Morse Preserve in Alton Bay is looking more spectacular than ever lately. Though the Forest Society has owned the property for a few years now, we held a formal dedication earlier this month to honor the donation of this 431 acre reservation by Alton native Mary Jane Morse Greenwood. The property had been her family's land for generations, and she grew up harvesting and selling blueberries, eggs, and other produce on the slopes of Pine Mountain. To prepare for the dedication, a number of land stewards got together to spruce up the trails and make sure everything was in top condition. The Forest Society has also been doing some heavier duty habitat management on the property lately: mowing and brontosaurus clearing in order to maintain a mosaic of open areas and early successional forest that will favor a great number of wildlife species. The openings will also serve to maintain the blueberry barrens for public picking, as well as preserve the amazing views of Lake Winnipesaukee and the Belknap and Ossipee Mountains.
Our land steward crew preparing for the dedication
Morse Preserve steward Suzanne Marvin points out a landscape feature to steward Jennifer Mayor (Hills Forest) while her granddaughter and pup sit nearby
Also honored at the dedication was David Roberts, who has spent a good deal of his life exploring, mapping, and photographing the Belknaps and Ossipees. On our land steward workday, we erected an interpretive display showing the different peaks that are visible from Morse Preserve, which is in honor of Dave's work and generosity. If you want to check out some of Dave's photographs of mountains in this area, click here. The mountain profile sign we installed had to be affixed to bare granite bedrock, so it was quite the challenge to get in the ground. Thanks to a rock drill obtained by Jason for the day, we were able to get it done in time!
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