The Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust is the  first locally based, grassroots land trust in New Hampshire’s North Country.

ACT was founded in 2000 by a group of friends and neighbors who shared a concern about the rapid loss of open lands in their community.  After successfully raising the funds to purchase a local property slated for development , the group decided there was a need in the larger area for an organization  that could assist in similar efforts.  They incorporated ACT in New Hampshire and obtained tax-exempt status from the IRS.

ACT now permanently conserves land for community benefit in Littleton, Lancaster, Bethlehem, Easton, Sugar Hill, and Lisbon.  Our  service area is northern Grafton and Coös counties.

ACT ’s mission is to encourage and sustain environmental stewardship as an integral part of the North Country’s growth and future well being. We do this through conserving land with ecological, community, historic, or scenic value. We work with private landowners who place conservation easements on their land. Easements are legal agreements that protect land’s ecological and community values, such as wildlife habitat, clean water, or exemplary views. Easements encourage farming and forestry, but limit or  prohibit development.  The land stays privately owned, and the easement is held by ACT, which ensures that its terms are followed. Many of our private conserved lands are open for public use, but that is up to the owners – please ask permission before using.

ACT also owns conservation land that has been donated to us or that we have purchased through community fund raising efforts. We invite you to visit lands that we own and maintain for public recreational use and manage for wildlife habitat and for high-quality timber. These are listed here.

ACT’s land:

Foss Forest

Herbert G. Whipple Conservation Area

McCornack-Evelyn Forest

ACT’s work is the result of many hands. Click here to become a member.