Water Street
90 acres of fields, forest, and wetlands
No public access
October 2024

Foster Meadow Farm is a well-known equestrian facility that specializes in training horses and riders in dressage. The 90-acre conservation easement was donated to Five Rivers by Pam Goodrich, who purchased the property in 1996 and built the equestrian facility. She has been a noted instructor and trainer of dressage for almost 40 years and has been long- and short-listed for the United States Equestrian Team.

Having no children or relatives interested in owning the farm, Pam began thinking about donating it to conservation. “I didn’t know much about land trusts,” says Pam. ” But a good friend’s son who is an expert in conservation easements introduced me to the concept, and my attorney recommended that I get to know Five Rivers. My idea simmered for many years, and when I contacted them, everything went very smoothly. Ken (Stern, volunteer project manager) and Jeff (Evans, Director of Conservation) were great to work with.”

Pam was particularly keen on preserving the scenic road frontage with a stone wall running along Water Street. Behind the stone wall are beautiful open fields lined by mature trees, and beyond the fields a distant wooded hillside can be seen. Across the road is an unobstructed view of Mount Kearsarge.

The land beyond the equestrian center and fields is forested, and beyond the forested area is a large wetland complex and a portion of Tannery Brook, a stream that winds into the Merrimack River. The open fields, vast wetlands, and mixed forest provide a wide diversity of habitat that supports most of the animal species known to be present in the area. Observed species include coyote, deer, moose, bear, beaver, weasel, skunk, racoon, porcupine, turkey, songbirds, numerous hawks, and an occasional bald eagle.

Pam loves the farm, with its beautiful fields and forest and views of hills and mountains. For her there is great satisfaction in knowing that this land will be protected forever. A hundred years from now people walking, biking, or driving along Water Street in Boscawen may see the same historic stone wall and all manner of wildlife will call the same fields, forest, and wetlands home.

Corn Hill Road
81 acres of wetlands, stream, and mixed forest
No guaranteed public access
December 2016

Congratulations to John and Barbara Keegan, who in December 2016 fulfilled their dream of conserving 81 acres of wetlands, forests, and field on their Boscawen property with Five Rivers Conservation Trust.

The Keegans manage the property for sustainable living and as a tree farm, producing maple syrup, firewood and wood products from the land. Conserving this land is an extension of the Keegans’ sustainable living ethic.

John and Barbara built their home on the property in 1980 from trees harvested from their certified Tree Farm. The area around their home provides fresh garden produce, eggs and meat from chickens, ducks and geese; and maple syrup from sap collected in their woodland. The field is managed for wildlife and is filled with flowering plants which attract pollinators. The woodland is an actively managed, certified Tree Farm that provides maple sap, sustainably harvested firewood.

The Keegan land is adjacent to the already conserved Woodman Forest, owned by the Forest Society, creating a block of nearly 200 conserved acres. The property is primarily forested with a large wetland, making it a magnet for wildlife.

New Hampshire’s wildlife action plan identifies this land as among the highest ranking habitats in the state. The Keegans have observed moose, bear, coyote, bobcat, nesting red-shouldered hawks, turkeys, red and gray foxes, otter, barred owls, pileated woodpeckers, weasels, beaver, and fisher and have at times experienced wildlife contemplating or taking a free meal of domestic poultry!

The Keegan easement is Five Rivers’ first conservation project in Boscawen. “The 81-acres around the Keegans’ homestead will never be subdivided or developed and the property will be sustainably managed, providing valuable wildlife habitat and abundant water resources. The Keegans will continue to own the property and can transfer it to another owner in the future. Five Rivers will monitor the land and ensure that conservation restrictions placed on it keep the land undeveloped in the future,” states Beth McGuinn, Executive Director of Five Rivers.

Special thanks to the Keegans for their dedication to land conservation and to the Boscawen Conservation Commission for providing funding to make it possible.