Stories from our landowners

Godrey Memorial Conservation Area

Godfrey Memorial Conservation Area: A Family Conservation Story By: Katrina Meserve

On an early July morning, driving up a gravel driveway splitting two fields filled with tall grass and wildflowers, the Presidential Range sat in the distance covered in a haze of traveling clouds. The forest surrounding the fields were tall and green and enclosed the property in a safety net of home and comfort. The house sat up on a high point of the property with a deck and grand view of the mountains behind the house. The view to the front was of the woodlot and field blown by the summer breeze. The property felt special from the first glance and has been special to the family that has owned it for decades.

The Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust (ACT) conserved the Godfrey Memorial Conservation Area in 2011. This 160-acre property, not open to the public, holds a conservation easement with ACT, with important wildlife and timber conservation values. The property contains what is left of the Dodge Mine, an old gold mine discovered in 1866. Kathy Godfrey and her sister Pat Knauer now own the property.  Their parents, George and Daphne Godfrey, began researching conservation plans in the early 1970s, but it was Daphne who pursued and completed a conservation easement with ACT.

Daphne was born in Stewartstown, and Kathy remembers thinking that her mother knew everyone in the whole state. Daphne met George at the University of New Hampshire and they were married when George returned from World War II. In the early 1960’s Daphne and George purchased the land to build a vacation home in the stunning North Country where they had both grown up. Like many New England houses, the farmhouse on the property had old and uneven floors, so they built a new home with a brick fireplace and wood beam mantle reclaimed from the old barn. In the late 60’s the Godfreys moved onto the property full-time, chopping their own firewood and basking in the natural beauty they were now calling home.

Kathy’s father was a photographer who took stunning photographs of local and regional landscapes. Kathy reflects on memories of her father and his aversion to telephone wires, thinking they ruined his shots, so he made electricians place the electrical wires on the property underground. He also worked to eliminate unsightly lines in many areas that were known for classic shots of New England.

Conservation was prevalent in their lives as Daphne’s father was a conservation officer, or “game warden” as they were often called. Kathy greatly looked up to her grandfather Harry Hurlbert. “He was amazing,” she shared as she retold stories of hiking with Grandpa Harry to a remote lake surrounded by woodland in the North Country or of chipmunks in the forest eating peanuts from Grandpa Harry’s hand. George and Daphne never wanted people to cut into their land and develop it. They appreciated the view of the presidential range, where they could see the peak of Mount Washington on clear days.  They loved roaming the forest in summers, listening to the vast variety of birds and finding signs of wildlife from deer to bears, and snowshoeing or cross county skiing in the winters.

 Kathy shared many fond memories of the property from her childhood up to present day. She mentioned the beauty of the sunsets and sunrises on the property, the refreshing mountain breezes that blow through and cool the house, the abundance of deer peacefully grazing in the fields, and the excitement of numerous bird species soaring through the sky and singing from swaying tree branches. The conservation easement on the property with ACT is meaningful to the family to keep the land natural, the habitat safe and comfortable for the local wildlife and nature, and the home peaceful and beautiful for the family. Keeping the property in the family was always important to the Godfreys, and now Kathy’s and Pat’s children and grandchildren can join them in escapes from the city. They explore the property, revel in the expanse of the stars above the land, and develop their own love for the beauty of the North Country.

Conservation on each ACT property looks different and holds a different story. The 160-acre Godfrey Memorial Conservation Area is a great example of a piece of land holding great value to a family who didn’t want to see the landscape they grew to love altered by development. ACT strives to make each conservation experience fit the landowner’s wishes and needs and we can’t wait to continue conserving the lands you love throughout the North Country.

If you’re interested in conserving your land or reading more landowner stories, or telling a conservation story of your own, visit act-nh.org or email [email protected].

MacCornack-Evelyn Forest

ACT received a remarkably generous donation of 95 acres from Sugar Hill residents Doug and Martha (MacCornack) Evelyn, and Frederick MacCornack of Wachon Island, Washington, Martha's brother.

The MacCornack family has ties to the area dating to the 18th century. Martha and Rick’s paternal grandparents had owned land on Post Road since the 1920s, and in 1946, their mother, Eleanor MacCornack, bought 120 adjacent acres from farmer Harold Smith. Ellie MacCornack, her husband Don, and their children lived in the Smith farmhouse during the summers. Martha and Rick fondly remember “golden summers” spent in Sugar Hill. Martha is very pleased that her own children also had the opportunity to spend summers here, and that her grandchildren are now frequent visitors.

“Our parents believed in giving back,” say Martha and Rick. “They wanted to see the land maintained as it was and not built up,” Martha says of her parents. “They were opposed to selling it for gain. By donating it, we are completing their wishes. And we also look at it as our legacy for the future.”

Doug is a former trustee and now serves as an advisor to ACT.

Bronson Hill Conservation Area

Bronson Hill is a much loved part of the landscape of Sugar Hill, N.H. The open fields and undeveloped ridge line is a prominent view from Main Street, the town hall, and the community house. In several surveys about the future of town, Sugar Hill residents named this land as an important scenic value that ideally would be conserved.

Rufus Perkins, his brother Jim, and their sister Louisa Porter donated a conservation easement on their 136 acres to ACT in August, 2009.

The family’s willingness to permanently protect the outstanding scenic hillside – as well as allow public enjoyment of it – stands as a testament of their commitment to ACT, its values, and to the community.

The  siblings trace their love of the area to their great grandfather’s arrival in Sugar Hill in 1885. “We spent many summers as children and all seasons as adults either on Sunset or Bronson Hill,” Rufus says. “The long family connection and our appreciation of the special nature of the place made us want to keep it as it is for future generations to enjoy.”