Select Board backs permanent conservation of 331-acre Grandmaison parcel

Leah Hart, representing the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, asked the Stratford Select Board on July 13 to support a proposal to acquire and permanently conserve about 331 acres owned by the Grandmaison Family Trust.

Hart told the board the property includes important wellhead protection areas that contribute to the town’s and surrounding community’s drinking-water supply and said protecting the land from development would help safeguard groundwater, preserve natural filtration, and reduce contamination risk. The Forest Society is seeking drinking-water protection grant funding to support the acquisition.

Hart said the Forest Society intends to keep the property open for traditional recreational uses such as hiking and hunting and to continue sustainable forestry management. Timber harvesting would proceed under professionally developed forest-management plans, and the Forest Society would continue paying Current Use and timber taxes to the Town if the acquisition is completed.

After discussion about public access, future management and the potential impacts of development if the parcel were not protected, the Select Board voted 3-0 to provide a town letter of support for the Forest Society’s grant application. The town-drafted letter was presented to Hart for inclusion with the grant materials. No acquisition is final; the vote recorded only the Board’s support for the Forest Society’s application.

The next step is the Forest Society’s grant submission with the town letter; the Select Board did not take any additional formal action on acquisition terms, funding, or easements at the July 13 meeting.