Newbury, Vt.
Members of the Vermont Land Trust and the Newbury Conservation Commission gathered prior to the Dec. 12 Selectboard meeting at Town Hall to sign a sales agreement transferring 636 total acres — nearly 500 on Tucker Mountain and the rest on nearby Woodchuck Mountain — from the land trust to the town.
VLT earlier this fall had purchased the parcels from members of the Leach family for a total of $384,000, just over half of its appraised value, according to a VLT news release. Newbury residents voted twice last fall to purchase the land, the revote coming after a petition.
The purchase grants the town ownership of an area northwest of West Newbury village that has been a popular recreational destination for generations.
Tucker’s 1,690-foot summit has been an open area since being cleared for pasture around 1810, according to the land trust, and it features panoramic vistas including an easterly view into the heart of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. The area is popular among hikers, hunters, cross-country skiers, snowmobilers, mountain bikers and horseback riders, and students from Newbury and Bradford elementary schools hold field trip outings there.
“It’s a beloved recreational asset and has been for a long time,” said Bob Linck, the Vermont Land Trust’s central Vermont director who first climbed Tucker in the early 1980s. “It’s probably the most popular place in Newbury. Everyone knows it, everyone loves it. There was a risk that it might no longer be open to the public, but now there is an opportunity for a lot of people to come together and share something that’s very important to the town.”
Tom Kidder, a West Newbury resident and longtime user of the Tucker Mountain for hiking and cross country skiing, took up a project earlier this year to explore the area for a slideshow presentation he performed in September.
“I discovered a lot of things I’d never seen, like cellar holes, beaver ponds and a vernal pool,” Kidder said. “There is a lot of history and natural beauty on that mountain.”
Kidder was part of a committee that developed an interim management plan for the properties last year. Meanwhile, Newbury Selectboard Chairwoman Alma Roystan said she hopes the board will appoint members of a long-term management committee by the end of January.
“It’s a busy time, with budget hearings and town reports coming in,” Roystan said. “But (forming a Tucker Mountain management committee) is certainly something we’ll be working on.”
One of the management challenges will be finding ways to mitigate erosion damage near the summit, which is accessible via Class IV Tucker Mountain Road and over the years has attracted all-terrain-vehicles and the occasional large pickup truck. A general increase in the frequency and intensity of rainstorms during recent years has exacerbated the issue, according to the Vermont Land Trust.
“ATVs and trucks have traditionally driven to the top, but it’s becoming more problematic because of the advent of larger trucks and, frankly, the (severity of the) weather we’ve been seeing. There was never really any oversight about this before, but now that the land is owned by the town, it gives the public the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, this is ours. We need to consider the different ways that we access the mountain.’ ”
Newbury Conservation Commission Chairman Michael Thomas noted that the land helps complete a stretch of virtually contiguous protected forestland spanning some 30 miles from West Fairlee to Groton, Vt.
“It’s rare to have a working forest environment for wildlife habitat and recreation that extends so far,” Thomas said.
In neighboring Bradford, the 517-acre Wright’s Mountain/Devil’s Den town forest practically abuts the Tucker Mountain land, Thomas noted.
“I’ve talked with (Bradford Conservation Commission Chairwoman) Nancy Jones about the potential to build a trail connecting the two,” Thomas said. “That would be a great community project, which is one of the benefits for Newbury having its own town forest — connecting people.”
Thomas said that if a management committee is appointed this winter, members will have ample time to develop goals before hands-on work begins.
“The winter is a good time for us to all get to know each other and see what our strengths are within the group,” Thomas said. “Who’s good at fundraising? Who’s good at building trails? Who’s good at mapping? Who’s good at organizing? What can we learn from what other local town forests have done? We can try to answer those questions so that we’re better prepared when it’s time to get out there in the woods in the spring.”
One of the previous owners, Tina Leach Clark, married her husband, Ray Clark, on top of Tucker, one of countless ceremonies and celebrations she said she’s enjoyed there.
Transferring ownership to the town helps fulfill the wishes of her late parents, Phil and Ginny Leach, who originally purchased the land in the early 1970s in part to help prevent it from being developed.
“It’s a place to be treasured and enjoyed,” Tina Clark said. “Our extended family is so grateful for the positive response of Newbury residents who have in so many ways supported the effort to create Tucker Mountain Town Forest. We congratulate them all.”
More than 115 donors from Newbury and throughout the Upper Valley and beyond provided nearly $100,000 in contributions toward the project, according to VLT.
Vermont contains more than 67,000 acres of forestland owned by 172 municipalities, the organization’s release states.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.