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Conservation Commission
Conservation and More
by Bruce B. Beckley
Issue #38, December 9, 1997
A month in the life of the ACC
Gray is a color chosen by a committee. Committees and choirs tend to be averaging. Individual characteristics are melded by some common denominator to give the group its own personality. It’s been said that a chorus subjugates individual singer’s soloistic tendencies for the good of the group (except for operatic choruses). This observation could apply to committees and commissions. It is only slightly true of your conservation commission where we have a uniformity of purpose but soloistic ways of tackling our individual interests and objectives.
Even though the words "conservative" and "conservation" stem from the same Latin root, I wouldn’t say our efforts to conserve are conservative. Radical may be too strong a word to describe us but innovative, persistent, outreaching and challenging are apropos. To see what I mean, follow us collectively for -
A Month In The Life Of The ACC
Up on Mont Vernon Road along Caesar’s Brook a year of planning with a consulting forester is coming to fruition as our first woodlot harvest under the new forest management plan gets underway. In the woods of Joe English, trail relocations were laid out with two Eagle Scout candidates whose projects will create improved access at a new trail head.
Educational activities never cease with weekday classes and weekend efforts to have the Peabody Mill Center ready for special programs and Hartshorn camp next summer. By the way, before the Center, the former Bacon residence, can be used for education and recreation, I understand the Planning Board will have to authorize a change of use. Your support when that hearing occurs will be appreciated.
We see ourselves as an environmental conscience within the community. To that end, this regular column seems to be more promotional and even political than birds-and-bees platitudes. We were the first to object to towering erections on conservation property and regularly work with the Planning Board to propose reasonable rules for environmental protection, especially around wetlands. Our website at HTTP://www.ultranet.com/~harts/acc/candm.html is the first to be sponsored by a branch of your town government.
Preservation of open space is a vital focus for all of us. This entails time consuming land purchase negotiations, patient contacts with land owners to develop a greenway and preserve open space. We meet regularly to coordinate activities with other citizens having similar objectives. We have initiated periodic meetings with the commissions from adjoining towns to exchange ideas and strategies for land and water protection.
Design of the Souhegan Canoe Port was completed this Fall and awaits Spring for construction. And much else there is that we didn’t get to this month – grant applications, trail improvements, mapping, writing a trail brochure, more landowner contacts, and worst of all, we failed to find and enlist all the volunteer effort out there that is waiting to be asked to help.
We are a group with common goals, meeting monthly to keep and coordinate our focus while individually doing what we can do best or enjoy doing in management, enforcement, property development and habitat protection. If you enjoy any of these activities or share our goals, join us.
At Risk
Fifty scientists and policy makers recently ranked the top 50 environmental risks in New Hampshire. Five of the top ten are related to loss of forests and open space. Ten thousand NH acres a year are going into development. It takes money to save open space. This is the time of year when every college or other charity is telling you about the benefits of donations to you and the charity.
The ACC has a gift account which is controlled by the ACC. It is used for purchases, special programs and property operations. We can receive cash, land, easements and securities. If you share our goal to preserve open space and are in a position to donate, please contact the ACC treasurer, Howard Parkhurst.
The dwindling open space around us demands that we not be conservative conservationists. Three thoughts to end with:
The long fight to save wild beauty represents democracy at its best. It requires citizens to practice the hardest of virtues – self-restraint. Edwin Way Teale
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. Aldo Leopold
Peter’s Theory of Change: In spite of warnings, nothing much happens until the status quo becomes more painful than change. Laurence J. Peter
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