Nature Conservancy Flips Land to State, Keeps Conservation E

The townspeople of Charlestown and Langdon just took a perpetual tax hit. New Hampshire has no Unorganized Territories package to offer towns as an incentive to deorganize. Citizens of those towns have only one remedy. They can move into "core service communities". It's part of a program called rural cleansing.

The Union Leader
3/17/05950 acres in Charlestown and Langdon to be state forest
By STEPHEN SEITZ
Union Leader CorrespondentCHARLESTOWN — Come Monday, Charlestown and Langdon will be sharing a new state forest.According to a statement from the Nature Conservancy of New Hampshire, 950 acres of woodland on Route 12A has been successfully transferred from the New England Power Co.“We are very grateful to The Nature Conservancy for donating the land to the state and for all the work they did to put this great project together,” said Philip Bryce, director of the state Division of Forests and Lands.The land was purchased from the power company back in September; before then, there were plans to use the site for a hydroelectric plant. Changes in the law regulating electricity forced the utility to change its plans.The Governor and Executive Council sealed the deal on March 9, when it voted to accept a $200,000 U.S. Fish and Wildlife grant toward the purchase of the land. The transfer becomes final on March 21.The Nature Conservancy will retain a conservation easement that will prevent development and guarantee sound recreation and forest management practices to protect the rare northeastern bulrush and other sensitive ecological features.“It's gratifying to have such a strong partner in the Division of Forests and Lands in the stewardship of one of New Hampshire's last refuges of this rare plant,” said Daryl Burtnett, state director of The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire. “This land is a wonderful natural source of recreation and solace for the people of New Hampshire.”The property's conservation easement delineates areas where timber harvesting will be allowed and where it will be restricted, such as areas near wetlands, occurrences of northeastern bulrush and other sensitive ecological features.But as a state forest, public access to the Fall Mountain forest for recreational use will continue, including such activities as hiking, hunting, fishing, nature observation and snowmobiling on designated trails. Students from nearby Fall Mountain Regional High School will be able to keep using the land for athletic training, natural science projects and producing maple syrup.Besides the federal grant, the N.H. Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) provided two grants totaling $350,000.“Fall Mountain is a great example of how LCHIP can help plug the holes in funding to make conservation projects become a reality,” said Rachel Rouillard, LCHIP's executive director. “LCHIP also is a catalyst in building momentum for additional funding from the community and other sources.”Other sources of funding for the project include $200,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Conservancy has received $260,450 in private donations, including a $50,000 grant from the Austin Memorial Foundation.For more information, go to www.nature.org/newhampshire.
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showfast.html?article=52076

quote: and home to a federally endangered plant, the northeastern bulrush.

Please, please, for the sake of humanity and all that is right, keep the northeastern bulrush alive. If you must, connect water and plant food tubes to provide sustenance. Ensure 24/7 care to make sure the plant is comfortable and is enjoying the quality of life to which it is entitled.We do not have the right to play God and sentence this plant to death. Plants have souls too. Thank goodness the Nature Conservancy did whatever it took to keep "bulli" alive.

After all, wasn't Moses himself placed among the bulrushes? Surely the Christian Right would want to chip in on this worthy effort as well.Somebody call the CCL!!!!