Henry Randall Parker of New Boston passed away suddenly on December 4th. Known to all as Randy, he was a founding incorporator of the Piscataquog Watershed Association, which later became the Piscataquog Land Conservancy. Randy volunteered for the PWA/PLC in myriad ways over the decades, including service for many years on the organization’s boards of trustees. The Parker property on the Piscataquog has also been the site of PLC’s Lobster by the River event for more than a decade. Randy Parker leaves a truly remarkable conservation legacy and will be missed by all who had the good fortune to know him. 

The Piscataquog Land Conservancy stewards more than 8,700 acres of natural land across twenty-three towns in southern New Hampshire. Our lands and conservation easements protect water and wildlife, support local farming and forestry, and provide places of natural beauty that make our daily lives and communities better. These lands are there when we need them, and the events of the past year have reminded us just how essential they are. For fifty years PLC has been dedicated to conserving and caring for these special places across our region, and we need your support to keep the good work going. Our modest budget is funded almost entirely by the private contributions of individuals, families and businesses in the communities we serve. As a loyal supporter of the Piscataquog Land Conservancy, we hope you will take a moment to make a tax-deductible year-end gift to PLC by December 31st.

The Piscataquog Land Conservancy’s 50th Annual Meeting was held on Saturday October 24th as a virtual online event. PLC members heard about the organization’s accomplishments over the past year, reviewed financial statements for our FY 2020, and elected new trustees.
To view a year-in-review presentation by PLC’s President & Executive Director Chris Wells, and a special 50th Anniversary video that was premiered at the meeting, click “read more” below.

The Piscataquog Land Conservancy’s 50th Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday October 24th from 5 – 6:30 PM. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, we have decided to make this year’s meeting a virtual online event. As always, our members will have the opportunity to hear about PLC’s accomplishments over the past year, review our financial statements, and elect new trustees and officers. We’ll also take a look back at fifty years of protecting our region’s land and water, and chart our course for the next fifty. The meeting will take place on the Zoom teleconference platform.

The coronavirus pandemic has made this a spring unlike any other in living memory.  However much longer these hard times last, PLC will continue to protect the outdoor places that we have all come to depend on for our physical and mental health.  We’ll find the ways to complete new land conservation projects, maintain our properties and monitor our easements.  We will still celebrate our 50th Anniversary year.  Thank you for being part of this organization through thick and thin.  Stay healthy, and see you outside.

As we all seek ways to get out of the house, exercise, and maintain a positive state of mind during the current Covid-19 outbreak, PLC’s conservation properties are seeing a dramatic upsurge in use. Providing people with places to be outside in nature has always been a big part of what PLC does, but right now our lands are providing truly essential support to the physical and mental health of our fellow citizens. Sometimes it takes a crisis to see what was there all along.

The Bedford Land Trust (BLT), a non-profit organization founded in 1990 to conserve open space in Bedford at a time when the town was undergoing rapid development, has merged into the Piscataquog Land Conservancy. The Bedford group’s 704 acres of conservation property and financial assets have been transferred to PLC, under a merger agreement reviewed by Charitable Trusts Unit of the NH Attorney General’s office. The merger became effective New Year’s Day.

Early spring is the time for getting bikes out of the garage, pumping up the tires, and heading out on the first ride of the season. Here’s some extra inspiration for you to get back in the saddle: PLC’s Rose Mountain Rumble (RMR) returns to the dirt roads of our region on Saturday, August 22nd, 2020. The Rumble welcomes riders of every ability, offering a variety of loops from a 20-miler for more casual riders to a full 100K course to challenge the most hardened gravel grinder. Returning riders will experience refinements to the routes, including a new 50-miler.

PLC is kicking off our 50th Anniversary year with a great series of winter outings and events. On January 23rd, we host a public information meeting on our merger with the Bedford Land Trust. On January 26th we’ll take a mid-winter snowshoe through PLC’s Tuthill Woodlands Preserve. On February 9th we snowshoe at our Rose Mountain Preserve. On March 8th we’ll explore the Pulpit Rock Conservation Area in Bedford. On March 21 we welcome spring with a Tree Identification walk at the Tarr Sanctuary in Bedford and Goffstown.