in canterbury -24 participantsportsmouth forest society at piscataqua riverfest in portsmouth - tabletop display, tent, statewide mapjuly 19 creek farm walking tour on little harbor trail with matt scaccia -12 participantsjuly 21 tom rush forest event with namesake, tom rush present for stories and more- 44 participantsat the rocks, the nh fish and game nh summer teacher institute: the watershed education institute july 25 15 teachers attending outdoor and indoor programs and field work in local rivers or wetlands. Forest society staff nigel and dave guided a hike to measure timber volume of some large trees along the historic mile path at the rocks.our 5th annual do-it-yourself hikes program offered in september and october the theme of the 2024 5 hikes challenge was inclusion and diversity in the outdoors. "we all belong outdoors" +/-150 participants total (august 31 to october 31)september 12 mt major trail ribbon-cutting and hike event -20 at event; 9 on hikeseptember 12 the fells "wind water fire and ice" dave -15 attendedseptember 21 - forest society annual meeting in peterborough +/- 85 participantsseptember 27 snhu botany lab professor katherine york -12 studentsseptember 29 lost river hike event w/ lgbtq affinity group lez hang -15 participantscreek farm programs for durham unh active retirement association- september 25 - the history of creek farm -15 participants- october 2 fall foliage: why leaves change color -12 participants- october 9 fall fungi id and foray at creek farm -12 participants- october 16- a century of land conservation at the forest society -10 participants concord schools district project see students field trips to the floodplain where project see staff hosted several school visits for 2nd grade students across the district to learn about wildlife habitats and soils of forest, wetland and fields on the merrimack river floodplain-200 students, parent chaperones and teachersoctober 10 monson russ dickerman remembrance event and tours. -60 attendedoctober 18th fall foliage on the floodplain tour for concord olli -17 attendedoctober 26: gear swap and foliage pop-up hike for 5 hikes challenge -18 attended5 hikes challenge special guided hike events:saturday, september 14 at 10 am: join forest society staff nigel manley for a hike along the trails at forest society north at the rocks in bethlehem. -15 participantssunday, september 29 at 10 am: join the nh chapter of lgbtq outdoors and lezhang seacoast for a family-friendly visit to lost river gorge & boulder caves in north woodstock -15 participantsfriday, october 11 at 10 am: join forest society to celebrate peak autumn foliage at morse preserve in alton, one of the 5 hikes challenge destinations -9 participantssaturday, october 26 at 11 am: join forest society for easy walk on the floodplain at merrimack river outdoor education & conservation area -20 participantssaturday, october 26 at 10 am: a community gear swap from 10 am to 2 pm at the conservation center in concord-20 participantsnovember 2 nh association of conservation commissions annual meeting something wild hosts keynote program -85 attendeesnovember 9 mt major guided hike for bipoc affinity group with mardi fuller -5 attendeesdecember 3: nhti theater concord- olli screening and discussion of "monadnock the mountain that stands alone." -35 attendedjanuary 16 mccabe forest winter hike with harris center for conservation education susi spikol and ben haubrich -16 attended february 15 - timber harvest tour - hay forest reservation, newbury with jeff snitkin of full circle forestry and wendy weisiger-15 attendedfebruary 22 waterville valley athletic improvement association annual meeting keynote address history how philip ayres and forest society worked to add 23,000 acres to wmnf. -125 people attendedfebruary 18 rye driftwoood garden club maple sugaring: myth, magic, lore and realites -55 people attendedfeb 27 peterborough library dylan summers sustainable trails -75 people attendedmarch 11 merrimack girl scouts to conservation center -6 youth and 2 adult leadersmarch 27 "maple sugaring myth, magic, realities" dave a peterboro town library-50 attended annual popular late winter cottrell-baldwin environmental lecture series in hillsboro is offered at fox state forest in partnership with nh division of forests and lands. The series attracted an average audience of 70 participants for a total of 281 total. This year's series hosted nh naturalists and a forester 4 authors sharing readings and/or photographs and signing books. The 2025 series was the 21st annual cb lecture series.april 9 dave maple sugaring for unh ara at durham community church -20 attendedstatewide subtotal 35 programs for 1618 program attendees.the rocks and north country bus tours visitors at the rocks = 48 total groups for total of 1948 participants reachedforest society-delivered programs and special events = 33 programs for 922 participantstotal north country outreach events 81 programs for 2870 participants reachedcreek farm 25 separate events and typesgundalow youth camps and adult camps at creek farm - 363 participantsforest society programs for public - 202 participantstotal creek farm participants- 565 grand total for all locations and programs141 events / programs with 5053 participants reachedother recreation stewardship highlights: mt major sustainable trail: large construction project to create new mile of main trail that is sustainable in terms of climate change and the number of visitors to the site. Restored old section of trail. Held ribbon cutting in sept 2024. Tom rush visits the tom rush forest: as part of 200th anniversary of the town of deering, singer/songwriter tom rush held a concert in deering and attended a public field trip at the chestnut orchard at tom rush forest to talk about his youth in deering on this site, and his family's interest in american chestnut restoration. Tacf representatives were there, and spnhf staff. 