Stewardship

Trail improvements underway on Moose Mountain

December 28, 2021

We are working with the landowners and the Town’s Trails Committee to focus use and maintenance on the best connections and close some lesser-used, duplicate trails. Volunteer-led trail work made great strides in Fall, 2021 and will resume in Spring, 2022. We’ve updated our map to show new routes and those no longer open on the central and southern part of the mountain. We hope this helps while you’re out on the trails this winter!

Download the Winter 2022 interim trail map here

Please note that these trails are maintained by volunteers. While some trails traverse lands managed by the Hanover Conservation Commission or protected by the Hanover Conservancy, many paths cross privately-owned lands that are not conserved. Please do your part to keep these trails open by respecting these generous landowners and treating their property as you would your own.

Earth Day with Hanover High School at the Mink Brook Nature Preserve

April 12, 2021

On Friday, April 23, 150 Hanover High School students and 20 teachers dug into a living Earth Day celebration at the Hanover Conservancy’s nearby Mink Brook Nature Preserve to plant 200 native trees. Environmental Club advisers Jeannie Kornfeld and Linda Addante began working with the Conservancy in early 2020 to plan such an event for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, but the pandemic had other plans. Undaunted, the remarkable Hanover High Environmental Club was back this year with a COVID-safe event, visiting the Preserve in small groups to do the planting. Forester Ehrhard Frost of Full Circle Forestry and Conservancy Program Coordinator Courtney Dragiff helped guide the students. The Conservancy has been working to restore native trees on the property ever since acquiring it in 1999, when much of it was covered with invasive plants. The students planted native silver maples and northern red oaks in a section that needs reforestation.

Students in the Environmental Club wanted to involve the school community in a project that would help offset some of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by the school, and also reverse some of the degradation in the Mink Brook Preserve caused by invasive species. The seniors are especially eager to make progress toward meeting the greenhouse gas reduction goals outlined in the HHS climate action plan before graduating this spring.

“Trees give us many gifts – clean air and water, healthy places to recreate, wildlife habitat…and carbon storage,” observes Adair Mulligan, Executive Director of the Hanover Conservancy. “Restoring trees to the landscape is the single best low-tech, low-cost pathway for storing more carbon on the land. We’re delighted to work with the students to help that happen here.”

Hanover High’s Environmental Club meets weekly and runs a school wide composting and recycling program. In 2017 the Earth Systems class, under the guidance of HHS alum Hannah Kornfeld, wrote the first Climate Action Plan of any high school in the United States. A Climate Action Plan Implementation Team (CAPIT) composed of students, teachers, administrators, and community members is working together to carry out the plan. The Club also planted a pollinator garden in 2018.

April 22 marked the 51st anniversary of the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 – and the beginning of the environmental movement that has inspired so much healthy, positive change in how we treat our home planet. Today, Earth Day is widely recognized as the largest secular observance in the world, marked by more than a billion people each year.

The Conservancy’s 112-acre Mink Brook Nature Preserve protects habitat for wild brook trout, bears, and other wildlife while offering a natural retreat and trail network within walking distance of Hanover High School and downtown. Since ancient times, this region has been the homeland of the Abenaki people, and Mosbasak Sibosis (“Mink Brook” in Abenaki) remains an important center of Indigenous life. Celebrating its 60th anniversary, the Hanover Conservancy is the oldest local land trust in New Hampshire. A private, non-profit organization whose mission is to protect land and waters in the community, its members include nearly a quarter of Hanover households and others throughout the Upper Valley and beyond.

The event was sponsored by Hanover High School’s Environmental Club, the Hanover Conservancy, Full Circle Forestry, and LindeMac Real Estate.

Plant a Tree for Earth Day

April 21, 2020

Trees give us many gifts – clean air and water, places to recreate, wildlife habitat…and carbon storage. Restoring trees to the landscape is the single best low-tech, low-cost pathway for storing more carbon on the land. A forest can store an average of 2-3 tons/acre of C0₂ each year. With just a will and a spade, we can get started pulling carbon from the air right now.

A NATURAL CARBON SINK – To prevent the most dangerous impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions must reach net zero by 2050. Capturing carbon from the air naturally – by putting trees to work – can provide significant cumulative carbon removal through 2050 and beyond.

When choosing a tree for your home landscape, consider this:

Fast growing trees store the most carbon during their first decades.
Long-lived trees can keep carbon stored for generations without releasing it in decomposition.
Native trees will thrive in these soils and best support local wildlife.
Low-maintenance, disease-resistant species will do better without greenhouse-gas-producing fertilizers and equipment.

Red Maple identification image — Red Maple

We suggest Northern Red Oak — Acorns attract wildlife and the leaves develop a brick-red fall color. Red oak is fast growing, easy to transplant, and tolerant of urban conditions (including dry and acidic soil and air pollution). Best growth is in full sun and well drained, slightly acidic, sandy loam. Northern red oak often reaches 60-90’ and occasionally 150’. Trees may live up to 500 years.

A colorful alternative for damp soils is Red Maple — the most abundant native tree in eastern North America. Known for its early brilliant fall foliage and red flowers, it is usually found in moist woodlands and wet swamps in sun or part shade. A medium-sized, fast-growing tree (2-5’/yr), its seeds and buds are eaten by birds and mammals, but it is not preferred by deer.

Work continues at Pine Park

April 16, 2019

Pine Park is Hanover’s first natural area permanently preserved as a park and today functions as the town’s “central park” for the enjoyment of walkers, joggers, skiers and many others. The park is owned by the Pine Park Association, a voluntary nonprofit that dates back to 1900, when a group of 17 local residents sought to prevent the Diamond Match Company from harvesting trees along the riverbank just north of the Ledyard Bridge.

Stay up to date and learn more about this beloved area at PinePark.org.

Emerald Ash Borer update

February 16, 2019

In face of Emerald Ash Borer invasion, NH lifts statewide quarantine, relying on homeowner efforts to slow the spread of this deadly pest.

EABs are here, and our ash trees will never be the same. Individual landowners are the best equipped to treat and save trees on private property. Throughout New England, large tracts of forest and roadways will be cleared of trees before infestation (when removal is much safer and lumber may be sold), in stages during the active infestation as budgets allow. Towns all across our region are using state resources to take inventories of ash trees within their town limits, and set priorities for removal or possible treatment. Stay informed: VT Invasives has an easy-to-navigate site, and the UNH Cooperative Extension regularly publishes information, like this blog and accompanying homeowner handout.

Thank you for your support!

November 27, 2018

With an all-time high in membership, generous land donors and growing partnerships with local schools, it’s been a record-breaking year for the Hanover Conservancy. Every gift makes a difference. Please join us as we move into our 59th year serving the Upper Valley!