Sharon
It’s “kind of unheard of,” Jon Binhammer, protection director for the Nature Conservancy’s Vermont chapter, said in a telephone interview last week. The chapter expects to purchase the propertylater this year.
The move comes as a Utah man’s plan to create an intentional community near the Joseph Smith Memorial has sparked protests. As of last month, David Hall had purchased more than a dozen properties in the area, including five in another part of Sharon, totaling more than 1,200 acres.
The land, currently owned by Thetford resident Mark Schindler, is flanked by the chapter’s White River Ledges Natural Area on one side and the state-owned White River Wildlife Management Area on the other.
Together, the three conserved areas will total 1,266 acres.
The property has been on his mind for more than two decades, said Binhammer, a former Sharon resident who’s been with the Nature Conservancy for 25 years. “There’s a lot of biodiversity contained within this (acreage) that really piqued our interest in wanting to see it protected.”
The purchase will safe guard wildlife habitat andsome of Vermont’s rarest natural species, the Montpelier-based chapter said in a news release.
It will also protect river frontage on the White River, the longest undammed tributary to the Connecticut River, and guard against development, which would compromise river frontage and public access and contribute to forest fragmentation, “a growing issue” in the state.
The release also cited a tourism-related benefit: an “uninterrupted and bucolic view shed” from Interstate 89.
The land is part of a regionally significant wildlife corridor used by bears and moose, which traverse property on both sides of the river, and home to an especially rare natural community, which is “kind of a high point for us,” Binhammer said.
Its name may not mean much to people, but the calcareous riverside seep is a place where calcium-rich groundwater flows across rock at the edge of the river. The rock is scoured by ice during the winter, preventing a buildup of silt and other material that would allow for tree growth. Those two factors create a welcoming environment for certain calcium-loving plants.
A half a dozen plants on the state’s rare, threatened and endangered species lists grow in the habitat, Binhammer said. A former sand pit and gravel pit on the site will be cleaned up and stabilized, addressing potential erosion hazards and “physical hazards” for visitors.
The purchase will bring the amount of land the Vermont chapter owns and manages as nature preserves in the state to about 20,000 acres, Binhammer said. “This is a nice addition.”
The Nature Conservancy has raised almost $670,000, mostly in grants, toward its goal of $823,000 to cover the purchase price of $603,000 and related expenses.
It has received $443,000 from the Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund, $119,500 from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, more than $100,000 from foundations, and $2,000 from the town of Sharon.
A hiking tour of part of the soon-to-be-conserved land Saturday morning included members of the town’s conservation and planning commissions. Several people said they had visited other parts of the property, which is also accessible from the Class IV Honey Hollow Road, but Saturday was the first time any of them had visited the property via Kenyon Road.
In addition to the acreage being sold to the Nature Conservancy, Schindler is working to subdivide out some property, including a 10-acre plot on Kenyon Road that is expected to be sold to the tenant farmer.
Telephone messages left for Schindler last week were not returned.
The Nature Conservancy will maintain an existing trail on the land, which will be open for recreational activities including hiking, hunting and fishing. A small parking lot is planned for the Kenyon Road side, Binhammer said, but accessing the conserved property involves crosses the farm fields, and in order to disturb the farmer as little as possible, the nonprofit has no plans to create new trails on the land.
“Sort of like national forest, it’s all open for usage,” said Binhammer, who led the hike which was organized by the Nature Conservancy. “You just have to find your way.”
During the 90-minute walk, he stopped periodically to recount some of the property’s history, both recent and ancient, and emphasize significant plants, trees and rock formations.
If those features hadn’t been pointed out, he would have walked right by them, said Ira Clark, a member of the planning board.
“It’s great to have someone with a naturalist background.”
The group also took in views of the large gravel and sand pits that had previously been used by the town. When Schindler’s mother lived at the farmhouse, Sharon paid her to use the materials. In turn, she used the money to pay her taxes, Binhammer said.
“I didn’t think it was as big as this,” said Mike Zwikelmaier, a conservation commission member, looking over the sand pit, a deep chasm surrounded by piles of topsoil.
Recent estimates put the cost of replacing the dirt in the pits at $13,000; an estimate of $24,000 would include re-seeding, Binhammer said.
The project is “something we’re discussing,” Kevin Blakeman, chairman of the Sharon Selectboard, said in a telephone interview Saturday. “It’s under consideration … as to how that’s going to be handled. It is supposed to be filled in.”
During the walk, Fritz Weiss, chairman of the conservation commission, said the property is important, especially for its proximity to other publicly and privately conserved properties in Pomfret and Sharon, including some across the river, such as Quimby Mountain, “a fairly gnarly piece of land,” and Downer State Forest.
Karen Hewitt, who was hiking with her son and fellow conservation commission member, Eric Boen, said they’re really looking forward to the land being conserved.
Protecting the wildlife corridor “is one of our missions,” Hewitt said.
“And conserving as much (land) as we can,” Boen added.
Weiss pointed out that protecting the corridor is also in Sharon’s town plan.
After rain cut the outing short, Clark said he’s interested in returning on a sunny day, and following the trail to the river’s edge.
“I’d definitely like to do more hiking here.”
Aimee Caruso can be reached at acaruso@vnews.com or 603-727-3210.