By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
PITTSBURG – Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte said Wednesday she is hopeful that the state can come to an agreement on logging levels for the 146,000 Connecticut Headwaters tract here but she is not willing to agree to a 10-year plan that does not benefit the North Country.
The state holds an easement on the tract that is now owned by Aurora Sustainable Lands, which is in the business of selling carbon credits. Instead of primarily cutting trees for timber they allow trees to grow to offset business impacts that lead to global warming.
Almost two years ago, a 10-year logging agreement on the land expired. Fourteen months ago, the state rejected the most recent draft of the proposal floated by Aurora.
The state is still trying to get Aurora to not significantly reduce traditional cutting levels, but it has not materialized in a new 10-year plan.
Ayotte said the agreement is very important particularly to the north country’s taxation and economy along with a traditional way of life north of the notches. But she said she is not caving to a crappy deal.
Speaking with reporters in her office of the State House Wednesday afternoon, Ayotte said, “I’m very hopeful. There’s been very productive discussions but I am not going to agree to something that I don’t think benefits the people of the state and especially the north country…we are hopeful there will be a resolution soon.”
Coos County Administrator Mark Brady says Aurora continues to be in violation of the current cut threshold with its focus on keeping the trees growing for carbon capture maximization.
He is urging the governor to be mindful of its importance to the wood products economy in the region and for the tax coffers of local governments which have been tied to timber tax revenue for over a century.
Timber in New Hampshire is taxed at a rate of 10 percent of the stumpage value, with some exceptions.
That tax goes to the municipality or for unincorporated places, it goes to Coos County. “Since 2011, actual harvests have been about two-thirds (66 percent) of the state target,” for the easement Brady said.
“In 2022, the actual harvest was only 56 percent of the target,” he said. “They were/are in breach,” of the easement contract.
“As we (the Coos County Commissioners) noted in our submission to the State of October 4, 2024, on Aurora’s revised stewardship proposal of July 2024 (the second one after the first had been rejected by the State in April 2024) there has been a precipitous decline in the harvesting on the property particularly since 2020,” Brady said. “That is the demarcation when the property began to be managed for the primary purpose of increasing carbon stocks for the California Air Resource Board (“CARB’s”) offset program.”
Brady said the numbers show the following to be taken under the easement terms:
– 30k — 40k cords up to 2020
– 25k cords from 2020 – 2023
– 16.5k cords for 2024 (though he said he was not sure what the final number was)
Several months ago, Ayotte said it was her understanding that this year Aurora cut more than it did in the previous year. Brady said that is true.
“Our understanding is that Aurora is currently harvesting more than the previous couple of years, and they need to keep harvesting. They have a lot to make up for as they have shifted the focus of the forest management on the property to carbon sequestration maximization. This should not be a ‘one and done’ proposition but the beginning of Aurora managing the property consistent with the terms of the easement,” he said.
The county has recommended an annual harvest target of 35,000 to 40,000 cords annually for the next 10-year Stewardship Plan. Brady notes that is still less than the growth rate of trees on the property.
“The industry regeneration benchmark for the northern forest region of New England is one-half a cord per acre annually,” which would be about 72,500 cords a year.
“That is a blended rate of hardwood and softwood. We have offered to have our resource economists and forester provide input,” Brady said. “This should not really be that difficult. The state needs to simply enforce the terms of the easement which are explicitly set forth. Its oversight has been lax.”
YESTERDAY AND TODAY – A FOREST THAT HELPS DEFINE NORTH COUNTRY
At the tip of the Granite State, the sound of the chainsaws mix with the occasional sound of gunfire as logging trucks still rumble along gravel woods roads. This protected land holds the best chance of seeing a moose in the state and is dotted with ponds and remote lakes near the border with Canada.
Logging, hunting and snowmobiling continue to be the central uses of this primarily boreal forest, and is tied to the very essence of the north country’s identity. It is also an important habitat for wildlife.
For decades, this was industrial forest land that fed mills which are now mostly idled. But there are some, and many people still look to the land for income. It was owned by the International Paper Company which cut by more than 35,000 cords a year and even more until about the year 2000.
Following its announced plans to sell the land, in April, 2002 a public-private partnership was announced by state and federal leaders. It allowed for the land to be owned and sold for $12 million but attached to it was an easement that cost $30 million which forever protects 146,000 forest acres for its traditional uses of recreation and logging.
Aurora Sustainable Lands https://aurorasustainablelands.com/ is the third owner since the headwaters tract was protected by an easement. It first proposed cutting 10,000 to 20,000 cords a year. A new draft is still being negotiated.
The company has agreed to maintain a separate, long-term recreation agreement for the land with the state and there is no change to the status, although ATV and OHRV trails have not expanded. They still allow for hunting – with the general firearms season for deer now just begun on Wednesday- and snowmobiling.
And the state owns and maintains the road system within the headwaters tract, which has in recent years seen damage due to storms.
Aurora owns thousands of other acres across North America and is primarily selling carbon credits to companies interested in or required to reduce their carbon footprint to slow global warming. But it also sells wood and says it is committed to the terms of the easement that it assumed.
Blake Stansell, chief operating officer and president, Aurora Sustainable Lands said in a statement to InDepthNH.org, “We remain committed to ongoing, constructive engagement with the Governor’s office and key agencies such as the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and Fish & Game. Our discussions around the revised stewardship plan and broader forest-related issues, including forest health initiatives, continue to reflect our collaborative approach.”
