The inherent character of the Lakes Region has inspired generations of year-round residents and summer visitors alike.  Our lakes, forests, and mountains are special places; we value the time we spend here, and we hope that future generations will be able to enjoy the same qualities of the landscape that bring inspiration and comfort to us.  Breathtaking views from summits in the Ossipees and the Squam Range, clear waters of our lakes, ponds, and streams, scenic landscapes around picturesque villages throughout the region, and the call of loons heard across the water in the evening—all remind us of how blessed we are to be part of a landscape that thrills us with beauty in every season of the year.

The mission of the Lakes Region Conservation Trust is to preserve these special places—by saving precious wildlife habitats, by conserving mountain summits and undeveloped shorelines for thoughtful public access, and by protecting the character of a rural region that lies just hours away from the great metropolitan areas of the Northeast.

Over the past 28 years, the Lakes Region Conservation Trust has protected more than 18,500 acres of prime conservation land here in the heart of New Hampshire—on Red Hill, in the Squam Watershed, in the Ossipee Mountains, in the Pemigewasset Valley, and on and around Winnipesaukee.  Using only funds donated by individuals, families, businesses, and other non-governmental sources, the Trust is the largest conservation landowner in the Lakes Region and, based on acreage owned, is the third largest owner of conservation lands in the State of New Hampshire.

During 2006 and early 2007, the Trust has been able to bring approximately 1,240 acres of land valued at more than $3,500,000 into permanent protection—land in the Squam Range, in Sandwich, Wolfeboro, and Moultonborough, and on Winnipesaukee.  These properties came into protection by the Trust through extraordinarily generous gifts and through purchases from caring landowners who have worked with the Trust to ensure that their land will be protected and cherished in perpetuity.

This year we are working with thoughtful landowners to protect additional land in the Squam Range, in Sandwich, on the Winnipesaukee shore, in the Ossipees, and in the Newfound Watershed.  Some of these land protection efforts will result in gifts of land or conservation easements, while others involve purchases of land or easements for which we seek gifts beyond the Trust’s regular annual support.

In particular, the Trust is currently working to complete capital campaigns for the acquisition of a conservation easement encompassing a total of 2,471 acres in the Squam Range in Holderness and Campton, which is the Trust’s largest land protection project since the Castle in the Clouds property, the final parcel of 176-acre Sewall Woods in Wolfeboro, and the purchase of Ragged and Little Ragged Islands in Lake Winnipesaukee, among the most scenic spots on the Lake.

And every day we continue the essential work of stewarding the precious lands already protected—developing management plans, maintaining and building trails, enhancing wildlife habitat, monitoring conservation easements, undertaking educational initiatives, inventorying plant and animal species, learning about the natural and human history of our protected properties, and many other endeavors.  The Trust’s dedicated land stewardship volunteers care for the Trust’s protected lands to ensure that these lands will provide enjoyment and inspiration for year-round and seasonal residents and visitors to the Lakes Region for generations to come.

For those who already contribute in support of the Trust’s land protection and stewardship work, we deeply appreciate the essential role that you play.  For those who have not yet had an opportunity to support the Trust, we hope that you will want to join with us in this endeavor.  Your support will ensure that the work of preserving vital new lands will go forward and that the faithful stewardship of our conserved lands will continue as well.

Thank you for your interest in the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, and best wishes from all of us at the Trust.

Sincerely,

Donald S. Berry                                     Frederic B. Preston
President                                               Chair, Board of Trustees

View from Mt. Percival looking over the Squam Range, the Rattlesnakes, Squam Lake, Red Hill, Lake Winnipesaukee, and the Ossipees