With local landowners and our project partners, Bear-Paw has helped protect over 2,300 acres in our region and we hold easements on sixteen properties covering almost 1,200 acres.  Bear-Paw holds the conservation easements that permanently protect the 17 properties listed below.

The following table summarizes the properties for which Bear-Paw holds conservation easements. Most of these properties remain in private ownership and public access is at the discretion of the landowners. Brief descriptions of the properties follow.

Name	Town	Public Access Provision		Acreage
Anderson	Strafford			30
Auger	Strafford			96
Bacon	Nottingham	Yes		50
Bock	Nottingham			16
Brownell	Strafford			47
Clifford	Deerfield	Yes		82
Colwell	Strafford			150
Comte	Nottingham	Yes		132
Cramer	Raymond			158
Cruikshank	Deerfield			26
Cumings	Deerfield			17
Doane / Schorr	Deerfield			70
Lindsey	Candia			30
Rooney	Strafford/Northwood			28
Rosenfield/Mallette	Deerfield/Nottingham	Yes		85
Williams	Deerfield			87
Willoughby	Deerfield			28
Total				1,135

Anderson Easement (30 acres) - In 2006, Harmony Anderson was one of two Strafford residents who protected their properties by donating conservation easements to Bear-Paw. Harmony and Betty Rooney live at opposite ends of the town but both wished to ensure that their wooded acres would remain as undeveloped plant and wildlife habitat and productive forest lands.

Harmony Anderson protected her 30-acre tree farm on Route 202A beyond the Mohawk River. Through the easement, more than 1,250 feet of road frontage will remain undeveloped. The property lies at the beginning of a large unfragmented tract of woodland between Second Crown Point Road and Route 126. Harmony hopes that her neighbors will consider conservation options and help create a corridor of protected land linking them to the Blue Hills Foundation lands further to the west.

Conservation funds from Strafford and grants secured by Bear-Paw from the New Hampshire Estuaries Project covered the transaction costs of setting up this donated easement. Bear-Paw thanks Harmony and the Town for adding to the region’s protected resources.

Auger Easement (96 acres)

Bacon Easement (50 acres)

A pile of house-sized boulders that rival the ones in nearby Pawtuckaway StatePark, an ancient white oak that lords it over a thriving younger forest, and a half dozen or more vernal pools are among the special features that were protected by the easement on April Bacon's 50-acre Nottingham property. This parcel has enormous development potential with its 860 feet of frontage on Route 156, but April agreed to give up the right to develop it for only $20,000 (a "bargain" sale). The Town agreed to pay this amount as well as the transaction costs associated with the project. The Town also holds an executory interest in the easement. The public may enjoy the passive use of her woods for non-motorized activities such as hiking, bird watching, or educational field trips.

Bock Easement (16 acres)

This historic farm and forestland on Nielson Road in Nottingham comprises an organic farm and a rich mix of natural resources including valuable wildlife habitat. The generous donation of a conservation easement on 16.3 acres by Dina and Peter Bock protects wetlands and prime farmland soils, as well as traditional agricultural and forestry uses. It also saves scenic values by protecting over 380 feet of undeveloped road frontage and the summit of Cooper Hill, one of the highest hills in Nottingham.

Brownell Easement (47 acres)

Clifford Easement (82 acres)

Colwell Easement (150 acres)

Comte Easement (132 acres)

The Comte property is also located on Cooper Hill, one of the highest points in Nottingham, and it abuts the Bock Easement. There are 15 acres of fields that have prime farmland soils and are home to bobolinks, a species of concern in the state, plus bluebirds, indigo buntings and a variety of more common species. The remaining upland portions of the property are entirely wooded. The forest land, a certified Tree Farm since 1984, had been very well managed by previous owners, and Dan and Susan Comte, the current landowners, have continued this forest stewardship. The forest today is an excellent example of what can be done to improve woodlands that, in this case, had two liquidation timber harvests since 1920. One of the more interesting and unique aspects of this property is a five-acre black gum dominated wetland. Staff from the USDA Forest Service Laboratory in Durham extracted tree ring samples from three of these trees and found them to be over 500 years old. Bear-Paw, the Town of Nottingham, the New Hampshire Estuaries Project, and the William P. Wharton Trust partnered with the Comte's to protect the property with a conservation easement completed in 2005. The Comte's generously sold the development rights at a significant discount from their appraised value. The public may enjoy the passive use of the woods on this property for non-motorized activities such as hiking, bird watching, or educational field trips.

Cramer Easement (158 acres)

Cody Cramer and Katherine Evans generously donated two conservation easements to protect approximately 168 acres of land on Ham Road in Raymond. The easements protect valuable fields, forest, and wildlife habitat. The acreage under this easement greatly expands and enhances an area of approximately 93 acres of protected land adjacent to the property.

Cruikshank Easement (26 acres) - Steve Cruikshank Memorial Conservation Easement Closes a Gap
By Al Jaeger

As Steve and Irene Cruikshank grew up in coastal Rockingham County, they saw the disappearance of woodlots separating neighborhoods, fields for back-lot baseball, and other wild and semi-wild places. So when Steve and Irene bought their land in Deerfield in 1989, they always planned to place it under permanent protection. Steve was a carpenter and Irene assisted as they built their fine handmade post and beam house, brick hearth for the wood stove, and solar disc and batteries for electricity. The lands abutting three sides, altogether six private woodlots totaling almost 400 acres, comprise the Great Brook Corridor protected with conservation easements.

