The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (SPNHF) is a private, non-profit, land

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

and

sustainable forestry Sustainable forest management (SFM) is the management of forests according to the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable forest management has to keep the balance between three main pillars: ecological, economic and socio-cultural. ...

organization based in the U.S. state of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. It purchases or is given

easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...

s on property, or obtains outright ownership, as a way to conserve land for wildlife, recreation, sustainable forestry and

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

. It also performs advocacy and education services. It was established in February 1901, with Frank W. Rollins as its first president. Philip W. Ayres was appointed the first Forester. During the 1920s, the SPNHF raised over $100,000 towards the purchase of land in

Franconia Notch Franconia Notch (elev. ) is a major mountain pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Dominated by Cannon Mountain to the west and Mount Lafayette to the east, it lies principally within Franconia Notch State Park and is traversed by ...

. As of 2017, the society owns more than 180 properties covering , including Rocks Estate and Bretzfelder Memorial Park. It also holds conservation easements on more than 700 pieces of property covering , and has land transferred with deed restrictions on 94 properties, covering . Among other properties it owns are the

Lost River Reservation The Lost River Reservation (also known as the Lost River Gorge & Boulder Caves) is a protected area with a series of caves along a gorge in the White Mountains (New Hampshire), White Mountains in Woodstock, New Hampshire, Woodstock, New Hampsh ...

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

, and the

Mount Monadnock Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is a mountain in the towns of Jaffrey and Dublin, New Hampshire. It is the most prominent mountain peak in southern New Hampshire and is the highest point in Cheshire County. It lies southwest of Concord a ...

Reservation, in Jaffrey and

Dublin, New Hampshire Dublin is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,532 at the 2020 census. It is home to Dublin School and ''Yankee'' magazine. History In 1749, the Masonian proprietors granted the town as "Monadnock No. ...

. In addition to holding easements, SPNHF acts as a resource for landowners and other, smaller conservation

land trust Land trusts are nonprofit organizations which own and manage land, and sometimes waters. There are three common types of land trust, distinguished from one another by the ways in which they are legally structured and by the purposes for which th ...

s. Staff make presentations and host seminars for the public and other local land trusts. One of its larger events is an annual "Saving Special Places" workshop. Members of the public, town conservation commissions and land trusts attend seminars presenting information ranging from

tax law Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...

s and

conservation easement In the United States, a conservation easement (also called conservation covenant, conservation restriction or conservation servitude) is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation organization (often called a "land trust") or gove ...

creation to fundraising techniques and marketing a land trust. From its inception, it has produced occasional publications for guidance and information, such as ''A New Hampshire Everlasting and Unfallen'' (1969) and ''At What Cost? Shaping the Land We Call New Hampshire: A Land Use History'', edited by Richard Ober (1991). In contrast with other environmental groups that seek the preservation of the environment through advocating government management and regulation, the SPNHF seeks to assist and incentivize private landowners in preserving New Hampshire forest land for future posterity. The SPNHF specializes in land acquisitions and conservation easements, instead of government management of the land, and assists landowners in land conservation, protecting their property, environmental tax strategies, and fostering open space protection in their community.

References

External links

Official site of the Forest SocietyCenter for Land Conservation AssistanceWoodland StewardsFive Rivers Conservation Trust
{{Authority control Natural history of New Hampshire Nature conservation organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 1901 Non-profit organizations based in New Hampshire Forests of New Hampshire