Moose Mountains Regional Greenways Conserves 100+ Acres in Brookfield and Wakefield

Wakefield, NH — Moose Mountains Regional Greenways recently conserved a reclaimed gravel pit on 103-acres that straddle the towns of Brookfield and Wakefield. The land overlays a stratified drift aquifer and the source water protection area surrounding two wellheads. These wells supply drinking water to approximately 1,500 Wakefield residents, businesses, churches, municipal buildings and the Paul School. The aquifer also overlies the groundwater supplying the private wells of many Brookfield residents.

The conservation of this critical water resource came about through a creative collaboration between Moose Mountains Regional Greenways, the Town of Wakefield, a private foundation, the NH Department of Environmental Services, a local land trust, and some good neighbors.

Last year Moose Mountains Regional Greenways purchased the property for $335,000 from the former owner, holding it in trust until full financing could be arranged. A private donor contributed nearly $41,600 toward an easement on the Brookfield portion, while the Town of Wakefield stepped up with $90,050 toward a conservation easement on the Wakefield side.

“By conserving this land, the town was able to ensure that we would have an option for locating a new public well on this site in the future,” said former Wakefield Select Board Chairman Paul Morrill.

A NH Department of Environmental Services Land Grant paid for the remaining value of the conservation easement. The grant program provides funding for the acquisition of land or conservation easements to protect community drinking water supplies. New Hampshire municipalities and non-profit 501(c)3 organizations are eligible to apply. The subject property must be located within the Source Water Protection Area for a proposed or existing water supply.

A stratified drift aquifer is a layered deposit of gravel, sand and silt capable of yielding usable quantities of groundwater. Many aquifers across the state are threatened by contamination from man-made or other pollutants. Managing the land use above these critical groundwater water supply areas helps protect aquifers from pollution. A conservation easement ensures that the property will remain undeveloped, while still allowing for passive recreation, agriculture and forestry.

A conservation easement is a legal agreement between a landowner and a conservation organization. The Town of Wakefield will hold the conservation easement on this property in partnership with Strafford Rivers Conservancy. The town and the land trust will work together to ensure that the land above these drinking water resources remains in its natural state.

With an easement in place, the encumbered land owned by Moose Mountains Regional Greenways had an appraised value of $80,000.

“Moose Mountains Regional Greenways never intended to retain ownership of the property,” said the organization’s Executive Director Joyce El Kouarti, who managed the project. “Now we were challenged to find a new owner for a defunct gravel pit that could never be developed.”

Tom and Dulcie Lavender purchased the land for its appraised value of $80,000. Tom manages a small farm on their adjacent property, and Dulcie is an avid horsewoman. “It was a move that made sense for us,” said Tom Lavender. “It’s easy for us to keep an eye on what happens on the property. And now Dulcie and the horses will have more room to roam.”

This successful conservation outcome depended upon the cooperation of all the project partners. The Lavenders, as the new landowners, wanted to be able to clear trails and do some limited farming on the land. The private donor who helped conserve the Brookfield side wanted guaranteed public access– particularly on the existing snowmobile trail that crosses the land. The Town of Wakefield wanted the option to drill a future wellhead, while the NH DES’s primary goal was to ensure the protection of the underlying water quality. Strafford Rivers Conservancy, the land trust that will perform most of on-the-ground easement monitoring, was looking toward what use restrictions would be practical and enforceable over the long term.

“There was a lot of compromising,” said El Kouarti. “The entire process took nearly a year to work through, but at the end of the day I think we’re all satisfied with the outcome.”

El Kouarti believes that multi-partner projects like this will be the template for successful conservation outcomes going forward. She predicts that funding from government grants, private foundations, businesses and individuals will be more limited in the immediate future than in recent years, forcing project stakeholders to team up and work together.

“There’s more competition for more limited resources,” she said. “Future conservation successes will depend upon our ability to be much more creative, flexible and cooperative than ever before.”