Chesterfield
Conservation Commission
Welcome!
Chesterfield Conservation Commission is a town commission as authorized under RSA 36-A for the Town of Chesterfield, New Hampshire. It is an advisory and educational body.
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The Chesterfield Conservation Commission focuses on environment protection, educational activities, hiking trails, enhancing visual and wildlife characteristics in town, collaborating with the zoning/planning board and assisting the State of New Hampshire through the wetland and shoreland permit process.
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Chesterfield Conservation Commission meetings are held on the fourth Monday of each month at 7:30 pm at the Chesterfield Town Office (unless otherwise posted).
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Our mission has been to preserve and enjoy the town’s incredible natural resource, its land. The Commission feels strongly that access to our public lands is essential to the appreciation of their value, and has helped establish and maintain trail networks throughout town. Maps are provided on this site.
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Updates & Announcements
Next Commission Meeting
The next Conservation Commission meeting will be on Monday, October 23rd at 7:30 pm. Please contact Amy LaFontaine if you would like to attend and be added to the agenda.
Please join
the Chesterfield Conservation Commission and the Friends and Family of Tom Duston celebrating the naming of the Tom Duston Trail (formally the Bear Mt Connector)
Saturday, October 21, 2023
10:00 AM
Meet at the trailhead on Plain Road.
The honoring ceremony will be held on the Plain Road trailhead with the option to hike the .7 mile fairly steep trail to the top connecting with Moon Ledge on the Daniel’s Mountain Loop.
Please pass on this invitation to any interested friends or hikers!
After the event gathering at Duston’s yard, bring your own chair and drink. Food will be available.
For information email lborofsky@wsesvt.org
Directions:
From Chesterfield, head on Rte 63 South, 2.4 miles to a right turn on North Hinsdale Rd. Continue - road becomes Plain Rd. Travel 2.3miles and the trailhead is on the right. Proceed with caution around Pulpit Rock!
From Hinsdale from the blinking light on Rte 119, turn on Plain Road. Continue for 4.4 miles, trailhead on the left.
No Dogs, Please
The Draper Campsite located on the WMT at the end of Stones Mill Road has a Privy !!
Thanks to the design of Ray Dunn and his crew John Hudachek, Reggie Fleming and Paul Link, the Draper Campsite has a proper privy. Please continue to follow the use expectations (leave no trace including, no fires) but enjoy the luxury of a privy reminiscent of an old outhouse. Note: the cutting of the toilet paper ceremony.
Thanks to Wayne Dingman for the use of his land.
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Chesterfield Town-wide Biodiversity Project
Have you ever wondered what that strange bug crawling on the rock wall is called, or what the name of a plant is that you often see while hiking? What about that fluffy-looking moss on the side of that maple, or the energetic songbird singing away in the canopy? You can answer all these questions and more through a new, community-driven field guide of Chesterfield’s flora, fauna, and fungi. The project, called Town of Chesterfield: A Living Field Guide, collects observations of living organisms that people submit to the community-science database iNaturalist.
iNaturalist is an easy-to-use, free app that can help identify what you are seeing and hearing. When a photo or sound recording is shared to iNaturalist, expert naturalists help identify what was observed. As of April 2021, beginner and master naturalists alike have used iNaturalist to document over 300 wild species in Chesterfield. Among these, are one of New Hampshire’s only records of Wulf’s peatmoss and North America’s largest native moth, the Cecropia Moth, which has a colorful wingspan measuring seven inches.
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The town-wide living field guide project arose out of a natural resource inventory conducted by Moosewood Ecological, a regional consulting group based in Chesterfield. This project, supported by the Chesterfield Conservation Commission and the Chesterfield School Outdoor Education Committee, not only contributes directly to the town-wide inventory, but participants will gain a stronger connection to nature and new discoveries await.
iNaturalist continues to deepen our understanding of nature, and many of Chesterfield’s public lands remain to be documented. Places like Friedsam Town Forest, Pisgah State Forest, and Chesterfield Gorge Natural Area eagerly await your exploration. Similarly, nature knows no bounds, and observations of wild, uncultivated plants and animals from your own yards are welcomed by the living field guide.
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To learn more about this exciting project, get involved, or see a list of all 320 species, visit the project website. (Under community: projects: Town of Chesterfield)
Big Shout Out!!
Some amazing volunteers doing great things in Friedsam Forest. Jeff Scott, Jon Thatcher, Paul Link and Darlene and Ray Dunn worked for a few hours in the rain hauling in materials for a new bridge and bridge extension that Cory Shepard and Jeff Scott then built on the Sargent and Ancient Oaks trails. Thanks to Kathy Thatcher for organizing this effort.
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Ray Dunn is able to excavate and build some new, safer steps for the route 63 entrance to Friedsam. The new steps are 20 feet or so to the right of the old ones. The old ones will be removed soon.