Recent FLT events

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 On June 14 (after a one-day delay due to another rainy Saturday), Ben Haubrich led a group of 10 hikers on the Hedgehog Ridge Trail in Deering. This was our second hike this year in the “Exploring our Trails” program being offered by representatives of the Francestown Land Trust and the Francestown Conservation Commission. We reached beyond Francestown for this hike, as it’s a super nice 5-mile trail, blazed by Ben and fellow volunteers about 10 years ago. With Ben offering to led the hike and tell us about its history and entertain us with stories, we couldn’t turn it down! 

The trail is predominantly on Society for the Protection of NH Forest (SPNHF) land, with the 1,086-acre Hedgehog Mountain Forest at the north end and the 54-acre High Five Reservation at the southern end. The trail travels through other conserved land as well as a bit of private land. This hike included the higher elevations of Hedgehog Mountain at the start and Wilson Hill at the end, with a wonderful ridgeline scamper with numerous lookouts in between. The trail took us through deep hemlock forests, deciduous oak and beech forests, heavy moss laden trees and stumps, vernal pools, streams, and a ridgeline of blueberry and huckleberry thickets. We lunched on a rocky outcrop that looked westward towards Mount Monadnock, Skatutakee and Thumb Mountains and were treated to cookies brought from Bob’s Café. In the lowland reaches we walked through a habitat-supporting logging operation which had informative signs and was interesting to see. 

It was a great one-way hike, and for those who feel it sounds interesting but don’t have a chunk of time for a  lengthy hike, both ends offer spectacular “not to be missed” views. Hedgehog Mountain (accessed via Hedgehog Mountain Rd off Old County Rd N) offers a quick hike to a rocky outcrop and High Five (accessed via Sky Farm Road) offers a short 1-mile walk up and back to a lovely meadow and bench. For a map and more information on the trail, check out the SPNHF website at https://www.forestsociety.org/document/hedgehog-ridge-trail-mappdf.pdf. 

 Thursday June 12, 2025 .  Attended by 55 members, the Francestown Land Trust’s Annual Meeting got underway with a social reception followed by a brief business meeting and a speaker presentation. Our Keynote speaker, Sarah RobbGrieco, Northeast Regional Manager for the Old-Growth Forest Network, provided an animated power point talk, “Old-Growth Forests: Why they matter and how to protect them”. 

Sarah described Old-Growth Forests as a network of trees in various stages of progression, a patchwork of craziness, a mosaic of oddly-shaped trees, haphazard roots, snags, course woody debris, nurse logs, and tip-ups. She explained that this “messiness” only happens when a forest is left alone for a long time with no logging. It’s a forest that’s complex, both above and below ground and many of the intricacies of this system are still being learned. 

Old-Growth Forests matter because they increase biodiversity and abundance of species, have the capacity to store a huge amount of carbon which helps to cope with climate change, and provide peaceful havens for boosting human health, well-being and spirituality.

Sarah explained that the national based Old-Growth Forest Network is working to protect and promote these special places by registering one Old-Growth Forest or a mature second-growth forest meeting specific criteria, in each county in the U.S. She detailed the features needed for a forest to be registered and noted that New Hampshire currently has two Forests registered with the Old-Growth Network, one in Coos County and one in Carroll County. More are on the horizon!

After questions/answers with Sarah, audience members continued to socialize, making it a great evening for all. 

  On June 1 (after a one-day delay due to heavy rains on May 31), Scot Heath and Elizabeth Hunter Lavallee led a group of 15 hikers on Scot’s Trail, with a four-mile trek through part of the Crotched Mt Town Forest. The first section of Scot’s Trail was blazed by Scot in the late 1980s, when he was Chair of the Conservation Commission (ConCom.) It was finished in 1998 under the direction of ConCom Chair Betsy Hardwick, other ConCom members, and a group of volunteers that helped finish it during a NH Trails Day. Scot’s Trail was the first official hiking trail in the Crotched Mt Town Forest. The ConCom named the trail after Scot, in recognition of his many contributions to Francestown, including negotiating the various transactions that led to the creation of the Crotched Mt Town Forest, which became a designated Town Forest in 1990. The first 630 acres of the Crotched Mt Town Forest had been obtained primarily through LCIP grants and donations by the time Scot stepped down as Chair in 1991.

