November 2019 - The Piscataquog Land Conservancy celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2020. As we approach this milestone, we can take pride that an organization founded by a handful of citizen volunteers in 1970 has grown to become one of New Hampshire’s most effective and respected land trusts. The last fifteen years have seen tremendous growth in our reach and impact. In 2003, PLC’s lands and easements totaled about 1,300 acres. That year the organization hired its first paid staff person -- a do-it-all executive director.
In 2012 PLC added a dedicated land protection position, and in 2014 a stewardship staff person. In 2015, PLC expanded our service area to include the eleven towns that comprise the Souhegan and Nashua River watersheds.
PLC’s policies and practices improved apace, through the adoption of national standards and practices developed by the Land Trust Alliance (LTA), enrolling our lands in the Terrafirma legal defense insurance program in 2013, and earning national Land Trust Accreditation in 2017. The impact of professionalization has been dramatic: in 2019, PLC’s conservation lands and easements passed the 7,000-acre mark.
None of this organizational growth would have been possible if the PLC community of volunteers had not also expanded to monitor more properties, build and maintain more trails, lead public walks, serve on committees, and organize fundraising events. PLC’s growth also could not have happened without the generosity of our members and other financial supporters. The net result is a professional organization that works to the highest national standards, yet remains local, responsive, and rooted in volunteerism. It’s a pretty great place to be.
Looking ahead to PLC’s next fifty years, protecting land before it is lost must remain our fundamental mission. The region we serve is the most densely-settled and fastest-growing corner of New Hampshire, and we only have so much time left to conserve the lands that underpin our local environment and give our communities their character.
Yet with every property we conserve we also make a promise to care for, and when necessary defend, the land in perpetuity. For this commitment to be credible, we must have the human and financial resources to monitor, manage, and legally defend our lands and easements. Because our time horizon is literally forever, this capacity must also be sustained regardless of future economic conditions, political and cultural trends, competing land uses, and environmental change.
Lastly, we must strive to bring more people into this organization, whether they are adults looking for opportunities to contribute to a cause they care about, families seeking to connect with the outdoors and with each other, or young people who want to learn, have fun and feel useful. Again, forever is a long time, and the future of PLC and the lands we care for depends on all of us.
Chris Wells
PLC President/Executive Director
