The Wilton Conservation Commission plans to present an option to purchase three parcels of land that make up the Horseshoe swimming hole for a new town recreation site to Selectmen later this month.
Jennifer Beck, who heads both Wilton’s Conservation Commission and Economic Development Team, previously brought the idea to Selectmen to purchase the waterfalls and swimming hole known locally as the “Horseshoe” in October.
The three land parcels which make up the Horseshoe are currently owned by the Proctor Family Trust. The trust is currently drafting an option to buy document for the town to consider, selling all three parcels for a total of $300,000. The Conservation Commission is estimating a further $50,000-$80,000 to put in a parking area at the front of the Horseshoe, and for legal costs of permanently conserving the property.
“I’m hoping the Select Board sees their way through to protecting these absolutely unique resources,” Beck told the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript on Wednesday.
Beck said if the board decides to move forward with the option to purchase the Horseshoe properties, the Conservation Commission would spend the next year spearheading a donation campaign and applying for grants, and would approach the town for approval and any additional needed funding in 2020. The Conservation Commission has a fund for the purchase of conservation land, and has $40,000 to contribute to the project. The Commission also plans to use the next year to apply for a grant through the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, or LCHIP, for up to half of the cost of the project.
Beck said there are a lot of opportunities for community involvement in the land, beyond the use of the swimming hole and hiking. Some of the land adjacent to the entrance of the Horseshoe is high quality farm soil, and could be used for farming projects, such as a community garden or agricultural programming.
If the board decides not to purchase the property, Beck said, there are still ongoing discussions on how to solve issues with parking at town’s swimming holes, which are popular with locals and tourists. Parking is limited at both the Horseshoe and Garwin Falls, another privately owned but available to the public scenic hiking and swimming spot, and cars clogging the roadway is a continuing issue.
Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative Middle/High School technology education teacher Justin Kane recently organized a clean up of the Horseshoe. Eight WLC teachers and the vice-principal spent the day picking up trash at the swimming hole.
Kane said he’s collaborated with the town’s Conservation Commission on student projects, such as making bird houses for local nesting species.
“I was looking to make a stronger connection between the school and the town we serve. We’re just up the ridge from Horseshoe Falls. It’s a high profile site for a lot of our students, they spend a lot of their summers there.”
Kane said there are a lot of educational opportunities attached to the land, if it were made available to students for curriculum.
“The place in an incredible resource that any number of programs at this school or another school could benefit from,” he said. There are opportunities for on-site learning in the fields of agriculture, forestry, biology and hydrology in the fields, woods and falls, he said.
“The place is magnificent,” Kand said. “If this was a Midwestern state, it would be the jewel in a state park, or something. We get a little jaded by natural beauty here, just because there is so much of it, but it’s a spectacular site.”
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.