Mink Brook Community Forest Seeks Your Support
The Town of Hanover, together with our wonderful colleagues at the Trust for Public Land and the Hanover Conservancy, would like to ask Hanover residents to consider supporting this major conservation project. We're making great progress toward raising the dollars needed to permanently protect these 250 acres on Greensboro Road (in orange on map) and Hanover's largest stream, but we're not there yet. Our community-wide goal to complete the campaign is $15,000 and the deadline is September 30th!
Make a secure online donation
The Mink Brook Community Forest was formerly known as the “Leavitt Property”, owned by the Leavitt family and once slated for development of a proposed large-scale residential development spearheaded by Paragon. The Trust for Public Land, after many years of effort, was able to secure a purchase and sale agreement with the Leavitt family in January of 2020, pending a multi-phased fundraising effort involving the receipt of federal and state grant funds as well as private donations.
The community will participate in planning how the land will be managed; there's potential for new trails for walking, biking, and XC skiing with connections to nearby conservation lands. Another 3 acres near the historic brick farmhouse on Greensboro Road will be dedicated to housing for entry level homeowners, another pressing community need.
A scientific assessment discovered 10 ecologically significant areas on the property: “This may be one of the best locales for wildlife movement from the highlands of Hanover down along Mink Brook to the Connecticut River." Such habitat connections strengthen climate change resilience for our town and protect against flooding in the Mink Brook corridor.
Any funds raised beyond what's needed to purchase the property will be used to offset the Town's expenses to build trails and care for the land into the future.
Learn more about the conservation opportunity.
Thanks for helping to make this long-time dream a reality!