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Select Board endorses concept for Magnuson Farm conservation; SELT to pursue acquisition
Summary
The board gave concept endorsement to a proposed conservation transaction that would have the Town of Kingston acquire roughly 101 acres from the Magnuson family subject to a Southeast Land Trust conservation easement; the board did not commit funds and will see future requests as grant rounds progress.
The Kingston Select Board on April 21 endorsed the concept of a joint conservation acquisition for the Magnuson Farm, a roughly 101‑acre property along Route 125 with frontage on Farm Road. Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire (SELT) presented the proposal to the board with the conservation commission’s prior support.
Caitlin Deo, a conservation project manager with SELT, described the farm as a mix of open fields (managed for wildflowers) and former farmland that abuts town‑owned Little River Natural Area and a town landfill to the west. SELT said the preferred structure would have SELT place a conservation easement on the property and transfer ownership to the town thereafter; SELT would hold the easement.
The board clarified it was not being asked to commit municipal dollars at this point; rather, SELT is seeking the board’s endorsement of the concept and acquisition structure to support upcoming state and private grant applications. Deo told the board SELT expects to apply in the spring grant round to state sources including LCHIP and the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, and to other state and private funding programs.
Motion to endorse the concept and proposed structure (town ownership subject to a SELT conservation easement) carried unanimously.