44 people attended. Black mountain banding station: 2024 (may through august) was the first year of the forest society partnering with licensed bird bander and scientist lindsay herlihy to run a maps (monitoring avian productivity and survivorship) bird banding station at black mtn forest in sutton. Many volunteers assisted over the banding season, including some interns from harris center and kearsarge hs students, and we ran a public field trip to observe bird banding process. Johnson-clark forest: this property was bequeathed to us by marilyn johnson and had an existing trail system on it. We created a new parking area, added signage, and did some trail maintenance to make this destination more accessible and enjoyable for hikers. It boast some beautiful white mtns views from the top of lewis hill. Seed seekers: this was a new volunteer program for the forest society in fy25, a partnership with the nh state forest nursery. Forest society and state nursery staff trained volunteers to collect seeds from native trees and shrubs throughout the growing season, so that these can be cultivated at the nursery for use in habitat restoration and research projects, as well as for landowners to purchase and plant on their own land. The forest society was able to provide data from our 65,000 acres of conserved fee land indicating where specific tree species are present, in order to facilitate seed collection by volunteers. This (2024) was the pilot year of this partnership. Remembrance hike for russ dickerman: our long time land steward and caretaker at monson center, russ dickerman, passed away in august of 2024. In october, we held an extremely well attended remembrance hike for russ at monson, where community members had a chance to talk about their memories of russ's involvement in the protection and stewardship of monson village. Washburn forest bog bridging: in summer 2024, we undertook a large project to replace more than 50 bog bridges along the river access trail along the connecticut river on the washburn forest in clarkesville. A student conservation association crew completed the work on this project, funded in part by the tillotson foundation.

Membershipthe forest society currently has 7,867 members (households and businesses). Members are kept informed of the organization's activities via blogs, social media, e-newsletters and quarterly publication of forest notes magazine. Policythe forest society lobbies state elected officials in concord, nh and our federal delegation in washington, d.c. During the fiscal year, there was one staff member who allocated time to lobbying these activities include: testifying at legislative committee hearings, meeting directly with state legislators on behalf of the forest society's position on specific pieces of legislation, providing legislators with information on issues under consideration in congress and the nh legislature and meeting with state agency officials about issues relative to the forest society's mission.the state legislature meets from january to june each year. The majority of the organization's policy staff state-level lobbying efforts occur within these six-month sessions although we do engage with legislators at other times during the year. The forest society lobbies specifically on bills relating to spnhf's mission including those addressing forestry, water quality, air quality, land conservation, energy facility siting, climate change, renewable energy and energy efficiency. For example, in the 2025 legislative session, we engaged the legislature as it drafted the state's operating budget for years 2026 and 2027. On this issue, we advocated for funding for the state agencies and programs that relate to the forest society's mission. We testified on two separate bills related to forest carbon credit bills, one of which the forest society opposed and the other the organization testified that it be significantly amended to better address the many issues related to forest carbon markets.we also testified against two bills which would have undermined new hampshire's current use program. Finally, we engaged at the nh legislature on bills related to nh's renewable portfolio standards, how to fund the repair of the publicly owned dams, and solid waste management. The forest society also works directly with our federal congressional delegation on federal legislation which is related to the forest society's mission. This year, we spent time engaged with the nh congressional on issues regarding funding levels for federal programs administered by the us dept. Of agriculture that support the forest society's mission. Also, as in 2024, we have been working with the nh congressional delegation on the establishment of a new federal conservation program to help forestland owners conserve their forests called the forest conservation easement program. We also continue to work with the delegation on a bill to establish the connecticut river watershed partnership act. Because the federal farm bill is a major source of conservation funding, we have been working with them on the reauthorization of the farm bill. Congress has not finished work on this issue in 2025. Most likely, congress will need to do so in 2026. We have also been working with the congressional delegation to ensure the us forest service continues to support the forest service-managed experimental forests, two of which are in new hampshire. The experimental forests have been undertaking important research on issues relative to forest management, forest health and climate health. We also hosted visits from members of the nh congressional delegation to forest society properties.