In 2004, the Red Water Creek Alliance was formed by four like-minded organizations: Ausbon Sargent, Lake Sunapee Protective Association, the Sunapee Conservation Commission, and the Sunapee-Ragged Kearsarge Greenway (SRKG) Coalition. The Alliance set forth to raise $140,000 to purchase the development rights to one of Lake Sunapee’s most important wetlands. After a successful campaign, the wetland was protected and named The Frank H. Simpson Reserve. While this process was underway, neighbor Marcia Wright immediately offered to donate a conservation easement on her 27.13 acres that abutted the wetlands. Hence, the Wright conservation easement was completed, adding to the protection of our Lake Sunapee watershed.
Because the Wright property has over 600 feet of road frontage on Route 103-B in Sunapee, Marcia’s easement helps protect the wetland and provides rural open space views to the public as they drive by. An added benefit of the easement is that the property is open for year-round public access. Although there is no trailhead on the property, a very small segment of the SRKG trail crosses onto the Wright property as it passes through the abutting Simpson Reserve.
The Wright property includes mixed woods forest, five acres of wetland, and a perennial stream that flows into the Red Water Creek wetland which is significant because it empties into Lake Sunapee. The wetland area enhances the water quality through nutrient retention, preventing excessive nutrients like phosphorus and nitrates from entering the lake. The Wright property is part of a larger ecosystem including more than 1,000 acres of protected properties, all of which provide significant habitat for diverse wildlife populations.
Marcia has recently decided to give an outright donation of her easement property to Ausbon Sargent. Now that Ausbon Sargent owns the property, it will be managed under our fee-owned lands policy. The public will still have access to the land, and any forest management will be guided by a forestry management plan written by a licensed forester. This plan will focus on continued protection of the water quality of Red Water Creek to help the water quality in Lake Sunapee from being degraded.
We are grateful for Marcia’s generosity both in 2004 and today. We are also fortunate to have excellent partners in the Sunapee Conservation Commission, willing to assume responsibility to monitor the easement annually.
