On March 13, the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust (ASLPT) acquired full ownership of the 54-acre Old College Road Preserve property located between Old College Road and Agony Hill Road in East Andover. A group of neighbors to this property, including Alex Bernhard and Myra Mayman, Fritz and Barbara Hunting, Joyce Jones, Jon and Vicki Mishcon, and Lori Cox, purchased the land in 2002 to protect it from development.

As the owners recently contemplated the future of the Old College Road Preserve property, they determined that it would receive the best care and management in the hands of the land trust, and they gifted the property to Ausbon Sargent. This parcel of land has good forestry soil and is listed as supporting landscapes under the 2010 Wildlife Action Plan. There are vernal pools on the property that support native amphibians.

The most important factor in ensuring the preservation of the Old College Road Preserve, however, is its connectivity to other land, as this 54-acre parcel is adjacent to over 2,400 acres of previously conserved land.

When asked why a group of neighbors would choose to purchase this property, spokesperson Alex Bernhard said, “We drove by this property every day. It represented the last piece of undeveloped, unprotected property on Old College Road.”

With the addition of this property, ASLPT now protects 128 properties encompassing 10,526 acres in its 12-town region. Once again, Ausbon Sargent is thankful for the opportunity to continue with its mission to help “preserve the rural character of the Mount Kearsarge/Lake Sunapee region.”

Ausbon Sargent is a non-profit land trust whose mission is to help preserve the rural landscape of the 12 towns it serves in the Mount Kearsarge/Lake Sunapee region.