No mucking around: Springfield, Vt., property to become park

Over more than 50 years of residence at Springfield, Vt.’s pristine Muckross property, the late Vermont state Sen. Edgar May developed a profound affinity for the land and a desire to share its resources with others. That vision is nearing realization thanks to its donation to the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.

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No Mucking Around: Springfield, Vt., Property to Become Park By Jared Pendak Valley News Staff Writer Thursday, February 18, 2016 (Published in print: Thursday, February 18, 2016) Email Print 1 Over more than 50 years of residence at Springfield, Vt.’s pristine Muckross property, the late Vermont state Sen. Edgar May developed a profound affinity for the land and a desire to share its resources with others. That vision is nearing realization thanks to its donation to the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. May, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and celebrated civil servant who died in December 2012, had expressed his wish to preserve the property for public use to family as well as to Ethan Phelps, a regional manager for Vermont State Parks, based in Springfield. Phelps has worked closely with May’s nephews, Adam and Peter Kunin, in the gifting process; both parties have indicated the land transfer should be finalized in the near future. “(May) really wanted the land to be safeguarded for people in Springfield,” said Peter Kunin, son of former Vermont Gov. Madeleine May Kunin, Edgar May’s sister. “He had a very emotional, spiritual and visceral attachment to the property, and he wanted to be sure it was open to the public.” Muckross — named after an Irish castle around the turn of the 20th century by Springfield industrialist W.D. Woolson, according to local lore — includes May’s former home and five smaller additional buildings, including two Adirondack-style cottages and garages. A small, swimmable pond with an old hydroelectric dam and an 80-foot waterfall are highlights. Twin hills feature cliff areas with views of the Black River and Springfield village, the later about 21/2 miles to the north. Phelps hopes to eventually see a trail system suitable for hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing and cross country skiing in place. That’s welcome news for Kunin, who’s happy others will be able to enjoy the land the same way he and his siblings did in their youth. “I personally absolutely love that land. It’s great for fishing, hiking, swimming and playing in the woods,” Kunin said. “It’s beautiful, hilly and rugged. I’m glad the state is working with us to be sure the community can enjoy it.” To honor May’s wishes to make the land accessible, especially for children, the Muckross Youth Day Camp has been developed in partnership with the AmeriCorps VISTA program, the latter of which May was once deputy director. With assistance from AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps, a pilot program was launched last summer on adjacent property owned by Phil Drinker, serving more than 100 Springfield students in grades 1-8. Officially titled the Muckross Educational and Environmental Outdoor Recreation camp, participants last year engaged in plenty of leisurely activities such as swimming and kickball, but were also visited by state wildlife biologists for educational programming and performed important tasks such as the removal of invasive species from nearby Wilgus and Mount Ascutney state parks. The camp was available on a sliding scale and free for seventh- and eighth-graders, according to VISTA member Kelsey Finnell. Finnell will lead the second installment of the camp this summer, headquartered on Drinker’s land once more before likely shifting to the new state park in summer 2017. “We got a great response from the first year,” Finnell said. “We certainly hope it was the start of a model that will be accessible for children in Springfield for years to come.” Phelps said the new park is likely to be named Muckross State Park. “The big highlight of this park is the focus on the local community; a lot of state parks have more of a regional focus,” Phelps said. “It’s still going to be statewide and open to everybody, but it’s something we think people in Springfield are really going to enjoy, and that’s what Edgar wanted.”  Newbury, N.H., Trailhead Protected: The “wild side” of Mount Sunapee is now accessible in perpetuity. A 33-acre parcel on Mountain Road that includes the trailhead for the popular Andrew Brook Trail has been purchased for conservation by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, a Concord-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting New Hampshire’s most important landscapes. SPNHF raised $110,000 in a campaign to both purchase the property — for $70,000 from the Barbara Osborne Revocable Trust — as well as for transaction and long-term management costs. The closing date for the transaction was Jan. 29, according to SPNHF communications manager Brenda Charpentier. “So many people who love this trail assumed that the trailhead was part of Mount Sunapee State Park, but in fact it was privately owned and therefore vulnerable when it came up for sale,” said SPNF president and forester Jane Difley in a news release. “Now that the Forest Society owns it, public access is protected, and we want to thank the fans of this trail for helping to secure it.” The Andrew Brook Trail ascends approximately two miles along its namesake stream on Mount Sunapee’s eastern side — known as its “wild side” by area residents because of its distance from the Mount Sunapee Resort. The trail ends at aptly named Lake Solitude, surrounded by conifers, and connects with additional trails leading to the White Ledges vista point and Sunapee’s summit. One of the project’s supporters was the Sunapee Women’s Adventure Group, whose members have enjoyed Andrew Brook Trail for generations. “We think of it as one of our most special places,” group member Midge Eliassen said. “We know our grandparents took picnic hikes and sleepover fishing trips to Solitude. We have introduced our grandchildren to the rewards at the end of the trail.” Support for the project also came from many other local groups, including the Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition and the Monadnock Sunapee Greenway. It adds to the more than 7,600 acres of conserved or protected land in a network that includes Mount Sunapee and Pillsbury state parks, according to SPNHF director of education Dave Anderson, of Sutton, N.H. That makes it New Hampshire’s largest non-fragmented acreage south of White Mountain National Forest.