World Fellowship Center – Whitton Pond & Chocorua Birches Easement

Conservation Easement

Public Access
Trails

June 3, 2020

In June 2020 the World Fellowship Center (WFC) granted three separate conservation easements to the Upper Saco Valley Land Trust in order to permanently protect nearly 400 acres of its campus and shorefront on Whitton Pond.  With these three new easements in place, all but one property that directly fronts onto the 167-acre undeveloped Whitton Pond will be permanently conserved.

The Whitton Pond & Chocorua Birches Easement permanently protects natural resources including, but not limited to:

• 1,264 feet of Whitton Pond’s shoreline
• 1,725 feet of Back Pond’s shoreline
• 70 acres of the Highest Ranked Habitat in the state
• 17 acres of wetlands, including such as emergent marsh, peatlands, and forested-shrub swamps, intermittent streams, 4 wetland-pond complexes, and 2 or more vernal pools.
• 223 acres of habitat that is ranked as the highest in the state, as highest in the region, or as supporting habitat.
• 250.29 acres of productive forest soils
• Nesting sites for the Common Loon, a continuous breeding resident of Whitton Pond for 100+ years – one of the longest occupied sites in the state.

 

The World Fellowship Center has been an exemplary steward of these lands for the past 77 years. If the Whitton Pond & Chocorua Birches property should ever change hands, the easement held by USVLT will ensure that the natural resources of these lands are preserved forever.

 

Funding for this project was provided by:

• The NH Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP)
• The NH State Conservation Commission Moose Plate Grant
• The NH Aquatic Resource Mitigation Program
• The William P. Wharton Trust
• The Davis Conservation Fund 
• Donor-advised funds of the NH Charitable Foundation
• An anonymous family foundation
• The New Hampshire Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund
• And many generous community members

 

 

Access caution: The trails at the WFC campus are on private property, and certain trails may lead to areas that are not publicly accessible. Please respect all posted signage and private lands. Please also note that there is no public trailhead or public parking on site.

 

Directions

From downtown Conway, head west on NH-16 S/Main Street for 4.4 miles. Turn left onto Drake Hill Road and proceed for 2.1 miles.

 

 

State(s): NH
Town(s): albany
Acres: 330
Town Tax Map: 5, Lot: 15, 16, 17, 18, 25
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