Prospective New Owners Of Headwaters Tract To Host Meeting In Pittsburg

By PAULA TRACY, InDepth NH

PITTSBURG, NH — The prospective new owners of the state’s largest tract of private land, the 146,400-acre Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Tract, are hosting a town hall style community meeting here next week, the evening before a citizens’ advisory committee meeting addresses issues related to its land management.

Manulife Forest Management https://www.manulifeim.com/timberland-agriculture/global/en/property-management/timberland-operations will be hosting the event Thursday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. at the Pittsburg Ridge Runners Clubhouse.https://pittsburgridgerunners.org/sheadwaters

The sale is for about $65 million. That means the state will get about $1 million in real estate transfer tax revenue.

Manulife officials have said it is hoping to add the tract to its portfolio of working lands which provide profit both by logging and carbon sequestration.

Aurora Sustainable LLC, a “carbon first” company which acquired the woodland northern tip of the state in a merger about five years ago, was approached by Manulife to sell this year.

The deal is expected to proceed next week and it includes not only the land in fee, but the public easement for recreation access and logging and the carbon credits already on the land from the prior owner.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte, a first-term Republican seeking re-election in November, told reporters at a recent press conference that she had met with Manulife officials and the state had completed its long-term logging agreement with Aurora, which will be assumed by Manulife.

The state has a right of first refusal which runs with the land as part of the easement and would have to match the roughly $65 million for it or let the sale go through.Ayotte chose the latter once, she said. She has “in writing” agreements that will increase logging on the tract from the past few years under Aurora to 30,000 cords a year up from about 20,000 and said they have made other commitments to the towns and state to improve the infrastructure.

That matters in terms of town revenues in not only Pittsburg but Clarksville and Stewartstown that also have headwaters land.

Ayotte said, “One of the things that I asked them, that was important to me, is that they commit to the term sheet that we had negotiated that makes sure that the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters (are) protected, remains open.”

Finally the state came to an agreement with Aurora on logging the tract for the next eight years, and Manulife has agreed to abide by it.

“Manulife has committed to fulfill those terms,” the governor said.

“Because this is such an important piece of property and we want it to be maintained. We want it to be open to access for recreation for everyone and we also want to make sure that we have a working forest, which is what the conservation easement says, so that the local timber industry can remain in business. That is really appropriate and it is also consistent with the proper management of the property itself,” Ayotte said.

At the Pittsburg meeting next week, Matt Bonham, Manulife’s president for North America and Anne Hussa, Manulife’s General Manager for the Great Lakes and Northeast states, will give an overview/presentation about Manulife and then will address questions from attendees.

On Friday, Oct. 2 at 10:30 a.m. the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet for a regular meeting at the Pittsburg Fire Station and it, too, is open to the public. The committee advises the state Commissioner of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources on policy matters related to the operations of the tract and is politically appointed.It held a meeting two weeks ago to go over a draft of the state’s potential long-term logging agreement which will be assumed from Aurora to Manulife if they become the new owners.

Jasen Stock, executive director of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association said it welcomes Manulife to the state’s forest community.

“I had the opportunity to meet with them and I am also aware that Manulife’s leadership has been meeting with local community leaders, politicians, and members of the forest products industry. This is great to see.

“As the owner of the single largest contiguous parcel in New Hampshire, how that parcel is managed can impact the local community’s economy and the flow of forest products in Northern Coos County. Their commitment to abide by the new timber harvesting requirement of 30,000 cords per year will ensure the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters lands will contribute to local mills, and local economies. Moreover, Manulife’s commitment to produce 30,000 cords of timber from these lands while the lands remain subject to a forest carbon contract demonstrates forest carbon contracts and timber harvesting/active forest management, with all the economic activity that comes from it, are not mutually exclusive,” Stock said.

This story was originally published by InDepth NH.