Protected land along Labrador Pond expands

Kathy and Michael Fitzgerald donate 17-acre conservation easement to forest society

Kathy and Michael Fitzgerald have donated a 17-acre conservation easement on Labrador Pond in Conway to the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forest.The Fitzgeralds live on Labrador Pond. Their donation puts under protection another 800 feet of undeveloped frontage on the pond and links together two other easements with extensive shoreline donated previously by neighbors of the Fitzgeralds. Combined with a third nearby easement previously donated to the forest society, the Fitzgeralds' contribution now creates one contiguous block of 184 protected acres centered on the pond.The parcel also protects scenic views across a hayfield from Potter Road and boasts wide habitat diversity for its relatively small size, including the hayfield, mature woodlands and wetlands along the pond.Kathy Fitzgerald's grandfather, Thomas Dudley Cabot, donated the Cabot Forest in Boscawen to the Society in 1993. Her donation continues a family tradition of conservation.A conservation easement allows private landowners to protect land while maintaining ownership.Easements provide permanent protection from land use that could damage or destroy its scenic, recreational, ecological, and natural resource values.As with most other donated conservation easements, this property remains on the local tax rolls, and the landowner retains discretion over access to the property by others. Under the terms of the easement, further development of the property is prohibited.Founded in 1901, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is a 10,000-member, nonprofit organization that has helped protect more than one million acres across New Hampshire. Visit www.forestsociety.org for more information, or call (603) 224-9945.