Farming Family Protects Additional Land in Warner

Courser Farm is site of annual Pumpkin Carving Festival

Warner, N.H. — Oct. 23, 2006 — The annual Courser Farm Pumpkin Carving Festival in Warner next Sunday will be a bit sweeter this year, as the family that makes it possible has protected additional farm, forest and wetland through a conservation easement.

The Courser family has placed a conservation easement on 138 acres of their land off Schoodac Road in Warner. The easement will be held by the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust.

This is the second easement that the Coursers have placed on their lands. Last year, the family donated a conservation easement protecting 317 acres of wetlands and forests in Warner and Webster.

"We are excited and proud that we are able to protect this scenic and beautiful property forever," said Rebecca Courser. "The purchase of this easement enables us to continue our farming tradition spanning several generations and hopefully, several generations to come."
Many players and pieces have fallen into place to make this important conservation project possible, according to Debbie Stanley, executive director of the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust.

Less than three months ago, in early July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service made available $232,000 for the Courser farm project. Those funds, from the Service's Farm and Ranchland Protection Program, would be available only if Ausbon Sargent and The Nature Conservancy could raise the remaining funds and complete negotiations and survey work by September 30.

"What a challenging and exciting summer it's been to make this project a reality," Stanley said.

The Courser family agreed to donate 25 percent of the farm value to the project, leaving $412,000 to raise. In addition to the $232,000 federal grant, the Warner Conservation Commission gave $125,000, and individual donors contributed $52,000.

"A project like this only happens when the landowners are profoundly committed to land conservation," Stanley said. "Certainly this is true of the Courser siblings -- Rebecca, Tim, Jerry and Bill -- who have been supporting their families on this working farm for more than 100 years."

The Courser family has roots in the area going back to the 1740s; their ancestors accumulated land in the Schoodac Road area in the late 1800s. To this day, the Courser family has a strong connection with the land, with ongoing forestry and farming operations, including an organic vegetable garden and farm stand.

As with the previous conservation easement, the recent agreement allows the Coursers to continue to own the land and manage it for agriculture and forestry, but prevents development and subdivision of the land.

Also assisting with the project was The Nature Conservancy, which helped with fundraising, conservation science and easement transaction.

"The Courser family's connection with the land runs deep, and they demonstrate a real understanding of the value of it for nature and for generations to come," said Daryl Burtnett, state director of The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire. "We are grateful to the Courser family for their land ethic and we are grateful to the partnership that came together for this conservation goal."

The newly protected tract includes fields used to grow sweet corn, squash, pumpkins, hay and a variety of organic vegetables and berries. The tract is also well-known in the area for its scenic view from Schoodac Road. Wetlands on the parcel provide important habitat for wildlife of special conservation concern and provide natural flood mitigation.

The land will remain open to public recreation, including snowmobiling on a designated trail.

The Courser Farm Pumpkin Carving Festival is Sunday, October 29, noon to 4 p.m. at the Courser Farm on Schoodac Road in Warner. Pumpkins will be lit October 29 through Tuesday, October 31, from 5 p.m. until they twinkle out.

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The mission of the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust is to help preserve the rural landscape of the Kearsarge/Sunapee region by working with local governments and private landowners to develop conservation easements. A volunteer Board of Trustees, an executive director, a land protection specialist and support staff operates the ASLPT. The role of the staff is to freely offer their expertise in land protection techniques to individuals, towns and government agencies on an as needed basis. Memberships and other gifts support the Trust. Since being founded in 1987, the Trust has protected 4,000 acres, including more than 4,000 feet of frontage on Lake Sunapee.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Since 1964 The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire has helped protect more than 265,000 acres of ecologically significant land and currently owns and manages 28 preserves across the state. For more information, visit www.nature.org/newhampshire.