We've made it to December! Ice is forming on Chocorua Lake, snow buntings and a trumpeter swan have been spotted passing through the area, and the first big storm of the season is behind us. Coming soon, the Geminids meteor shower will peak on the evenings of Dec. 13 and 14. Find a place with a dark sky, and you might see up to 120 Geminid meteors in an hour!
Thank you to everyone who has donated to our Annual Fund this year. Through the end of this year, all new donations will be doubled, thanks to a generous matching fund gift, and all giving over 2024 levels will be matched, as well. Scroll down to see some of the friendly faces of conservation and stewardship in this region—current and future. You'll also find beauty from the Basin, a photo essay full of cuteness and practical learning, Save the Dates for exciting winter programs indoors and out, a link to our 2025 Fall Newsletter, useful free webinars for landowners and land managers, and lots more!
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Staff of USVLT, TMCC, GMCG, & CLC in the beautiful Great Room at Tin Mountain Conservation Center. These folks are working every day to care for and protect land and water in this region, and to create opportunities for all of us to spend time learning about and in communion with the more-than-human world. | Juno Lamb |
At the November Next Gen for Conservation meet-up at The Hayloft at Hobbs Tavern, a mix of longtime area residents and folks new to the region gathered to talk about land, conservation, trails, volunteering, and more. Center, in the vest, CLC Outreach Coordinator Anna Paddock, who is convening these events. Want to join the email list to hear about upcoming Next Gen meetings? Click HERE. A big thank you to The Hayloft for hosting us! | Juno Lamb
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Stay tuned: All CLC 2025 donors will receive our Annual Report in which, alongside all our generous volunteers, we will sing the praises of and name the amazing group of folks who took turns going to Chocorua Lake every single day during the long drought this summer and autumn to water the new plantings along the eastern shoreline. These folks were critical to the success of these plantings, and the success of the Shoreline Restoration project. We were delighted to celebrate these wonderful waterers in October. Front left: CLC Stewardship Director Debra Marnich. Far left: CLC Seasonal Land Steward Galen Kilbride. | Juno Lamb
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>> Check out our online shop to find CLC hats, t-shirts, books, free downloads, and Nurture Nature posters and Earth Pledge cards donated by Lamb & Lion Studio. >> Please order by Sunday, December 14 if you'd like to receive items through the mail before Christmas.
>> We'll also have all these items for sale at the Holiday Makers Market at The Preserve at Chocorua, 11 AM–3 PM on Saturday, December 13 & Sunday, December 14.
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| 12"x16" Nurture Nature poster, art by Janina Lamb, Lamb & Lion Studio. |
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Image from the Chocorua Lake Crankie (at the bottom of this page). |
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The Wonders of Wood: Fire, Forts, & Forest Ecology |
...and, here are some future conservationists hard at work being themselves outdoors in the beautiful field and woods of Charlotte C. Browne Woods during naturalist Hillary Behr's Wonders of Wood program. |
The program begins with a story about a child who follows a cawing sound into the woods... Though she gets lost, her grandmother has told her what to do in such an event: stay put so your people can find you, and watch what the animals do to stay warm and dry! |
Then we, too, wander into the woods. |
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These stuffies are lost in the woods! They need to stay put, and stay warm, so we work together learning how to build shelters for them. |
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Humans also make tools from wood. Here kids work on building a bow and arrow set from saplings. |
After the stuffies have had a nice cozy nap in their shelters, it's time to find them and bring them home. | All photos: Juno Lamb |
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The CLC 2025 Fall Newsletter is available online! |
A gorgeous, packed issue. Read letters from Board President David Kunhardt and CLC Executive Director Alex Moot, meet new CLC board members Sue Kelley and Diane Viera, hear from a Legacy Circle member and some of our volunteers about why they choose to support CLC, an original Peaco Todd cartoon (script by Erin Hurley) about cyanobacteria, and Erin's cyanobacteria article, a description of our water quality monitoring program, beautiful poems by Helen Mesick, and lots more.
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Two helpful, free program series for landowners: |
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>> Protecting Your Legacy is a free webinar series from Mass Woods/UMass Extension, most of which will be relevant for NH landowners, too. Webinars take place between January 13 and February 24, and include conservations about conservation-based estate planning, land conservation tools, inheriting land, and more. Learn more HERE and register HERE.
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>> The Yale Forest Forum has ongoing Speaker Series, each of which focus on a key theme or challenge facing forests, forestry, and people. Current topics include Frontiers in Forest Carbon Crediting and A History of Scientific Forestry: From Extraction to Ecosystem Management. All of their programs are free, and you can watch free recordings of all past series. An abundance of learning! Find them HERE.
