A Newbury family gave 301 forested acres to be conserved forever

Doug and Katharine Britton donated 301 acres of managed forest in Newbury to the Upper Valley Land Trust, to be kept from development, Vermont Public reported on November 5, 2026. The parcel links about 1,300 acres of land already conserved nearby, including the Woodchuck Mountain Conservation Area and the Tucker Mountain Town Forest. Two town trails cross it, among them the Woodchuck Trail, and the land will stay open for public recreation.

Peg Merrens, the trust's vice president of conservation, said visits have turned up beavers and signs of bears, and that moose move through. Headwater streams and wetlands on the property feed Hedgehog Brook and eventually the Waits River. The family had managed the woods for timber, including white pine planted in the 1950s, and the trust plans to keep harvesting timber as well as hosting research on how animals use the corridor. Merrens said it took 25 years to secure the deal. Doug Britton said they gave the land to help keep large, connected tracts in northern New England for forestry, wildlife, water, and walking. The gift is this parcel. It is not a claim that the wider corridor is finished.