Steve and Irene's land was the "missing tooth" for the brook, for protection and movement of wildlife, and for a four-mile footpath open to the public from HarveyRoad to Coffeetown Road. Two brooks from the western boundary of the Cruikshank land flow down to GreatBrook. One of them passes through mature mixed hardwoods and over stones and roots creating small ledgy waterfalls. It drops into a black pool surrounding a mossy boulder where Irene often sits thinking of Steve who died 3 ½ years ago at 51, still full of dreams. Both streams create sunny marshes as they enter Great Brook creating an isolated paradise of cattails, red-winged blackbirds and dragonflies now completely surrounded by protected land.

Stunning granite outcrops cross the land in east-west ridges sheltering the two little streams and forcing dramatic turns of Great Brook as it emerges from forest to wide marshes. One outcrop looms 90 feet above the south bank of one of the streams.

Irene owns 30 acres of extra-ordinary land. Her home is at the southern tip and her donated conservation easement on the remaining 26.4 acres to be held by Bear-Paw, is no longer "the missing tooth" in the Great Brook Corridor. The Town of Deerfield will contribute $3,500 to the transaction costs associated with the project and will hold an executory interest in the easement. Irene says, "Steve loved wild places. For recreation he always went to somewhere as untouched as possible. Protecting our own wild and natural land is a perfect tribute to his memory."

Doane/Schorr Easement (70 acres)

This 70 acre property includes several acres of garden, field, and orchard land which Greg Doane and Wendy Schorr manage organically. Most of the land is forested and has been well cared for over the years. The property also has wetlands, including interesting basin swamps. This easement has added value because it abuts 89 protected acres protected by Kay Williams. Both properties lie at the watershed divide between the Lamprey River/ Great Bay Watershed and the Suncook/Merrimack River Watershed. Wendy and Greg generously donated the easement to Bear-Paw. The Town of Deerfield contributed to the transaction costs associated with the project and holds an executory interest in the easement.

Lindsey Easement (30 acres)

This 30 acre property in Candia was protected by a conservation easement generously donated by Judi and James Lindsey in August 2003. The parcel is important in many ways: it contains a beaver pond, provides scenic enjoyment for the general public with its 500 feet of undeveloped road frontage on North Road, preserves open space in accordance with Candia's Master Plan goals, and enhances and expands the wildlife habitat in nearby Bear Brook State Park. The Lindsey's worked with Bear-Paw and the Candia Conservation Commission to complete this easement.

A vernal pool on Betty Rooney's property provides a safe nursery for a variety of salamanders and frogs.

Rooney Easement (28 acres) - In 2006, Betty Rooney was one of two Strafford residents who protected their properties by donating conservation easements to Bear-Paw. Betty and Harmony Anderson live at opposite ends of the town but both wished to ensure that their wooded acres would remain as undeveloped plant and wildlife habitat and productive forest lands.

Betty Rooney's 35-acre tract lies across the Strafford/Northwood town line off Route 202A, and stretches down toward the Acorn Ponds Conservation Area, considered by NH Fish and Game Department to be among the most significant wildlife habitat resources in the state. Betty’s easement on nearly 30 acres includes a section of Hall Brook with an active beaver dam, an area of wetland, several vernal pools and a well-managed tree farm.

Conservation funds from the Towns of Strafford and Northwood as well as a grant secured by Bear-Paw from the New Hampshire Estuaries Project covered the transaction costs of setting up this donated easement. Bear-Paw thanks Betty, her family, and the other project partners for helping to complete this project.

Rosenfield/Mallette Easement (85 acres)

Avis Rosenfield and Tim Mallette of Nottingham Road in Deerfield granted a conservation easement on 85 acres of their property through a bargain sale of development rights (i.e., sale of the rights at less than the appraised value) to Bear-Paw, the Town of Deerfield, and the Town of Nottingham. This land abuts the north side of Pawtuckaway State Park and lies a short distance from the protected land of neighbors Jack and Susie Sherburne. In addition to the vital connectivity value of the Rosenfield-Mallette easement, this exceptional property has several acres of very productive field land and managed forest land and it provides a prime view of North Pawtuckaway Mountain from a town road. Its high elevation portion supports an uncommon natural community with acidic summit rock outcrops and their associated plant and animal species. The south facing ledges provide important habitat for wildlife, which take advantage of the solar exposure. The public may enjoy the passive use of her woods for non-motorized activities such as hiking, bird watching, or educational field trips.

Williams Easement (87 acres)

This 100-acre property on North Road in Deerfield faces northerly toward Pleasant Pond. About twenty acres are open and hayed; the remaining property is managed forest and a registered Tree Farm. Kay Williams generously donated an easement to protect 89 acres of the property. The easement is held by the Town of Deerfield with Bear-Paw as an executory interest holder.

Willoughby Easement (28 acres)

The Willoughby Property on Cilley Road in Deerfield is a well-cared for wooded parcel that abuts a large property with a conservation easement held by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. That parcel abuts Pawtuckaway State Park, making the Willoughby Conservation Easement a direct addition to this very important core conservation area in the Bear-Paw region. The easement protects 28 acres in one of the largest unfragmented blocks of land in the Bear-Paw region. Don Willoughby generously donated the easement to Bear-Paw with the Town of Deerfield holding an executory interest. The Town and the New Hampshire Estuaries Project both contributed to the transaction costs associated with the project.