Creating and Maintaining Town Forests

The Andover Conservation Commission is hosting a special event to discuss — Creating and Maintaining Town Forests — on Monday June 2, 2025 at 7pm in the Andover Barn at Highland Lake Inn, 32 Maple St. East Andover, NH


Over 200 N.H. towns have their own town forest. These forests are assets to the community, providing an outdoor space to relax, unwind, and explore, as well as providing undisturbed habitats for the local wildlife.

What does it take to create a Town Forest? Where would one go? How many acres are required for one?How exactly can it be used? How would it be maintained?

Join the Andover Conservation Commission as we learn the answers to these questions and much more about creating and maintaining a town forest from guest speakers:

Barbara Richter (New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions Executive Director) has had a passion for nature since childhood and received her Masters Degree in environmetal studies from Antioch University. She has served as the stewardship coordinator for the Monadnock Conservancy Land Trust, and has worked with the Society for the Protection of NH Forests on many of their land trust projects.

Brian Hotz (Vice President of Land Conservation at the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests) joined the Forest Society in 1998 as a Land Protection Specialist and has completed over 275 projects conserving over 60,000 acres. He has a master’s degree in Science from the University of Wisconsin’s Land Resources Program and completed a master’s thesis on implementing conservation easement programs.

This event is open to the public and light refreshments will be served. If you have any questions about this event contact ACC member Sooze Hodgson at doctorsooze@gmail.com.

2025 SRK Greenway Annual Meeting

SRK Greenway Annual Meeting

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The 2025 SRK Greenway Annual Meeting will be held at the Sutton First Free Will Baptist Church beside Kezar Lake in North Sutton, NH on Saturday April 5th starting at 5pm.

The evening begins with a Potluck Supper starting at 5pm. All are welcome to join but please bring a dish to share. The Sunapee Ragged Kearsarge Greenway Board will hold a quick business meeting that is designed to share with the community the current status, important issues and latest news of the SRK Greenway. This short, informal meeting will be immediately followed by a lecture by John Morton.

Olympic Biathlete John Morton will discuss designing recreational trails

SRK Greenway Guest Speaker John Morton will present on Saturday, April 5th at 6:00pm.

John’s presentation will focus on the process of designing and constructing contemporary Nordic skiing recreational trails and competition venues. He will also speak about the pros and cons of designing trails that encourage multiple users like: mountain bikers, horse riders, trail runners, cross country skiers and others. A seven time Olympic participant (Biathlon), John is an author, as well as a commentator on Vermont Public Radio. He will be bringing copies of his books: A Medal of Honor, and Celebrate Winter, for folks who’d like to purchase autographed copies.

Join us on Saturday, April 5th at 5:00pm for a great Potluck Supper at the North Sutton Meeting house on Route 114 – across the street from the Vernondale General store. Bring something to share. Stick around after the Potluck to hear John Morton discuss the important design aspects of multi-use trails. Free and open to the public. This is sure to be a fun, information-packed lecture you will not want to miss.

About our Speaker: 

John Morton is the founder of Morton Trails and the designer of hundreds of trail projects across the United States and abroad.  He has developed trails for private landowners, schools and municipalities, resorts, as well as competition venues for major international events such as the World University Games and Biathlon World Cups.

A seven-time Olympic participant, twice as an athlete for the US Biathlon Team and Chief of Course for Biathlon events at the Salt Lake City Olympics, John began designing trails in 1989 after eleven years as head coach for the Dartmouth College Ski Team.


Who: All are welcome to this free event. Bring something to share for the potluck.
Where: First Free Will Baptist Church 1533 Route 114, North Sutton, NH
When: Saturday April 5th. Potluck at 5pm, Lecture at about 6pm