Scot regaled the group with stories about those early days. As a young man, he would head out with his brother-in-law Paul (who also joined the June 1 hike) with their tools and a six-pack of beer. Hiking into what was then deep woods, they discovered cellar holes dating back to the early 1800s, and an exquisite beaver pond with Crotched Mountain in the background. The first part of the trail incorporated these gems and more. Participants peppered Scot with questions about the early days, when it was all still private land and the fields and trails we know today didn’t yet exist. Both Scot and Elizabeth infused the hike with their obvious love for this trail and the Crotched Mt Town Forest.

After the heavy rains the day before, there were many large puddles and the ephemeral streams the trail crosses were a lot higher than usual. The hikers were intrepid in crossing each and every one of them, sometimes with helping hands. There were many pink lady slippers still in bloom along the trail, and the views of Crotched Mt against the blue sky were striking. Hikers also got to see some of the new trail signs, made by David Gleason, who was also on the hike. It was an interesting and fun-filled 2½ hours in one of Francestown’s Special Places.

The Joan Hanchett Nature Series has long been a favorite lecture series in Francestown. In honor of a beloved librarian, Joan Hanchett, it was originally intended to draw 45 Francestown children of all ages towards topics of nature, wildlife and all those wonders about us. 

The supporters of this series, the Francestown Land Trust, Francestown Conservation Commission, the George Holmes Bixby Memorial Library and The Francestown News, recently endorsed embarking on an additional series that would bring these topics directly to the children of Francestown. All Francestown Elementary School children attended and homeschool children were invited and welcomed.

Wednesday, June 21st was our first Children’s Program, held at FES during the schools “Outdoor Lions Learning Day”. Slater Roosa from NH Audubon presented an activity about reptiles, called “Scales, Scutes and Skins”. During two half-hour programs, children were thoroughly engaged; listening to facts and stories about reptiles, asking questions and getting an opportunity to feel the scutes and skin of the two live ambassadors’, a painted turtle and a python snake.  

The program was a resounding success by all accounts and we are starting to plan the next program!

Last month FLT and FCC launched the new Lessons in the Forest series. Linda Kunhardt, an amateur botanist, led a spring wildflower hike in the Crotched Mountain Town Forest. It was a damp day with some severe weather being forecasted, and yet 12 hearty folks showed up and were quickly captivated by Linda’s knowledge of and enthusiasm for wildflowers, ferns, and other forest wonders. It was the perfect trail and timing for seeing a proliferation of spring wildflowers in bloom; Linda identified over 30 wildflowers, many in bloom. Highlights included getting to see large patches of fringed polygala, violets, ferns, painted trillium, pink lady slippers, and many Canada mayflowers. The group also enjoyed getting to taste edibles such as the wintergreen berries.

On a still-chilly Friday March 28th evening, forty-two attendees were treated to a super lecture on “Dragons & Damsels”. 

Our presenter, Pamela Hunt of NH Audubon, provided us with a superb presentation on Dragonflies and Damselflies. They are those winged insects of the order Odonata, which are seen patrolling low over wetlands, taking over the air space above lawns or meadows on a warm summer day, or landing on your kayak when you’re out paddling.  

We were dazzled by their descriptive common names like those for damselflies: dancers, wisps, damsels, narrowwings, jewelwings and spreadwings and by those for dragonflies: skimmers, dashers, darners, saddlebags, gliders, emeralds, cruisers and clubtails!

Both dragonflies and damselflies belong to the order of insects called Odonata, meaning 'toothed jaws'. They are a very ancient group of four-winged insects and their ancestors were flying 320 million years ago. Larger and more robust, dragonflies hold both pairs of wings wide open when resting. Damselflies are considered dainty, and when resting, the wings are usually held closed above their body. They have very acrobatic antics during mating and with their extendable jaws are voracious predators on all things smaller than themselves, and sometimes larger! And just so you are “in the know”, a group of flying dragonflies is called a “Flight”! 

Pam coordinated the NH Dragonfly Survey, with the goal of establishing a thorough index on the status of dragonflies and damselflies in NH and tracking changes in their populations. The Survey recorded over 157 species in NH, a database compiled by enthusiastic volunteers. 

Pam’s talk included a great slide and video presentation and it was a treat to watch a time-line video of a nymph emerging out of its case over the period of about half an hour. Pam’s fun and  interactive crowd talk left us all wanting to know more!

