In 2016, the Town of New London acquired this 26.38-acre parcel of land with 550 feet of road frontage along Pleasant Street. The property is located within the Pleasant Lake watershed.  Monies for this purchase came from capital reserve funds that had been set aside for protecting open space. 

The Pleasant Street-East easement is best suited for conservation purposes, such as managing the forest and providing habitat for wildlife, extending the Kidder-Cleveland hiking trail located on the Pleasant Street-West property, as well as allowing for other low-impact recreation. New London’s Conservation Commission Chair, Bob Brown said, “One of the primary attributes of permanently conserving this land is to protect the water quality of Pleasant Lake. Water flows from this parcel across Pleasant Street creating the headwaters of Red Brook, a major tributary to Pleasant Lake. Placing a conservation easement on the property also makes good on the promise we made to voters when we sought their approval to purchase the land in 2016.”

Ausbon Sargent holds an easement on the west side of Pleasant Street and in 2018 readily agreed to accept the conservation easement on the Pleasant Street-East property. There are no plans to change the land as the foremost concern is protecting the area, managing the quality of water bound for Pleasant Lake, and preserving a natural setting close to Main Street, New London.

This property is open to the public for low-impact recreation, like hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking, and nature observation.