At last night’s Hanover Town Meeting, residents voted to approve a $500,000 contribution towards the purchase of the Mink Brook Community Forest from reserve and conservation funds held by the Town. From the Valley News, “Plans to turn 260 acres of woods and old farmland along both sides of Greensboro Road into a town forest also were OK’d on Tuesday. Residents voted by a show of hands to spend $500,000 to help purchase land which crosses Mink Brook and includes a brick farmhouse from 1850. The Trust for Public Land, assisted by the Hanover Conservancy, hopes to spend $2.5 million acquiring the property from the Leavitt family. So far, an anonymous donor has footed $500,000 to help the project, which also received a $600,000 community forest program grant from the U.S. Forest Service. None of the town’s share will come from new taxes, and will instead be taken from existing reserve and conservation funds. Officials also hope to sell the property’s farmhouse to help finance the overall project, and a separate four acres could be used by Twin Pines Housing Trust to build “a small cluster of affordable cottage-style homes targeted to new homeowners,” according to an April news release.”
Mink Brook Community Forest meeting now on our YouTube channel!
NEW! Watch the May 27th, 2020 recording of a Zoom informational meeting on the Mink Brook Community Forest project. The call was led by JT Horn, Senior Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land and Rob Houseman, Planning Director for the Town of Hanover.
Hanover Trail Maps available at Town Offices
In a message sent by the Town on 5/28/2020: Back by popular demand, the 2013 Hanover Trail Map has been re-printed and is available for purchase at the Town Offices, 41 South Main Street.
The price will vary depending upon your method of payment and whether you would like the map mailed to you.
If you come to the Town Offices, the map costs:
$7 if you pay by check; or
$8.50 if you pay using a credit card.
If you would like a map mailed to you, the map plus postage costs:
$8 if you pay by check; or
$9.50 if you pay using a credit card.
The map is also available on the Town website (for free) https://www.hanovernh.org/
Get out and enjoy our wonderful trail system!
Vicki Smith
Senior Planner
Planning and Zoning Department
PO Box 483
41 South Main Street
Hanover, NH 03755
603-640-3214
Quinn Trail at Mink Brook CLOSED May 18th-21st
The Quinn Trail at Mink Brook will be closed approximately 1300 feet East of Brook Road for emergency repairs between May 18th and 21st. The trail runs along a Town sewer right-of-way, and erosion from recent flooding requires a significant amount of work. After repairs are finished, we will coordinate with the Town on ways to prevent future erosion, including planting riparian plants along the bank. Wherever possible, the Hanover Conservancy strongly believes streams and rivers should be allowed freely, and we work to include the entire floodplain of a conserved area when feasible. We are very grateful to Hanover DPW for managing the situation at Mink Brook so that the sewer line isn’t impacted!
Regular visitors to the preserve have watched the brook working to shift its course just below the log crossing, ever since Tropical Storm Irene rearranged things upstream back in 2011. What the brook doesn’t know is that the sewer line is buried here, right under the Quinn Trail, and needs to stay that way! Felling and cabling a large nearby pine in hopes of capturing sediment and diverting the flow were a great idea but apparently not up to the task. Therefore, the town DPW will perform temporary, emergency repairs next week that will involve stone at the base of the eroded bank. Next year, a fuller treatment will take place, hopefully restoring the vegetative buffer in the process to improve habitat. We’ll keep you posted.
Please give the Quinn Trail a break May 18-21, but feel free to observe the work from the safety of the Wheelock Trail on the opposite bank. You can reach this spot from Route 10 just south of the bridge, or from Buck Road. We know the town will take all precautions to be sure the project affects water quality as little as possible.
GOOD NEWS FOR GREENSBORO!
We all know that broad and beautiful meadow on Greensboro Road – a generous open space that is such a welcome sight in days like these. The Hanover Conservancy is proud to partner with the Town of Hanover and the Trust for Public Land in a major project to protect these 250 acres of floodplain meadow, upland forest, and the corridor of Mink Brook, to be called the Mink Brook Community Forest. MORE
Hot off the press!
We’re excited to be featured in the fall issue of Here in Hanover magazine! Pick up your copy around town or share the article with friends online.
