Thank you to the Loon Preservation Committee for leading a lake paddle all about loons on Chocorua Lake and Little Lake last week. | Stephen Bedard |
Happy August! We've been grateful to visit with so many community members in July and to hear feedback about CLC's 2025-2030 Strategic Plan. We hope to see and hear from folks in August, as well.
We've received several questions lately about our public access areas at Chocorua Lake. All three are open: the Grove, the Island, and the Tamworth Residents Area (parking only with a Tamworth Facilities Permit). The only temporarily closed section of shoreline is the Shoreline Restoration project area between the Tamworth Residents Area and the Island. Read more about current public access at Chocorua Lake HERE.
Scroll down to see some of the gorgeous photos we've received this month from around the Basin. Thanks so much to all the photographers for sharing your work with us! |
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Member Cookout in Wheeler Field. | Alex Moot |
| You're invited:
Member Cookout, Sat. Aug. 9, 12 PM |
Please register in advance so we know how many folks to expect, bring a salad or dessert to share, and come hang out. |
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Writing and Moving with the Natural World |
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Welcome, new board members! |
We are delighted and grateful to welcome two new members to the CLC Board of Directors, Sue Kelley and Diane Viera. |
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Sue has been coming to Chocorua with her family since her grandparents owned a house here in the early 1960s. Over the years she has continued to come to the area to enjoy skiing, camping, hiking, kayaking and, of course, tubing on the Saco River. In 2024, she moved to Albany, NH with her husband Charlie. Sue is a member of CLC’s Outreach Events Committee and enjoys all the activities of CLC, whether taking in an evening Owl Prowl or watering the shoreline. She retired as a Food Scientist at the beginning of the pandemic, which gave her more time to focus on her many hobbies. In addition to volunteering for CLC, Sue enjoys quilting, knitting, kayaking, and gardening.
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A lifelong New Englander, Diane enjoyed family trips to the White Mountains throughout her childhood. She and her husband Gary purchased their log home in Tamworth in 2009 and became full-time residents in 2020. Diane is a member of the Governance Committee, and she and Gary enjoy getting their hands dirty as volunteers in support of the staff’s great work maintaining CLC’s properties. Diane worked for three decades at Historic New England, a nonprofit preservation and conservation organization. She served in various positions before retiring as the organization’s chief operating officer. Diane’s interests include gardening, handcrafts, kayaking, and trying to improve her golf game.
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Some of our dedicated 2025 water quality testers, Mark Bowditch, Pete Lewis, and Max Page, with Nancy Roosa on the other side of the camera. Catch a glimpse of the Secchi disk in action HERE. | Nancy Roosa
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Wonderful volunteers have been testing water quality in Chocorua Lake ten times a season since 1981! At various times CLC has engaged in shoreline projects to protect water quality in Chocorua Lake, notably the Berms and Swales project in 2000 and the recent Shoreline Restoration project. Want to get involved with water quality testing? Fill out a volunteer form HERE.
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Fixing the Bickford Heights sign. | David Kunhardt |
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A big thank you to the great crew who came fully prepped for clearing several large blowdowns. We reinstalled a sign, removed brush, and confirmed the new trail that connects the Bickford Heights trail to the Splitting Stone trail, a nice loop back to the beginning of the Clark Reserve point of access. |
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Trail clearing volunteers enjoying the view from Bickford Heights. | David Kunhardt |
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Learn, visit, and volunteer with us! |
Our educational programs are free for CLC members and kids. We ask non-members for a $10/pp event donation (memberships start at $35 a year). Zoom programs are free, and gratitude to everyone who volunteers for an outdoor volunteer stewardship event!
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Member Cookout, Sat. Aug. 9, 12–2 PM. Wheeler Field, Chocorua. Rain date, Sunday, August 10. More info and register HERE.
Writing & Moving with the Natural World, Sat. Aug. 16, 10 AM–12 PM and/or 1–3 PM. AM: Writing with the Natural World with Louise Wrobleski. PM: Moving with the Natural World with Suzanne Birdsall-Stone. Chocorua Park. More info and register HERE. August 17 storm date.
Stories Behind the Stars: The Summer Sky, Tues. Aug. 19, 7:30 PM. With Matt Krug, Charlotte C. Browne Woods, Chocorua. More info and register HERE.
Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World, Wed. Aug. 20, 6:30 PM. A CLC/Cook Memorial Library Climate & Community book discussion with guests Dylan Alden and Jessie Dubuque who will share their experiences fighting wildland fires with the US Forest Service. Cook Memorial Library, Tamworth. More info and register HERE.
CLC Office Open House, Fri. Aug. 29, 4–6 PM, 11 Runnells Hall Road, Chocorua, across from the Chocorua Library. Come say hello, have a cool drink, and ask us your burning questions.
Annual Picnic & Parade of Lights, Sun. Aug. 31, 6PM. The Grove, Chocorua Lake. Parade of Lights at dusk. More info HERE. |
Mushroom Walk, Sat. September 6, 10 AM–12 PM. With Eric Milligan of NH Mushroom Company, Charlotte C. Browne Woods. More info and register HERE.
Bittersweet Pull, Fri. Sept. 12, 10 AM–12 PM, Brown Lot. Meet at the Island, Chocorua Lake. More info and register HERE.
Wildfire in Northern New England, Wed. September 17, 6:30 PM, with John Neely at Cook Library in Tamworth. A Climate & Community program in partnership with Cook Library. More info and register HERE.
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Gathering around Marcus Cosentino in Little Lake. | Stephen Bedard |
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A big thank you to Marcus Cosentino, East Lakes Region Biologist for the Loon Preservation Committee, for leading a wonderful, informative lake paddle last week, and thanks to everyone who attended for your care for these special birds in our midst. |
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In the center of this photo, you can see the loon nesting platform installed on Chocorua Little Lake. | Galen Kilbride |
Marcus Cosentino, LPC East Lakes Region Biologist. | Stephen Bedard |
Under the bridge to the big lake! | Galen Kilbride |
Visiting the north end of the lake, another site where loons have nested in the past. | Galen Kilbride |
Spotted around the Basin... |
The loon chick out on the lake with their parents. | John Kunhardt |
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Above: Song sparrow. Right: Water lily. | John Kunhardt |
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A kestrel! | John Kunhardt |
Yellow warbler. | John Kunhardt |
Folks who attended our lake paddle with LPC last week were treated to a sighting of one of the eagles in residence at the lake. | Stephen Bedard |
This gorgeous bedstraw hawk-moth, or galium sphinx, Hyles gallii, was not quite in the Basin, but nearby. So named for one of their caterpillar host plants, sp. Galium, of which we have several varieties in this region, including those that go by the names "bedstraw" and "cleavers." Click on the link above to learn more... | Cheryl Jolley
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This beautiful sunset! You can watch a time lapse of this sunset on the new Chocorua Lake Live Cam & sunset and sunrise page HERE. Scroll down to the calendar and select July 31. | Alex Moot |
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| Enjoy the bounty of this season, |
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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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