Lakes Region Conservation Trust

The Lakes Region of New Hampshire contains some of the most beautiful and threatened wildlife habitat and recreation resources in the northeastern United States.  Since 1979, the Lakes Region Conservation Trust (LRCT) has protected more than 17,000 acres of shorelines, islands, wetlands, forests, and mountaintops, including more than eight miles of shore frontage on the Region's lakes and ponds.

Principles and Function of the LRCT

The Lakes Region Conservation Trust is a member-supported, community-based, non- profit organization.  The LRCT unites private philanthropy with voluntary community service to protect key conservation properties and to endow their stewardship in perpetuity.  In most cases, the LRCT seeks to secure the conservation, study, and recreational use of its lands through direct ownership, the oldest and most established form of property holding.

The LRCT responds to local conservation and recreation priorities by protecting properties that have clear conservation value and demonstrated community support.  The LRCT defines a projected management plan for the property, acts with dispatch to negotiate a gift, bargain sale, or other favorable agreement, and identifies sufficient funds to secure the acquisition.  The LRCT funds its acquisitions and operations completely through private sources and refrains from seeking public funds of any kind.  The LRCT's work often relieves towns and agencies from the burden of raising taxes to purchase undeveloped land.

The LRCT relies upon its governing board and core staff, consultants, and dedicated volunteers to meet its mission.  The LRCT is assisted by volunteers who serve on several standing committees and by consultants who provide professional services to the organization.  The LRCT works closely with the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Nature Conservancy, the Yale School of Environment and Forestry, the Tuck School of Dartmouth College, the University of New Hampshire, and local schools and organizations in the service of its mission.

The LRCT makes management decisions based on scientific data collected on its properties.  Since 1998, the LRCT has commissioned scientific bio-inventories on many of its protected properties.  These studies have researched ecosystems on some of the largest landholdings in the region; among their discoveries are trees that date back to the 1590's.  These kinds of data allow the LRCT to make informed decisions as it seeks to achieve a balance between public access and the preservation of wild lands.

The LRCT encourages the free use of its properties by the public for traditional low impact uses while valuing the natural peace and quiet of protected lands.  Walking, hiking, hunting, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, low impact boating, and other forms of traditional recreation are encouraged.  Snowmobiling is permitted on several properties; the use of motorized wheeled vehicles, such as ATVs, is prohibited.

The LRCT furthers its mission by fostering, training, and supporting local groups who wish to preserve land in their own towns.  The LRCT provides support to local groups as they define conservation priorities, negotiate with landowners, and seek to identify private funds to protect land.  In addition, the LRCT provides counsel and encouragement to local families and landowners who own lands with conservation value and works closely with family members and their advisors to define conservation options and their outcomes.

The LRCT needs your help to preserve the unique character of the Lakes Region and teach the benefits of conservation to our children and grandchildren.  We encourage you to learn about the LRCT, to visit our protected lands, and to invest in preserving our precious natural heritage.  To learn more about the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, please visit the LRCT website at Lakes Region Conservation Trust.

Acquisition and Protection of the Castle in the Clouds Property

In late 2003, the Lakes Region Conservation Trust made the final payment for the acquisition and protection of the 5,500-acre Castle in the Clouds property in Moultonborough and Tuftonboro.  Through the generosity of more than 2,000 private donors, the LRCT successfully completed a three-year campaign to acquire the historic landmark property and ensure its protection in perpetuity.

"We owe a debt of gratitude to everyone who stepped forward to save this land for public access," stated Trust president Thomas Curren upon completion of the campaign.  "The support for this campaign was broad-based, with donations coming from year-round New Hampshire residents and summer visitors who reside all across the United States.  We undertook this campaign in the months before September 11, 2001, and these donations occurred over a period of time when the economy, and thus the capacity of people to give, was in serious decline.  The success of this effort is a tribute to the love that people have for New Hampshire's great landmarks.  We all owe a debt of gratitude to every supporter, great and small, and in particular to previous owner Paul Sticht, whose stewardship of the property and generosity in its sale at a price well below the market value made it all possible.  We are endeavoring to keep faith with the natural values of New Hampshire that have sheltered wildlife and attracted people who have loved this land for generations.  There is much more to do, but we are proud and grateful at this success," Curren noted.

Castle in the Clouds Route 171, 455 Old Mountain Road, Moultonborough, New Hampshire 03254
(603) 476-5900    Fax (603) 476-2512
Owned by the Lakes Region Conservation Trust        Managed by the Castle Preservation Society       Press Room