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Updates to the Chocorua Map App |
Rick Allmendinger has released the latest version of the free iOS Chocorua Map App. In addition to new trails that didn't exist when the first version came out, he's added some new features, including a Time Table that allows you to see the book time for trails in either direction, and trail names on the map. Download it HERE. Thank you, Rick!
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Maybe 2026 is the year to join a CLC committee! |
The CLC Lake & Property Management Committee meeting at Chocorua Lake. The LPMC is responsible for the management of CLC public-access areas and conservation land, as well as the Narrows Bridge railings (stay tuned for the next e-news) and Chocorua Lake dam. Want to get more involved with CLC? Committees are a great place to start. If you are interested, you are welcome to sit in on a meeting to learn what it's all about—just get in touch with the committee chair. | Juno Lamb
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Two views of Heron Pond in November |
Low water still after a long period of drought. | Anna Paddock |
Ice forming. | Lora Colten |
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Did you know you can donate to CLC via your business? |
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CLC Community Partners receive recognition and appreciation on our website, on our lake kiosks, in our e-news (scroll down to see who our wonderful 2025 Community Partners are!), and more. Learn about benefits here: |
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This lake. This mountain. | Donna Thompson |
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Learn, visit, and volunteer with us
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Our educational programs are by donation, and all donations count toward your annual giving. Zoom and collaborative programs are free—please donate to our partner organizations, too, if you appreciate these programs! |
What's in Your Water? Important Info for Private Well Users, Wed. Jan. 14, 6:30–7:30 PM. Via Zoom with Amy Hudnor from NH Department of Environmental Services. A partner program with Green Mountain Conservation Group and Cook Library. Register HERE.
Skywatch!, Sat. Jan. 17, 6 PM, with Joe Dechene and others from NH Astronomical Society. See stars, constellations, even galaxies through powerful telescopes in the dark skies over Wonalancet. Partner program with Cook Library and Wonalancet Out Door Club.
Climate Future Film Festival: Part 2, Sun. Feb. 1, 3–5 PM, at UUFES in Tamworth Village. Short films & community conversation. A Climate & Community program in partnership with Cook Library & UUFES. Rescheduled from Nov. 30, 2025. Info & register HERE.
2026 CLC & Tamworth Outing Club Winter Fest, Sat. Feb. 7, 1–10 PM, at The Preserve at Chocorua. Cold water dip & sauna at Chocorua Lake at 10 AM. Indoor/outdoor activities from 1-5 PM are free/by donation. Winter Fest Dinner Dance 5–10 PM, advanced registration only. Sliding scale tickets will be available later in December. Want to stay at The Preserve that weekend? Email Anna.
Microplastics and Zero Waste, Wed. Feb. 11, 7–8 PM. Via Zoom with Jill Emerson, Staff Scientist at Green Mountain Conservation Group and Cindy Heath from the NH Network Plastics Working Group on Microplastics. A partner program with GMCG and Cook Library. Stories Behind the Stars, Mon. Feb. 16, 6:30 PM. With Matt Krug, Charlotte C. Browne Woods.
Winter Ecology: Animals' Superpowers for Winter Survival, Sat. Feb. 21, 10–11:30 AM. With Hillary Behr, Charlotte C. Browne Woods. Kids 3–9 with a caregiver.
And, coming up in March! An Owl Prowl, a pollinator crankie, and How to Build a Fire (survival fire starting) for all ages with Kyle Ball. |
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It was great to spot children interacting with our new kiosk sign at Charlotte C. Browne Woods. The green section at the bottom includes "You might see" plants and critters, and this kid wanted to see them all! | Juno Lamb |
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| Wishing you peace in these last weeks of 2025, |
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💙 THANK YOU TO ALL OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS 💙 |
THANK YOU, MOUNT CHOCORUA PARTNERS |
Thank you, Chocorua Lake Partners |
Thank you, Heron Pond Partners |
Thank you, Narrows Bridge Partners |
Our vision is a Chocorua Lake Basin whose resilient forests, clear waters, and thriving habitats are a welcoming haven for people, plants, and animals for generations to come.
Our mission is to preserve the ecology and pristine waters of the Chocorua Lake Basin, maintain trails on Mount Chocorua and conservation lands, and provide welcoming access to Chocorua Lake for nearby residents, visitors, and future generations. |
CONTACT
MAIL PO Box 105 Chocorua, NH 03817
OFFICE 11 Runnells Hall Road Chocorua, NH 03817 603-323-6252
ONLINE info@chocorualake.org
www.chocorualake.org
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Copyright © 2025, Chocorua Lake Conservancy. All rights reserved. |
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