In Dunbarton, 256 Acres Now Preserved

Submitted by Louis Karno & Company Communications:

On Dec. 20, 2013, Anne Farley donated a conservation easement on 256 acres in Dunbarton to Five Rivers Conservation Trust. 

Anne, who has lived on the property for 36 years, refers to it as the “Lord Farm” in recognition of the family that farmed the land for generations. Located on Grapevine Road and Guinea Road, the property includes a combination of fields, forests, and a large vegetated wetland associated with Bela Brook, a Town conservation priority that originates just beyond the property and flows through it. Anne’s land rises 440’ from the wetland to the east boundary, and the change in vegetation reflects this change in topography. 

Over the years, Anne has raised sheep, goats, chickens, and horses on the property to which she and her husband Earl retired. Although Anne no longer has chickens, a bobcat visits the farm regularly in search of remembered prey. She has carded, spun, dyed and knitted the wool into many fine pieces cherished by those who now wear a piece of our agricultural heritage.  

Five Rivers Conservation Trust, headquartered in Concord, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting open space across the heartland of central New Hampshire. This beautiful rolling landscape is drained by five waterways that converge in the Concord area - the Merrimack, Contoocook, Blackwater, Warner, and Soucook Rivers. It is a region of picturesque country villages and a delightful mix of fields and forests, farms and wetlands, and other special places. Through conservation easements and other means, Five Rivers is an active land trust to help keep those places intact for future generations. 5rct.org