Contact: Charles Knox, Executive Director
Five Rivers Conservation Trust
(603) 225-7225 or director@5rct.org
May 1, 2008

Five Rivers Conservation Trust Annual Meeting, May 17 in Gilmanton

Concord, NH -  Five Rivers Conservation Trust will be holding its 2008 annual meeting on Saturday, May 17th from 9:30 to noon at Gilmanton Academy in Gilmanton, NH, a community that witnessed a number of special Five Rivers conservation projects over the last year.  The Academy, where the town offices are located, is at the corner of Routes 140 and 107.

The event will begin with morning refreshments at 9:30, followed by the annual business meeting discussing Five Rivers’ recent and upcoming land protection projects.   A highlight of this year’s gathering will be a guest presentation by noted conservation biologist Chris Schadler.  She will share fascinating information on the eastern coyote and its place in our changing New Hampshire landscape.  She’ll also discuss the return of the wolf to New England.  Following the meeting, attendees will be able to explore the special Gilmanton properties now permanently protected by Five Rivers conservation easements, including one next door to the Academy that has a scenic beaver pond with abundant wildlife.

Based in Concord, Five Rivers Conservation Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting open space across New Hampshire’s capital region.  Created in 1988, Five Rivers now holds conservation easements on over thirty properties…working farms, scenic fields, stately forests, wildlife-rich wetlands, and other special landscapes that have now been preserved for future generations.

For those who would like to know more about Five Rivers Conservation Trust
or who would like to attend the annual meeting on May 17th, please call 225-7225,
email director@5rct.org, or visit Five Rivers’ web site at www.5rct.org.  All are welcome.

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Scenic Nature Trail to Open in Hopkinton
Dedication Ceremony Scheduled for Saturday, October 20

Five Rivers Conservation Trust will be dedicating a special nature trail on its 73-acre Sweatt Property on Old Stagecoach Road in Hopkinton on October 20th at 10 AM.  The public is invited to attend this opening ceremony and walk the scenic two-mile path which features forest glades, hidden brooks, and special wildlife habitat.  For more information, including directions, please call the Trust at 225-7225.

Based in Concord, Five Rivers Conservation Trust is a nonprofit organization that protects open space in New Hampshire’s capital region.  Serving sixteen Concord area communities, Five Rivers has conserved over 1,300 acres on twenty five properties, including working farms, stately forests, scenic fields, and rich wetlands habitat.  People can learn more about the Trust, as well as how to become a member, by visiting www.5rct.org. 

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Five Rivers Conservation Trust Holding Annual Meeting
at Concord’s Carter Hill Orchard on May 12th

Concord, NH -  Five Rivers Conservation Trust will be holding its 2007 annual meeting on Saturday, May 12th from 9:00 to noon at Carter Hill Orchard in Concord.  Located on Carter Hill Road in west Concord, the orchard is a productive and scenic working farm that was permanently protected several years ago through a conservation easement with Five Rivers Conservation Trust. 

The event will begin with morning refreshments at 9:00, followed by the annual business meeting discussing Five Rivers’ recent and upcoming land protection projects.   A highlight of this year’s gathering will be a guest presentation by Thomas Burack, Commissioner of the N. H. Department of Environmental Services.  Mr. Burack will talk about land conservation and other important environmental protection matters in New Hampshire.   Following the meeting and presentation, attendees will be able to explore the orchard with its magnificent views of the White Mountains and its delightful walking trail.

Based in Concord, Five Rivers Conservation Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting open space throughout a fifteen-community region across central New Hampshire.  Created in 1988, Five Rivers now holds conservation easements on over twenty properties…special fields, forests, wetlands, and other valued landscapes that have now been preserved for future generations.  Last year for example, conservation easements were established on Dimond Hill Farm in Concord, three special properties in Hopkinton, and a farm and forest in Gilmanton.  Currently, Five Rivers is working with a number of landowners on other conservation projects throughout the greater Concord area.

For those who would like to know more about Five Rivers Conservation Trust
or who would like to attend the annual meeting on May 12th, please call 225-7225,
email director@5rct.org, or visit Five Rivers’ web site at www.5rct.org.

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September 8, 2006

Grant Received by Local Conservation Organization

Five Rivers Conservation Trust was recently awarded a $2,500 general operations grant from The Cricket Foundation, a philanthropic funder based in Boston. Five Rivers is a nonprofit land protection organization with headquarters in Concord that serves the central New Hampshire region. The Cricket Foundation provides grants for land conservation activities across New England.