  On Saturday January 11th the Francestown Conservation Commission “FCC” and the Francestown Land Trust “FLT” cohosted a community wide night hike in the Crotched Mountain Town Forest. 

With a fresh few inches of snow falling throughout the day, the clouds cleared just in time for the practically full January moon to break through and brightly reflect off the snow. There was no need for flashlights or headlamps, as the moon was bright enough to illuminate the wooded trail through the silhouette of the forest trees.  The January full moon is called the Wolf Moon, named for the once present wolf packs whose howling echoed across the cold January nights. 

Gathering at West End Farm on Farrington Road, two dozen or so adventurous souls turned up for this year’s full moon night-hike. The group made its way through woods on a winding foot path around to the Joselin Trail and then circled back to Farrington Road via Bullard Hill. Back at West End Farm, the hikers warmed up around a blazing fire, while enjoying each other’s company a potluck table of refreshments. 

At 900 acres, Crotched Mountain Town Forest is the largest of Francestown’s six town forests. Established by town-wide vote, all our town forests are open to the public for non-motorized outdoor recreational uses, including hunting & fishing.

There are several terrific hiking trails in the Crotched Mountain Town Forest and there is a trailhead parking area located right at the entrance to Farrington Rd, right off Route 136, aka The Greenfield Road.

Both FCC and FLT regularly host a variety of recreational and educational programs open to everyone.  If you would like to be notified of upcoming events sign up using the link below.  

First of the season snowfall still lingered on the trails for our last “Exploring our Trails” hike on Saturday Dec 7 through the Schott Brennan Falls Reserve to Brennan Falls. A small group of five celebrated this last hike on the perfect hiking day to this amazing conserved forest.

A casual walk from Campbell Hill Rd on the Bullard Hill Class VI Road brought us to the Schott Brennan Falls Reserve trailhead and kiosk. We followed a forest road to the old Mill Pond where we joined a small forest trail, ending at the 20-foot high Brennan Falls. Water was running and the interesting ice formations were a clear sign that winter is here. 

The Schott Brennan Falls Reserve is 149.5 acres of conserved forest; previously owned by the Schott family who transferred ownership and stewardship to FLT in 2014. It is home to a diversity of wildlife species, including bobcat whose tracks we saw crossing our trail. It contains wetlands and headwater streams important for protecting water quality, and combined with the habitat in other surrounding conservation land makes up an important area for wildlife in Francestown. 

The “Exploring our Trails” has been a fun series for us this year. We’ve enjoyed introducing residents to some of Francestowns beautiful conserved forests and their natural history. Hikers have had a chance to enjoy the outdoors and the comradery of fellow hikers.

On a balmy Friday November 15th evening, under the brilliance of the “Beaver Moon”*, sixty-four attendees were treated to Willa Coroka’s lecture on the Brilliant Beaver.

The evening program was opened by the Francestown Land Trust with a nod to the other three groups that support the Joan Hanchett Nature Series; Francestown Conservation Commission, George Holmes Bixby Library and The Francestown News. Numerous people help behind the scenes to make this series come to you twice a year and it was an opportunity to say “thank you”! 

Our presenter, Willa Coroka, of The Magpie’s Apprentice, provided us with a superb presentation on the beaver, that fascinating mammal with the large reputation. Four young volunteers from the audience gamely got dressed in feature-specific attire to help demonstrate the specialized features allowing beaver to be impressive engineers in and out of the water. 

They dressed themselves in thick insulative beaver pelts to highlight the protection they offer beaver from the wet and cold, earmuffs to note the skin valves that beaver have to block the water out when underwater, goggles to note the clear membrane that slides down over the beavers eyes to protect them when swimming, big showy lips noting the two sets of lips beaver have with one set closing behind the teeth to allow them to carry sticks when swimming, big orange cardboard teeth to note that the iron in beaver teeth is what makes their self-sharpening and ever-growing teeth able to chop wood, boots to note the webbed nature of beaver feet used for underwater propulsion, and a big flat cardboard tail to note that beaver use their tail for underwater navigating, for storing fat for the winter and for warning about danger. 

