Protect Land—“They Ain’t Making It Anymore”
 

I trust that Will Rogers won’t mind my paraphrasing him. All around us, development is swallowing open land. Although these pressures exist in almost every community, sometimes the land underneath the development is highly suitable as agricultural land and thus represents a particularly tragic loss. The West Side Road Agricultural Historic District is a prime example of this vulnerability because its soils are some of the best in New Hampshire. With the prospect of a time when the only food may be local food, it is vital to preserve these community assets now.

My sister, Lee Paige, and my brother, Peter Kennett, and I were very pleased to work in partnership with the Upper Saco Valley Land Trust, Farm and Ranchland Protection Program, and Nels Liljedahl and Deb Eddison of NRCS to create the first conservation easement in the District. Just as a grain of sand in the oyster will grow into a pearl, we have dreamed of starting with our own 62 acres and eventually seeing all the farmlands protected on West Side Road from Todd Marshall’s farm all the way to the Lucy farms.

Although we spent over a year to complete this easement, the long hours were worth it! And the work doesn’t stop here. While the Land Trust is actively pursuing other projects in the District, we are planning our own conservation work with Nels and Deb. Next year we will plant low growth around the wet area that attracts waterfowl every year to provide mast and place a dozen birdhouses in the vicinity, establish new fencerow trees along the north edge of the field, plant blight-resistant American Elm and American Chestnut trees in selected locations in our wooded areas, and remove invasive species from the fencerow growth along the south edge.