“We feel very fortunate to have received this support,” said Chuck Knox, Five Rivers’ executive director. “The Cricket Foundation’s generous funding will be used to continue Five Rivers’ on-going efforts to permanently protect open space in the heartland region of New Hampshire - its fields, forests, farms, wetlands, and other special places.”

Knox noted that Five Rivers Conservation Trust focuses on the landscape drained by the Merrimack, Contoocook, Blackwater, Warner, and Soucook Rivers, a region stretching across fifteen New Hampshire communities. “Working with landowners, town officials, and others, the Trust has now protected over 1,000 acres of valuable landscapes, primarily through conservation easements.” He noted that most recently, in collaboration with others, Five Rivers secured conservation easements protecting Dimond Hill Farm in Concord, a remarkable agricultural operation that will now always remain as a working farm. Also, working with Town of Hopkinton officials, Five Rivers is now serving as the conservation easement holder for two town-owned lands that were purchased as part of the town’s open space preservation program.

“Over twenty properties in the greater Concord area have now been protected by Five Rivers,” said Knox, “and The Cricket Foundation’s funding will go a long way toward helping us ensure that key tracts of open space land and natural areas continue to grace our state’s landscape.”

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August 30, 2006

Two Hopkinton Properties Conserved

Hopkinton, NH --- Five Rivers Conservation Trust announced the signing of two conservation easements in Hopkinton this summer. One easement is for the Carson Property, a 34-acre woodland parcel on Farrington Corner Road, and the other is for a larger piece of upland known as the Bermuda/Harris Property, a 111-acre parcel on Bound Tree Road. The Town of Hopkinton is the owner of the parcels, both of which were acquired this past year through the town’s bond-funded open space protection program.

“We’re extremely pleased to have been asked by town officials to serve as the easement holder for these two properties,” said Five Rivers’ executive director Chuck Knox. “Each has special ecological and recreational attributes, and placing them under conservation easements will ensure that they will now be preserved over the long term.”

Headquartered in Concord, Five Rivers Conservation Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping protect special lands throughout the central New Hampshire region. With these two conservation easements, Five Rivers has now protected more than twenty properties covering over 1,000 acres of open space - forests, farms, wetlands, wildlife habitat, and other special landscapes.

Knox noted that conservation easements are legal instruments that run with a property’s deed. “They serve to permanently prevent future development while still allowing for sound forestry and other uses by property owners.” He praised Hopkinton’s open space committee and its conservation commission for their work and dedication toward ensuring that these landscapes remain in their natural state.

Hopkinton selectman Don Lane added that both of these properties will serve to benefit the town. “Not only do they ensure that critical open space will be maintained, something that a great majority of townspeople voted to support, but these attractive natural areas will also be made available for enjoyment by the public.”

Lane noted that the Bermuda/Harris Property, which straddles the Hopkinton-Warner town line, is particularly well suited for recreational trails that will allow public access to some wonderful natural features. Mature stands of hemlock, pine, and hardwoods, as well as a large black gum tree rare to this northern environment, are just a few of the property’s attributes. Also, in addition to a delightful brook, once used in the 1700s to power a small, long-since-disappeared mill, the forested landscape is graced by a remote, hidden, beaver pond. Along with a number of surrounding vernal pools, this isolated wetland, as well as the rest of the forestland, is frequented by deer, turkeys, hawks, songbirds, and other wildlife. The Bermuda/Harris Property also exhibits some interesting glacial formations, as well as old cellar holes and other legacies from a bygone era.

The Carson Property, a former pasture, has extensive forest stands as well, notably red oak, hemlock, and other species. A small brook courses its way across an undulating terrain. The property is located next to New Hampshire Audubon’s Brockway Nature Preserve, a parcel with some delightful walking trails. The newly-protected Carson Property creates an additional forest buffer around that preserve. In short, this town land, now protected under a Five Rivers conservation easement, is serving to expand the conserved acreage in this part of Hopkinton while enhancing the experience for those who enjoy the nearby Audubon preserve.

“As we’re all aware, open space is becoming an increasingly precious resource throughout our region,” said Knox, “and conserving these two Hopkinton lands well illustrates the long-term vision held by town residents seeking to maintain key natural landscapes for future generations.”


