Sawyer Tract Map (../images/sawyertract.jpg) The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire Press Releases Search All Press Releases Eric Aldrich 603-224-5853, ext. 26 E-mail: ealdrich@tnc.org

Big Save on Great Bay:
Shackford Point Protected from Development

Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership protects former Sawyer farm.

Newmarket, NH—February 1, 2005—Where the waters of the Lamprey and the Squamscott rivers meet at the west end of Great Bay, there is a wooded point of land where eagles scan the water for a meal, and thousands of waterfowl congregate. Since there is no road, the few who have visited this wonderful place arrive by kayak, canoe or duck boat.

Now, after a decade of effort by conservation supporters in the community and the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership, Shackford Point is now permanently protected from development by a deal completed today by The Nature Conservancy.

The purchase protects 85.7 acres at Shackford Point, land well-known in the Great Bay area as the Sawyer Farm. Generations of the Sawyer family farmed the land until 2002, when Warren Sawyer Jr. died.

Great Bay dominates the view from the former Sawyer farm in Newmarket.  The Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership has protected 85.7 acres here, including land along the Lamprey and Squamscott rivers. © Eric Aldrich/TNC

On behalf of the partnership, The Nature Conservancy today purchased two parcels: 34.9 acres at Shackford Point and another 23.5 acres along the Lamprey River. Those parcels were purchased from Bolivar Realty LLC. Ultimately The Conservancy will transfer those parcels to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.

A private buyer has purchased an additional 37.1 acres of the former Sawyer farm, including the house and fields along the Lamprey River. Of that land, The Conservancy has purchased a conservation easement that protects 27.3 acres, including the fields.

The acquisition protects 5,370 feet of frontage along the Lamprey River and 930 feet along Great Bay in Newmarket.

“This is really something to celebrate,” said Bob Miller, Great Bay Project director for The Nature Conservancy. “In one deal, this remarkable partnership among agencies and organizations has been able to protect a significant amount of frontage along the Lamprey River and Great Bay. And because of its location and habitat, this property was one of the first to be identified as a priority for protection when the partnership began in 1994. We’ve been actively working to protect this piece ever since.”

“The mouth of the Lamprey River is one of the finest salt marsh habitat in the Great Bay Estuary and supports significant numbers of wintering Canada geese and American black ducks,” said Edward Robinson, a waterfowl biologist for Fish and Game. “This area is one of the most favored waterfowl hunting areas in the bay.”

Shackford Point, one of the two parcels that will be transferred to Fish and Game, is a wooded peninsula that’s used as a perch site by bald eagles in the winter.

Peter Wellenberger, manager of the Great Bay Estuarine Research Reserve, is among many thrilled to see this land protected. "Since the Reserve first began protecting land, we have always considered Shackford Point to be our highest priority," Wellenberger said. "If bald eagles ever decide to nest again on Great Bay, we have always felt that Shackford Point was the place they would most likely choose.  To protect this area is a dream come true."

News of having this land protected “is wonderful,” said Wilfred Hamel, chair of Newmarket’s conservation commission. “It’s what conservationists here have been striving for all along. I’m glad to see that it’s actually happening.”

Hamel knows the property a little, mostly from Great Bay and the Lamprey River, but his wife spent much time at the Sawyer Farm as a child. “It’s a tremendous place, an important spot on Great Bay.”

The Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership is a comprehensive approach to identify Great Bay’s most critical habitats and to protect them. With The Nature Conservancy as lead acquisition agent, the partners also include the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, Ducks Unlimited, Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Natural Resources Conservation Service, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Since 1994 the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership has protected 3,466 acres of critical habitat around Great Bay. Local communities and other organizations have protected an additional 3,020 acres that the partnership has been able to use as match to leverage federal funding. The leading sources of funds include the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, North American Wetland Conservation Act and private donations. A key player in securing those funds is U.S. Senator Judd Gregg who knows the Great Bay area well.