Enjoying More Special Places in 2025
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Elizabeth Hunter Lavallee and Hannah Proctor
The Francestown Land Trust (FLT) and Conservation Commission (FCC) often work together to protect our town’s natural resources. The transformative effects of nature can be powerful, and we want the Special Places we treasure to be here for future generations to enjoy.
For the past two years, FLT and FCC have collaborated to produce monthly pieces in The Francestown News, to highlight these Special Places and why they matter. This year we’ll be collaborating again, to offer a new educational series, “Lessons in the Forest” that will be set in many of these Special Places. Topics under consideration include identifying trees, winter wildlife signs, vernal pools, and wildflowers. Yet another possible topic is historic back roads, cellar holes, and mills. If you miss a program, you’ll have a chance to read about it afterwards in The Francestown News and on the FLT website. Most if not all “Lessons in the Forest” will be held on Saturday mornings. Timing of topics will be weather and conditions dependent, and likely to not have enough lead time to be announced in the Francestown News. You can count on programs being posted as Flyers about town (Post Office, Town Office, Library and kiosk outside the library). You can also ask to be added to an email list for notification at info@francestownlandtrust.org. Title your email “Requesting notification about programs” and include your name, email address, and telephone number. Please also indicate if there are particular topics of interest to you.
Exploring our Trails: Speaking of Special Places, last year we offered an opportunity for folks to get to know many of the trails on conserved land in Francestown. Participation in these “Exploring our Trails” hikes ranged from 13 hearty folks for the Crotched Mt Summit climb, to over 20 hikers for others. We also held two “Exploring our Trails - Slow and Steady” hikes for folks who wanted to relax and enjoy nature with shorter and slower-paced hikes. Given the enthusiastic response to all of them, we plan to continue the “Exploring our Trails” program in 2025, with at least four hikes throughout the year. We’re adding a new twist to the hikes, where trails will start in Francestown but continue “Beyond our Borders” into Bennington, Deering, Greenfield, and Weare. We’ll also offer a couple more “Slow and Steady” hikes. Stay tuned for more information on all of them! As with the educational series, we’ll use the new email list to let you know about the hikes. We’ll also post Flyers around Town and announce hikes in The Francestown News when we have enough lead time to do so.
For those who are new to Francestown, or simply new to exploring the great outdoors, feel free to reach out to any of the FLT board or FCC commission members with your questions or requests. In addition to trail maps and other news, you can get this information on our two websites: francestownlandtrust.org and francestownnh.org/conservation-commission.
Conserving and enjoying our Special Places is part of a long-term plan to protect our community’s rural character and quality of life. It’s a new year and we can’t wait to get back to more Special Places with you! FLT and FCC already are planning a full moon hike and celebration on Saturday, January 11. The winter full moon hike is an annual tradition for us. There’s an ad with more information on that event in this issue.
Snowy forest path photo by Betsy Hardwick
NH Audubon Recognizes FLT Vice-Chair Betsy Hardwick
NH AUDUBON HAS presented its Tudor Richards Award to Betsy Hardwick of Francestown for “working tirelessly and effectively for conservation in the Granite State.” Betsy was recognized for championing the natural environment in New Hampshire through both conservation and environmental education.
Betsy is vice-chair of the Francestown Land Trust and has chaired the Francestown Conservation Commission (FCC) for 25 years. Among her notable accomplishments are the passage of a $1 million town conservation bond and driving the “2010 by 2010” campaign that resulted in conservation of 25% of the land in Francestown. She has also served on the New Hampshire Coverts Advisory Board and presented at the NH Association of Conservation Commissions’ annual training.
