The Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust Celebrates a $180,000 Grant Award
New London, NH – NH’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) awarded a $180,000 grant to Ausbon Sargent to help conserve the 150-acre Brown Family’s Frazier Brook Farm property in Warner, provided the project fundraising goal is met. Ausbon Sargent is a non-profit organization located in New London, N.H. It currently protects 143 properties, covering 11,263 acres in its 12-town region and has depended upon grants such as this LCHIP award and both private and public fundraising to achieve its goals. Ausbon Sargent has until June, 2019 to compile all documentation and reach its fundraising goal in order for LCHIP to release the grant funds.
The forty-two projects receiving LCHIP awards are spread all across the state, from Littleton to Nashua and Westmoreland to Star Island. Thirty-five very different communities are benefiting from the grants, from tiny Langdon (population 689) to Nashua (population 87,551). LCHIP’s $3.6 million in grants will be matched by more than $11 million in funds from other sources. Grant amounts range from under $4,000 to $390,000.
This year’s grant recipients include twenty-nine historic resource projects for buildings representing nearly two centuries of New Hampshire history, from 1769 to 1967. Historic buildings include two rare remaining railroad buildings and the first monument in the country dedicated to women’s service in both military and civilian roles. The thirteen natural resource projects selected for grants will ensure permanent protection of 2,100 acres. Seven farms will be protected and available for current and future food production. Other parcels increase the protected acreage on the sides of popular Mount Kearsarge and Crotched Mountain.
The Brown Family’s Frazier Brook Farm is one of the seven farms selected to receive a portion of the 2017 LCHIP grant funding. The Brown family has owned various pieces of this 150-acre property since the 1800’s and have sold and repurchased sections of the property in the years since. As a shared family effort, they have now reacquired the 150 acres. One family member shared that “it was always our hope to conserve the property to guarantee that what we had worked so hard to restore would never again be broken up. We just never considered it was possible to do it at this time. After talking with Ausbon Sargent’s Land Protection Specialist, we realized that it might happen sooner than later. We are so appreciative for LCHIP’s award and the help from Ausbon Sargent to make our dream a reality.”
Grant decisions are made by the 18-member LCHIP Board of Directors, following a rigorous application and review process. “The LCHIP Board of Directors and staff have the responsibility and privilege of helping to protect natural, cultural, and historic resources across New Hampshire,“ observed LCHIP Board Chair Amanda Merrill, a former state senator and representative from Durham. She continued “It’s a pleasure to work with dedicated colleagues from non-profits, local government, and citizen groups to preserve the places that make our state special.”
Ausbon Sargent could use your help to reach its fundraising needs and complete the Brown Family’s Frazier Brook Farm project. With the LCHIP funding and the generous help of many supporters of the Ausbon Sargent mission, we can make this happen.
For more information about Ausbon Sargent or to help us to meet our fundraising goal, visit .ausbonsargent.org or call 603-526-6555.
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About New Hampshire’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program
The New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program is an independent state authority that provides matching grants to New Hampshire communities and non-profits to protect and preserve the state’s most important natural, cultural and historic resources. Its legislatively mandated mission is to ensure the perpetual contribution of these resources to the economy, environment, and quality of life in New Hampshire. Since its inception in 2000, the program has provided 385 grants which have helped to conserve more than 279,000 acres of land for food production, water quality, ecological values, timber management and recreation including hunting and fishing and supported 241 projects to rehabilitate historic structures and sites. Grants have been awarded in all parts of the state and in 153 of New Hampshire’s communities. Forty million dollars of state money have leveraged more than $280 million in funds from other sources. LCHIP grants are supported by fees on four documents recorded at the Registry of Deeds in every county of the state.
For more information about LCHIP, visit lchip.org or call (603)224-4113.