By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
PITTSBURG – Aurora Sustainable Lands is resisting calls to allow for more ATV trail miles on the Connecticut Lakes Headwater Tract under a new recreation plan approved by the state Oct. 21.
The issues of reduced logging on the land, however, are separate and have not been resolved yet and concern a lot of elected officials in Coos County.
The new recreation agreement calls for no major changes in allowed uses from the past 20 years including snowmobiling, hunting and fishing.
Aurora has resisted in this plan any specific requests to open more of the land to All Terrain Vehicle recreation but is willing to allow snowmobiles on up to 250 miles of trail, with about 150 currently maintained by local clubs.
You can read the new plan here: https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Recreation-Management-Plan_102124-1.pdf
In the executive summary of the new recreation plan, it reads “ATV use has continued to expand in the region and the connector trail that crosses the property is a vital link between the Pittsburg trail network and the trail systems to the south and east. This plan does not propose to increase the trail mileage, however, if permission for a route across private lands is secured from the First Connecticut Lake area to the ATV trail network, the agency and landowner will consider the proposal.”
About 20 years ago, this massive tract of land at the northern tip of the state was placed on the market by the International Paper Company.
It had been cut hard for many years during the 1900s to feed the many regional mills, and it provided a living and a culture the state wanted to keep.
In 2001, then Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, and U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, a Republican, hatched a plan to protect the land for traditional recreational and logging uses while keeping the land in private hands. It was devised with the purchase of a $13.5 million conservation easement and $10 million in other funds to convey about 25,000 acres to Fish and Game for habitat, 100 acres for the state’s Deer Mountain Campground and allow the sale of the rest of the land to a private company to log.
The proviso for all that was the easement. A task force report reads “these lands will remain as a large block of largely undeveloped, productive working forest while continuing their substantial contribution to the local regional culture and economy. Public access for recreation will be assured as will the conservation of ecologically sensitive resources and places,” as the easement’s primary goal and mission.
This new agreement works to keep motorized and non-motorized uses separate as much as possible to avoid conflict and the new pact keeps most of the traditional uses the same with “primary uses” also including mountain biking, wildlife viewing, Nordic skiing and snowshoeing, dog sledding, shed collecting, hobby mineral extraction and the maintenance of up to 125 camp leases.
But Aurora Sustainable Lands, the new, “carbon-first” landowner which grows trees to offset the corporation’s carbon footprint rather than primarily cutting them.
The recreational plan reads that the owner is not currently interested in expanding the ATV network. There were requests and public comment during the five public meetings on the subject by the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Citizens Committee.
However, Aurora and the state agreed to a possible expansion of ATV use in the future if permission for a route across private lands is secured.
“The ATV trail connector from Perry Stream Land and Timber system to the Great Northwoods network has been in place since 2003. During this plan update the club proposed several loops through the property and a connection to the businesses located by the First Connecticut Lake. The landowner is not supportive of additional ATV use on the roads but would support a connection with the First Connecticut Lake businesses if route permission can be acquired,” the plan reads.
The existing ATV trails including the Cedar Stream-Deadwater loop and Indian Stream-Alexa Way-Hall Stream will be permitted unless closed at the “landowner has committed work with the state agencies and club to establish a temporary alternative route.”
The Cohos Trail Association, which has a hiking trail system in the region, has proposed a loop trail around Deer Mountain with relocation of the trail from the Deadwater Road and Corridor 131 and is looking to do a feasibility study to construct a viewing platform on the existing Deer Mountain Fire Tower structure.
The plan breaks down “primary” and “secondary uses” with the goal that any secondary use considered must not impinge or degrade on one of the “primary uses.”
ATVs, camping and equestrian uses are on the “secondary” list along with special use permits.
Permits are required for organized events on the property.
The roads are owned and maintained by the state with the landowner annually contributing to the state’s expenses of maintaining the roads by paying a “Base Amount” and then an additional amount “Usage fee” per cord of timber removed from the property.
Because Aurora plans to cut logging from past levels as a “carbon first” priority, impacting this and the timber tax, officials who are expressing concern for a loss of tax revenue and are opposing a separate, 10-year logging plan.
Sarah Stewart, commissioner of the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is now considering the revised logging plan but has not announced an agreement.
The Attorney General’s Office is also involved as it relates to the easement language itself relating to logging.
Aurora is the third private owner of the land since the easement was purchased, following Lyme Timber Company and then the Forestland Group which was acquired and made part of Aurora two years ago.
According to its website, “Aurora Sustainable Lands is a carbon-stewardship company that invests in industrially harvested forests to deliver high-integrity, verifiable carbon credits to climate conscious companies.
It also “protects the planet’s oldest and most cost-effective carbon removal tool, trees, to provide nature-based carbon credits with unrivaled reliability, durability, and quality. Anew Climate markets the carbon credits generated from Aurora’s projects,” according to its website.
Established in 2021 and completed approximately $1.7 billion in transformative acquisitions to date, Aurora, formerly Blue Source Sustainable Forests Company, is a joint venture between Anew Climate and a group of equity investors led by Oak Hill Advisors and including AB CarVal, EIG and GenZero, among others. Its mission is to “actively manage and conserve forestlands to maximize impact and remove and store carbon from the atmosphere.”
Many attending the meeting of the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Citizens Committee, meeting earlier this fall including a number of state representatives, said they are not pleased with the current proposal from Aurora.
It has planned to reduce the harvesting of logs. In past years more than 20,000 cords were cut. Last season about 15,000 cords were cut. When the new owner took over in October, 2022, they said they wanted to change the plan in July, 2023 lowering the harvest.
“We’re trying to get to mutual ground here,” said Patrick Hackley, state forester.
Some argued that they are currently not in compliance with the current 10-year plan.
The Coos County Commission said the forest cut plan is “fundamentally incompatible” with the easement, and urged the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to recognize this.
The commissioners said they want the state to investigate the previous decision to register the forest tract with the California Air and Resources Board for carbon capture as being non-conforming with the easement.
