Dual grants fuel fresh hopes for purchase of 185 acres of city conservation land

Once the fundraising goal is met, the Forest Society will be working on a management plan for the property and hope to complete the acquisition by the summer of 2022. (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is working to conserve 122 acres adjacent to the 185-acre William H. Champlin Jr. Forest in Rochester.

Announcements this week of grant awards from the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program and the Aquatic Resource Mitigation Fund of the Department of Environmental Services now bring the Forest Society within $10,000 of securing the funds needed to purchase, protect and manage the property.

LCHIP, which is celebrating its 20th round of grants this year, announced an award of $115,000 toward the acquisition and the ARM Program recently voted to award the project $110,000.

These grant awards build on commitments and contributions already made by the Rochester Conservation Commission, and more than 250 individual donations to the Forest Society in support of the project from community members in Rochester, Dover, Somersworth and beyond.

"I am excited to see Rochester expand its conservation efforts and continue to protect the city's natural resources," said Mike Dionne, chair of the Rochester Conservation Commission. "The project strengthens local ecosystems and provides a place for people of Rochester and the surrounding communities to enjoy." City planner, Ryan O'Connor adds, "Rochester is thankful for the partnership with the Forest Society and other supporters in the Champlin Forest project. These types of efforts protect natural resources that help build a resilient, healthy community."

The 185-acre William H. Champlin, Jr. Forest was donated to the Forest Society in 2006 by Virginia Spaulding Champlin in honor of her late husband. At the time, the Champlins donated additional land to another local nonprofit, Homemakers Health Services, now a part of Easterseals of New Hampshire. The Forest Society now will be able to reunite the two properties by purchasing 122 acres from Easterseals, thus creating a 307-acre reservation that includes forestland, wetlands, and the height of land on Gonic Hill.

"The ARM Fund is delighted to support the Forest Society's effort to expand the Champlin Forest," states Lori Sommer, wetlands mitigation coordinator with the NH Department of Environmental Services, Water Division. "The property is a wonderful community resource and will also protect high-value aquatic resources, including forested and shrub-scrub wetlands, as well as their upland buffers. This project builds upon existing local landscape connectivity efforts and has significant wildlife habitat benefits."

"We knew we had to jump on the opportunity to expand an existing conservation area and protect water quality in this highly-developed region of the state," says Jack Savage, president of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. "But the enthusiastic support of the community, led by the Rochester Conservation Commission and local residents, and now reinforced by these two important state grants, is a wonderful demonstration of the value of accessible conservation land that is also close to home for many."

"LCHIP is always pleased to assist with a project that has such substantial local support," states Dijit Taylor, executive director for the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program. "The William H. Champlin Jr. Forest is already a great community resource: it will be enhanced by the addition of 122 acres. The property provides increased recreation opportunities for residents of the cities of Somersworth and Rochester and nearby towns. This is especially important as the pandemic has heightened public interest in local hiking opportunities. The presence of remnants of a small-scale grant quarry from the mid-1800s when stones were drilled and cut by hand, is an unusual and interesting feature."

Once the fundraising goal is met, the Forest Society will be working on a management plan for the property and hope to complete the acquisition by the summer of 2022.