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Conway, NH - Upper Saco Valley Land Trust is pleased to announce the completion of the 68-acre Arboretum Conservation Easement with long standing land conservation partner Tin Mountain Conservation Center. While the property remains owned by Tin Mountain Conservation Center, USVLT holds the conservation easement that will ensure the Arboretum and Sanctuary is preserved in perpetuity. Officially the Lori Jean Kinsey Arboretum and Sanctuary, the property is located on Bald Hill Road and Chase Hill Roads in Albany, NH. Once part of the Allard Family’s Chase Hill Farm, the property dates back to the late 1700’s. The property encompasses several striking features including over 3,000 feet of undeveloped, scenic frontage along Chase Hill and Bald Hill Road. Cream Brook, a perennial stream transects the property. It is a clear, cold-water brook that contains eastern brook trout, black-nosed dace and other fish species. This parcel of land is excellent forested wildlife habitat that supports a variety of mammal species such as white-tailed deer, black bear, bobcat, eastern coyote, red and gray fox, ermine, mink, fisher, river otter, red, gray, and flying squirrel, and porcupine. It is also home to a variety of birds including scarlet tanagers, wood thrush, common yellowthroats, barred owls, and great blue herons. The addition of this parcel of 68 acres of protected habitat land is special as it interconnects a block of conserved lands that abuts the Conservation Area, including a 52-acre tract of the White Mountain National Forest across Chase Hill Road, and the 138-acre Rockwell Sanctuary across Bald Hill Road. This is important to the movement of wildlife, including wide ranging and area-dependent species, and for facilitating large-scale ecological processes. 

A number of trails on this new easement can be explored including the 1.2- mile Accessible Nature Trail which runs from a parking lot on Chase Hill Road down to the Kendal C. and Anna Ham Charitable Foundation Pavilion. This beautiful trail is welcoming to people of all mobility levels including users of wheelchairs, walkers, and strollers. It winds through the LJK Arboretum with labeled trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. Future plans include a number of interpretive signs along the trail. There are two other hiking trails on the property, the Cream Brook Loop, which traverses the perimeter of the property and another, the Glacial Loop Trail that explores the unique geology of the area.

The LJK Arboretum is easily accessed from a gravel parking area on Chase Hill Road. An informational kiosk provides a map of the property which is also regularly maintained in winter, providing the opportunity for cross-country skiing & snowshoeing. Upper Saco Valley Land Trust is extremely grateful to Tin Mountain Conservation Center to conserve special places in the valley.

Upper Saco Valley Land Trust (USVLT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization equal opportunity provider, accredited by the Land Trust Alliance, that works to protect land for community benefit. Since 2001, USVLT has completed 82 conservation projects, totaling nearly 12,000 acres throughout the towns of Hart’s Location, Bartlett, Jackson, Albany, Chatham, Conway, Eaton, and Madison in New Hampshire, and Brownfield, Denmark, and Fryeburg in Maine. To learn more, visit usvlt.org or call (603)662-0008.

The mission of Tin Mountain Conservation Center is to promote an appreciation of the natural environment among children, adults, and families through hands-on programs in schools, camps, and the community and to demonstrate responsible stewardship of natural resources through land protection, research, and sustainable forestry, agriculture, and energy. To learn more, visit tinmountain.org or call (603) 447-6991.