And if that wasn’t enough super information, we were endeared to beaver even more by learning that they are fiercely loyal to their families and mate for life. Damming up streams to create ponds to build their lodges in the middle, they are one of the few animals that manipulate their surroundings to stay safe. By diverting water, they help create wetlands that hundreds of plants and animals call home. With almost half of all endangered species living in wetlands in North America, this is such an important service!

A fun and engaging talk along with lots of photo’s in the PowerPoint presentation along with an after-presentation activity for those that wanted to try their hand at making a beaver dam, made for an amazing evening under the fall Beaver Moon!   

*The Beaver Moon was shining it’s brightest at 4:29 p.m. EST on November 15, the day of our JHNS, Brilliant Beaver. It marks the last super moon of the year and its placement in the earth sign Taurus amplifies the focus on comfort, stability, and tangible joys. This lunar energy encourages people to embrace simplicity and indulge in the small pleasures of life. 

 Saturday Nov 9 the sun was shining on a crisp late autumn day and spirits were high as 20 people joined together to hike the Miller Family Memorial Forest and the Dinsmore Brook Conservation Area. 

Crossing over both Collins and Dinsmore Brooks, walking past glacial erratics, hearing about the history of the Merino sheep that grazed the local meadows, seeing the historic house and barn foundations from an old abandoned homestead and visiting a beaver meadow, were some of the highlights on the walk through these conserved forests.  

The Miller Family Memorial Forest, owned for over 129 years by the Miller family, was purchased by the Francestown Land Trust in 2014, partly with grants, and at a generously reduced price. The Dinsmore Conservation Area is comprised of two separate parcels of land purchased by the Francestown Conservation Commission in 2007 and 2010 with the help of Land & Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) and private foundation grants.

Both conserved forests are home to a diversity of wildlife species, contain wetlands and headwater streams important for protecting water quality, and combined with the habitat in other surrounding conservation land makes up one of the most important areas for wildlife in Francestown.

The ‘Exploring Our Trails” hiking series has opened up new opportunities for residents to become familiar with the beautiful conserved lands in Francestown and hear about the natural history of the area. 

October 12th hike to Rand Brook Forest. We managed to have a spectacular Autumn day, full of sunshine and fall color, for our hike to adjoining Francestown forests; the Rand Brook Forest (FLT) and the Driscoll Hill Town Forest (FCC). Twenty-one hikers, many alumni of our Exploring our Trails program, along with a handful of new participants, took to the trails in comradery. Ben Haubrich, FLT steward for the Rand Brook Forest for many years, regaled us with stories of the 1700-1800’s settlement history of the area and talked about the numerous ways FLT caretakes this 515-acre protected land under its Forest Management Plan. An additional treat was following the Draper Farm Trail through the Driscoll Hill Town Forest to view the cellar holes of the historical Draper Farm. The Rand Brook Forest trail brought us past an enormous tree scarred with bear claw marks from bottom to top, a sight to behold! It was a wonderful way to spend a few hours on a Saturday morning, before we all returned home to take on the rest of the day! 

A good time was enjoyed by all on the Crotched Mountain Summit Trail on September 28. Thirteen enthusiastic hikers headed out on a crisp and sunny autumn morning to enjoy some early fall foliage and the most challenging trail in The Crotched Mountain Town Forest. In the first 2+½miles, this trail has an elevation gain of about 1,100 feet. As one participant commented, it was great cardio. In the remaining 3+½miles, the trail was up and down, summiting additional high points on the mountain with scenic views as far away as the White Mountains in one direction and the Boston skyline in another. The group also passed a beaver dam and pond, wildlife field, rocky ledges and meandering streams along the way.

One hiker commented, “What a great hike! The weather was perfect, and I got to meet some really cool people. It's great to get to know people in our town on these hikes.” Another added, “Beautiful weather, amazing trails and great company. Can’t ask for more!” The group stopped at the first scenic high point for lunch and at other points to enjoy soaring turkey vultures, a rocky gorge that is surely home to numerous wildlife, and stone walls all the way up the mountain that harkened back to the Great Sheep Boom two centuries ago. A camouflaged stick bug was discovered that captivated folks during another break. It was a great introduction to the Crotched Mountain Town Forest and one of the trails in that forest. Altogether, the hike took 5+½ hours – it was (and will be) the longest hike in the 2024 series of “Exploring our Trails” hikes. Several participants mentioned wanting to go back on their own, with friends and family, to see more of the forest including Scot’s Trail and Bullard Hill Road.