Hanover Conservancy

Education and outreach-the Hanover Conservancy reaches out to the community to engage it in land conservation and stewardship. This year the Conservancy continued to recruit and train new volunteers and provide information on important conservation issues through its comprehensive website,electronic newsletters and community activities. A regular calendar of free events attracts community members to organized hiking and other nature oriented programs. We also expanded our offerings of electronically accessible, self-guided experiences.

Land stewardship-the Conservancy has six major land holdings, including the 112 acre mink brook nature preserve, the 113 acre greensboro ridge natural area, 22 acres at the balch hill natural area, the 38 acre lower slade brook natural area, the 92-acre mayor-niles forest, and the 79 -acre britton forest. All six properties are managed to protect the natural features and functions of the land and allow public recreational access. The Conservancy also holds and monitors conservation easements on an additional 565.9 acres. This year we transitioned our land records to a secure on-line database to improve record keeping.

Land conservation-completed work with the town of Hanover on acquiring a permanent conservation easement on the king bird sanctuary and valuable forested wetlands accessible by trails from the Hanover town library in etna village. We are also working with the usda natural resources conservation service and an interested landowner on protecting a piece of valuable agricultural land.