Land Conservancy wants to keep the country in Colebrook

COLEBROOK — The importance of land preservation was the main topic at a presentation given by members of the Colebrook Land Conservancy at Town Hall on Friday, Sept. 14.

The presentation was sponsored by the Colebrook Historical Society as part of its Friday Night Gatherings series.

The Conservancy was started in 1986 and has 200 members.

“Our motto is ‘in land we trust,’” Conservancy trustee Kerry Jassen said in an interview before the presentation. “In Colebrook, it’s important to try to maintain the land of the community, so it will look the way it’s always been.”

The Conservancy owns 657 acres of land on 14 parcels in town.

Many of the parcels owned by the Conservancy were gifts given from property owners, including the Nature Conservancy, which gifted the group its largest piece of land: a 394-acre piece on the north end of town once known as the Phelps Research Area.

The property was the last virgin forest in the state until it was logged in 1911. It is also the site of a Colebrook landmark: the Colonial Pine, estimated to be more than 381 years old.

The site is home to more than 30 species of animals including 20 types of reptiles and amphibians.

During the presentation, trustee Daniel Strickler said that land donations and easements are vital to the success of the Conservancy.

“These are all important to us in the preservation movement,” Strickler said. 

He reminded the audience that there is an additional benefit to landowners, because gifts to land trusts are tax deductible.

Throughout the year, members monitor and maintain each of the Conservancy’s properties, he said.

Currently, the organization is working on the purchase of 74 forested acres on Deer Hill Road and Route 183.

Forest Ecologist Harry White, who volunteered to conduct a survey of the property for the Conservancy, said he is very enthusiastic that the property will soon be preserved.

“From the moment I got out of my truck I was astounded by this property,” White said. “One of the things we look for as ecologists is diversity and there is a wide diversity of animal, bird and plant life on the property.”

The funds for the purchase came from a state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection grant, a federal Highlands grant and donations from members of the community.

The Conservancy expects to close on the property by the end of the year.

For more information go to www.colebrooklandconservancy.org.