Activists saved 688 acres of forestland in Keene and the New Hampshire towns of Chesterfield and Swanzey. Chesterfield borders Brattleboro and Keene. Swanzey borders Keene and is about five miles from Massachusetts. Protecting land from development is one of the best ways to stop climate change, which the world's leading scientists say is a major threat to earth's ability to support human life. Most of the money for protecting land comes from the government; politicians decide how much to invest in saving land, versus tax breaks for billionaires, war, and prison for non-violent people.

The 688 acres were saved by a group that has a web site at www.MonadnockConservancy.org. Anyone can walk on the land – it is open to the public. The deal was done April 25.

A map of the Connecticut River watershed in Massachusetts, southeast Vermont and southwest New Hampshire shows that the vast majority of the farmland and forestland is vulnerable to being converted to houses, roads, parking lots, and Walmart stores and similar commercial buildings. The map was current as of 2015.

Click on the map to enlarge it, then scroll down and click "see full size image." Then click on the map again to enlarge it more. You can move the image using the arrows on your keyboard.

In the Valley, land trusts have protected much of the land that is safe from development. Links to local land trusts are at www.FindALandTrust.org.