March 23, 2006
Land Conservation Project Completed in Hopkinton
Sheep Fields and Forestlands Preserved, Complementing Adjacent Wildlife Preserve

Concord, NH - A special 24-acre parcel of open space land was recently protected in the town of Hopkinton. Consisting of an even mix of fields and forestland, the Jewett Road property was owned by long-time resident Hope Butterworth who donated a conservation easement in order to protect its unique landscape for future generations. Five Rivers Conservation Trust, a Concord-based nonprofit that operates throughout the central New Hampshire region, is serving as the easement holder.

“Property owners who wish to permanently protect their special landscape can do so through a variety of conservation options,” noted Five Rivers’ Executive Director Chuck Knox. He explained that in this case the property owner, Hope Butterworth, chose to create a conservation easement. “This is a legal instrument, in essence a permanent deed restriction that prohibits future development of a property while still allowing for its continued agricultural and forestry use by the owner. Under this arrangement, if property ownership changes hands, the easement remains with the land, from owner to owner, thus ensuring that it will always remain as conserved open space.”

Knox explained that Five Rivers trustee Peter Helm worked closely with Mrs. Butterworth over the past year to fashion a conservation arrangement that met all of her needs for ensuring that the property received the long-term protection that she wanted. Helm praised Butterworth for her thoughtful and generous donation. “Hope’s vision is truly admirable,” said Helm. “The property is a remarkable piece of New Hampshire countryside. It is graced by a beautiful field, and it also has a forest of magnificent white pines as well as a mix of stately ash, oak, and beech trees throughout.” Helm added that a small stream courses through the middle of the wooded portion, and nearby hemlocks provide cover for deer and other wildlife.

One of the property’s special attributes is that it abuts a wildlife sanctuary owned by New Hampshire Audubon. “The Butterworth easement land shares almost 1,600 feet of common boundary with the Chase Sanctuary,” noted Helm. “This parcel therefore enhances a large block of open space that, collectively, now consists of over 785 acres!”

Helm observed that the Butterworth land recently came under the new ownership of farmers who live next door, Ken and Cindi Hayden. In 2005 the Hayden’s worked with Hope to acquire her adjacent land, and they enthusiastically embraced the property being placed under a conservation easement. Today, this spread of permanent open space is part of the Hayden’s Contoocook Valley Farm.

“The mainstay of the farm is sheep dog training,” said Helm, “but the farm also supports a growing number of sheep, horses, cows, llamas, and other animals.” Helm noted that it is the Haydens’ wish to use their farm for educating residents and school kids about the history of sheep in New Hampshire and the products that can be derived from local farms.

“Thanks to the dreams and generosity of Hope Butterworth as well as the wholehearted support of the Haydens, this acreage will now remain in agricultural and forest use, a conserved piece of New Hampshire’s rural heritage that benefits us all.”


For more information on land stewardship opportunities in New Hampshire, people may contact Five Rivers Conservation Trust at 225-7225 or visit Five Rivers’ headquarters at 54 Portsmouth Street in Concord.


February 15, 2006
New Director Takes the Helm at Five Rivers Conservation Trust

Concord, NH - Five Rivers Conservation Trust, a growing New Hampshire land protection organization headquartered in Concord, recently took another step toward expanding its conservation capacity by hiring a new executive director, Chuck Knox.

Noting that he feels honored to be tapped to help guide Five Rivers, Chuck brings to the directorship post a diverse background in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. His experience includes being an environmental science teacher, a land agent for a natural resources firm, and a program coordinator for the N.H. Department of Environmental Services. Also, for the past several years he has been serving as the executive director of a New Hampshire-based watershed council.

Chuck’s studies include a bachelors degree from Northwestern University and masters degrees in environmental education and natural resources management from the University of Maine and the University of New Hampshire.

Knox noted that Five Rivers Conservation Trust is a nonprofit group dedicated to serving the land protection needs of the state’s heartland region, an area of central New Hampshire drained by the Merrimack, Contoocook, Blackwater, Soucook, and Warner Rivers. “Open space is becoming an increasingly precious resource across this region,” commented Knox. “Through a variety of conservation methods, Five Rivers is playing a key role in helping those who wish to set aside their special properties for future generations.”

For more information on Five Rivers Conservation Trust, people are encouraged to call 225-7225.