From left: Landowner Jolyon Johnson, Ausbon Sargent Executive Director Debbie Stanley, Sunapee Selectboard Chairman Joshua Trow, Sunapee Conservation Commission Chairman Van Webb, and Ausbon Sargent Land Protection Specialist Andy Deegan celebrate the closing of the Wendell Marsh Expansion Project in Sunapee. (Donna Nashawaty photograph)
From left: Landowner Jolyon Johnson, Ausbon Sargent Executive Director Debbie Stanley, Sunapee Selectboard Chairman Joshua Trow, Sunapee Conservation Commission Chairman Van Webb, and Ausbon Sargent Land Protection Specialist Andy Deegan celebrate the closing of the Wendell Marsh Expansion Project in Sunapee. (Donna Nashawaty photograph) Credit: —Courtesy photograph

Ausbon Sargent Completes Wendell Marsh Expansion Project in Sunapee

Sunapee — Forty acres of protected land have been added to Wendell Marsh in Sunapee by the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust.

Wendell Marsh is located along Route 11. The town of Sunapee owns the land and Ausbon Sargent holds the easement.

“As travelers drive past Wendell Marsh on Route 11 between Sunapee and Newport, they can be assured that most of the visible wetland has been protected,” Ausbon Sargent Executive Director Debbie Stanley said in a news release. “There is still some important upland property adjacent to the marsh that may be considered in future plans, but we are very happy to have nearly 330 acres conserved in the Wendell Marsh area.”

Protection of the marsh has been a focus of the land trust’s conservation efforts for several years. In addition to the 40 acres just added, protected property includes 10 acres in the Wendell Marsh Wildlife Area, 136 acres in Wendell Marsh North and 143 acres in Wendell Marsh South.

Jolyon Johnson, a veterinarian who founded Wendell Veterinary Clinic in Sunapee, previously purchased acres in the Wendall Marsh North project in 2013 and the latest expansion project. Johnson held the land titles until Sunapee could buy the properties from him in what the trust called a “bargain sale.”

In addition, Sunapee and its Conservation Commission, the Burton D. Morgan Foundation, and a host of individuals helped complete the expansion project, which was officially finished on June 22.

Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust now oversee 11,348 acres of land on 146 properties across a 12-town area.