In the News

The Squam Range and Squam Lake from Eagle Cliff.  Phil Preston photo

The Lakes Region Conservation Trust (LRCT) has announced the completion of a conservation easement that permanently protects 2,471 acres of land in the Squam Mountain Range overlooking Squam Lake, including several mountain summits and popular hiking trails and trailheads.  The conservation easement project has been accomplished in two phases—869 acres protected earlier this year and 1,602 acres protected in July—at a total cost of over $2,500,000, raised entirely from individuals, families, foundations, and other non-governmental donors.

According to Lakes Region Conservation Trust President Don Berry, the LRCT’s Squam Range conservation easement is the largest single land conservation project undertaken to date in the Squam Range and the Squam Watershed.  In addition, for the LRCT, the effort is second only to the organization’s Castle in the Clouds project in acres protected and dollars raised for a single project.

The land protected by the LRCT conservation easement includes the summits and slopes of Mount Webster (elevation 2,076 ft.), Mount Livermore (elevation 1,500 ft.), and Cotton Mountain (elevation 1,260 ft.), the slopes of Mounts Morgan and Percival, over three linear miles of Squam Range ridgeline, the Mount Morgan, Mount Percival, and Cotton Mountain trailheads, and a wealth of trails enjoyed by generations of residents and visitors.  The land includes significant parts of such trails as the Crawford-Ridgepole Trail, Cotton Mountain Trail, Prescott Trail, Old Mountain Road, Mount Morgan Trail, and Mount Percival Trail.

The Squam Range is one of the largest unfragmented wild areas in central New Hampshire, and its rich wildlife habitat and forests, connecting the White Mountains and the pristine waters of Squam Lake, are an extraordinary conservation resource for present and future generations, said LRCT President Berry.

Berry stated that a unique combination of factors make the Squam Range a premier natural, scenic, and recreational resourcethe quantity and character of its wildlife habitat, its vital role as a water source, diverse forests ranging from old growth to well-managed timberlands, a tradition of low-impact recreational uses and thoughtful public access, a history of private conservation-minded ownership, linkage with other conservation lands, and value to the viewshed of Squam Lake.

Berry explained that the Squam Range is of particular ecological significance because of its location at the intersection of three ecoregions—the White Mountains to the north, the New Hampshire-Vermont Uplands to the west, and the Coastal Plain-Sebago Hills to the east and south.  It thus serves as a biological meeting ground of the diverse plant and animal species of these regions.

Berry noted that the families with significant land holdings in the Squam Range have an extraordinary record of “private” conservation of these lands.  He explained that the LRCT’s conservation easement builds on this conservation tradition by ensuring permanent legal protection of these Squam Range lands for the benefit and appreciation of generations to come.  This has long been an aspiration for the Squam community and is of critical importance to preserving the natural character and ecological values of the Squam Watershed and the Lakes Region as a whole.

LRCT President Berry said that the LRCT greatly appreciates the very generous support for the Squam Range conservation easement project that it has received from members of the Squam community and from the LRCT’s conservation organization colleagues, the Squam Lakes Conservation Society (SLCS) and the Squam Lakes Association (SLA).  Berry said that completion of the LRCT’s Squam Range conservation easement, as well as other land conservation projects in the Squam Watershed that have been accomplished by LRCT, SLCS, and SLA, serve as a foundation for future significant land conservation opportunities in the Squam Range.

For information about the Lakes Region Conservation Trust or supporting the LRCT’s land conservation projects, please contact the LRCT by phone at 603-279-3246 or email at lrct@metrocast.net or visit the LRCT’s website at www.lrct.org.