Campaign to Conserve Balsams Land Off to a Fast Start

Donations Hit the Web within First Half Hour

Within minutes of announcing a campaign to conserve 5,800 acres surrounding the BALSAMS Resort in Dixville Notch, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests started receiving donations via its website, www.forestsociety.org.

“People are really jazzed about this conservation project,” said Susanne Kibler-Hacker, vice president of development at the Forest Society.  She attributed the interest to several factors.

“Many people from across New England know the BALSAMS landscape and appreciate its unique beauty because they’ve driven through the Notch or had the privilege of staying at the Resort,” Kibler-Hacker said. “They’ve also heard that our window of opportunity to conserve the land surrounding the hotel is short—we have until Jan. 15 to raise the $850,000 we need—and so they are responding quickly.”

“And for some donors it’s important that the proposed conservation restrictions would eliminate the chance that Northern Pass towers and transmission lines could be built on the land,” she added. “They are very motivated.”

People looking to make a tax deductible contribution can do so online (www.forestsociety.org), by phone (call Susanne Kibler-Hacker at 603-224-9945), or make checks payable to:  Forest Society-Balsams Project and mail to Forest Society, 54 Portsmouth Street, Concord, NH 03301. The Forest Society is a 501-C non-profit organization.