A group of North Country towns working with the Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust has purchased 844 acres to create the Cooley-Jericho Community Forestin Easton.
The group – which includes Easton, Franconia, Landaff and Sugar Hill - has been working to buy the land, which is adjacent to The White Mountain National Forest.
Not only will it be available for recreation and hunting there will be sustainable forestry with the profits shared by the participating towns, according to Rebecca Brown, the executive director of the Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust.
The owner agreed to sell the land for about $600,000 – less than its estimated value – to keep it from being developed.
Ms. Brown said funds came from the U.S. Forest Services Community Forest Program; the Open Space Institute; New Hampshire’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program and Moose Plate conservation program; the Davis Conservation Foundation, Fields Pond Foundation, the McIninch Foundation and the Northern Forest Center.