In its April 15, 2024 letter of rejection of Aurora’s proposed 10-year stewardship plan, Commissioner of Natural and Cultural Resources Sarah Stewart and Patrick Hackley, director of the division of forest and lands wrote, “The overarching concern shared by all state agencies involved in this review is the proposed plans’ clear intent to significantly reduce timber harvest and forest management activities…The decision to reduce the timber harvest is clearly based on an economic decision to increase carbon stocks rather than the ecological needs of the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Forests. Furthermore, this decision directly conflicts with the Connecticut Lakes Steering Committee’s vision for the property as referenced in the easement.”
Stewart and Hackley wrote that the Aurora plan would have “severe and far reaching consequences for forest wildlife and wildlife habitats as well as the New Hampshire citizens and municipalities who depend on the revenue created by an active working forest, timber industry and timber by products industry.
“Furthermore the proposed plan is in direct violation of the purposes and stewardship goals that were put in place when the easement was created in 2002. While the proposed plan likely maximizes profits for Aurora, the severe reduction in timber harvest results in the property ceasing to be an economically viable and sustainable tract of land…for the production of timber, pulpwood and other forest products.”
Stewart and Hackley concluded that the state was open to discussing a way for Aurora to capitalize on carbon credits provided that local logging and wood products continued to flow to benefit the local economy as it has in the past.
The advent of being able to make money by leaving the trees standing, known as carbon capture forestry, is a new revenue stream since the easement was created 23 years ago.
This tract is enrolled for 100 years in the California carbon compliance market and the previous owner placed it on that market. Ayotte noted earlier this year that she talked about the headwaters easement in her inaugural address.
“It is very important to me that we get that right. Because what we saw over the years from the prior agreement was a real reduction in harvest that didn’t necessarily marry what we understood was achievable on the property based on the science. So making sure this agreement we get it right going forward is very important to me,” Ayotte said.
Asked if Aurora is cutting below the threshold in the current easement, in violation of it, Ayotte said, “well that’s exactly the issue. And we don’t want to see that happen.”
“You have to understand the reason the state has this easement is because this is a very important part for the timber industry and the local economy that there be that balance…there’s natural and ecological reasons but there are also economic reasons for the region,” Ayotte said.
Echoing Brady’s concern for the lack of state action is George Bald, who was commissioner of the formerly known Department of Resources and Economic Development when the easement was signed.
In an op-ed piece in InDepthNH.org Feb. 21, 2025, Bald said conservation easements are designed to protect the public interest by ensuring that land remains accessible for recreation and preserves its historical uses and environmental significance.
“When such easements are funded with public tax dollars, there is a clear expectation that the land will be managed in a way that aligns with the core purposes of the easement. In the case of the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Trust, that includes logging that follows the best forestry practices, wise recreational uses and access to the land. Anyone acquiring this property would be aware of these requirements prior to closing.
“On October 9, 2003, as Commissioner of the former Department of Resources and Economic Development, I had the honor, alongside Governor Jeanne Shaheen, Senator Judd Gregg and others to sign into protection the largest tract of land in New Hampshire’s history. It was a remarkable effort on the part of many State agencies, recreation organizations, Federal partners, the local Towns, Environmental groups and Conservation nonprofits. My agency played a key role in this effort as we included Parks and Recreation, Forest and Lands, Travel and Tourism and Economic Development, divisions that were affected by the project.
“We acquired the development rights and established an easement to ensure the property’s future remains consistent with the planned vision and commitments made to all stakeholders.
“This property has been a major component of the region’s economy for more than 100 years,” Bald wrote. “The land is vital not only for the local communities, but the entire State. Today, the 146,000-acre CT Lakes Headwaters Trust easement, once a balanced model of working forest and conservation, is now being mismanaged by the current owner. The business is prioritizing its company’s carbon-first approach to land management which completely disregards the original intent of the easement,” Bald said.
“We must remember this easement was purchased with federal funds, state funds, and the support of many conservation organizations. The public, who funded this easement with their tax dollars, deserve that these lands fulfill their intended purpose, and provide a return on that investment. Reducing or stopping timber harvest will lead to direct and indirect job losses, diminished investments in traditional and innovative forestry industries, decreased municipal revenues from timber taxes as well as the loss of income for local loggers, truckers, mechanics and sawmills. Keep in mind, forest products make up the third largest part of the State’s economy,” Bald said.
“Now more than ever, strong leadership is needed to strengthen oversight of this easement. The Attorney General, the Commissioner of the Department of Cultural and Natural Resources and the Director of Forest and Lands need to enforce the original intent of the easement,” Bald concluded. “Carbon-first forestry management is a bad idea for this piece of land. It requires the State of New Hampshire to subsidize California’s objectives instead of achieving our own.”
Brady said “the Governor’s comments demonstrate that she knows the issue and implications to the North Country.” Additionally, he said the legislature passed House Bill 123 which provides for a two-year moratorium on new carbon sequestration while the Carbon Sequestration Programs Study Commission studies the implications – economic, tax, wildfire, and wildlife — and makes recommendations.
“The Board of Commissioners has made it very clear that using our forests primarily for carbon sequestration is an existential threat to Coös County’s economy, tax base and way of life. And what is not good for Coös County, ultimately is not good for the State as a whole,” he said.
In an email sent Thursday, Brady said “it is a little absurd (for this 10-year plan) to be dragging on this long.”
“Their first proposal was 10-20k which if you remember…that range is a smokescreen where all they would have to do to meet the agreement is the lower number with no intention to ever meet the higher number.
“The state should have done the analysis to determine the baseline, which is inferred in the terms of the easement when it references a working forest to sustain the industry. We have offered that and we are going to be approaching 24 months early next year. We hope our hand is not forced but are in this for the long haul,” Brady said.
(Editor’s note: George Bald is a member of the InDepthNH.org)