Horse Hill Nature Preserve Ad-Hoc Committee
The Horse Hill Nature Preserve Ad-Hoc Committee was dissolved on August 31st 2006.
Management of the conservation portion of the HHNP was transferred to the Merrimack Conservation Commission by the Merrimack Town Council. The Merrimack Conservation Commission then created a Sub-Committee to actively advise it in the management of the property along with implementing the Definitive Plan as it was approved by the Town Council.
You can view those minutes here.
Note: The Town of Merrimack has the "official" webpage for the HHNP Ad-Hoc Committee. You can find that page HERE. This page was created to provide additional information and is intended to eventually become the web page for the Ad-Hoc Committee. This page was created under the guidance and recommendations of Town Staff and the Committee Members.
Introduction
In April of 2002, the Town of Merrimack voted to purchase the property now known as the Horse Hill Nature Preserve. The purchase was completed in July 2002. The Board of Selectmen (BOS) decided to create a Master Plan Committee to write a Master Plan for the property. The Master Plan Committee's work was completed in August of 2003. Except for section 9.1, the recommendations of the Master Plan were accepted by the Board of Selectmen.
In October of 2003, the BOS created the Horse Hill Nature Preserve Ad-Hoc Committee.
The Ad-Hoc Committee
The Charter of the Horse Hill Nature Preserve (HHNP) Ad-Hoc Committee is:
Provide general assistance to staff, as requested, in the implementation of the recommendations outlined in the Horse Hill Nature Preserve Master Plan.
The Committee has 22 members and its Chairperson is Tim Tenhave. Meetings are generally on the first Monday of every month at 7:30pm in Town Hall Courtroom except for July when there is no meeting.
Meetings in late 2005 and for all of 2006 have been scheduled earlier for 7pm and have included 2 meetings in some months. The meeting schedule can be found here. Past meetings and agendas can be found using the Meetings link above.
In 2004, the Committee was asked to create 6 sub-committees that encompass the areas of: Athletic Facilities, Cleanup and Trash, Funding, Historical Aspects, Parking and Access, and Trails. In 2005, the Committee added the Wildlife Inventory sub-committee. The work of the sub-committees can be seen using the Sub-Committees link above.
In late 2005, the HHNP Ad-Hoc was transformed by Town Staff request to become the Consensus Building Group in support of the work of the Nashua Regional Planning Commission (NRPC). The NRPC was contracted by the Town to facilitate the development and write the HHNP Definitive Plan. This Definitive Plan was requested by the BOS in October of 2003 and this was seen as the way to get the plan done. For more details on the Definitive Plan, follow this link.
Description of the Horse Hill Nature Preserve
The 563± acres of the Horse Hill Nature Preserve consist of gently rolling to fairly steep terrain and two hills of approximately 400' elevation. The land was cleared for pasture in previous centuries, has been logged several times, and now consists primarily of a mixed hardwood forest with trees between 20 and 60 years of age. The property includes a series of streams, ponds, swamps, and numerous wetlands totaling approximately 60 acres. A power line easement traverses the property, creating a shrubland undergrowth area. A small sandpit was created by previous owners, but sand has not been removed for several years.
Logging roads formed the basis of what is today a trail network used by hikers, bikers, hunters, snowmobilers, horse back riders, etc. This trail network does cover the majority of the property, however, leaving large areas without defined access.
The varied terrain, habitat, and large areas of undisturbed open space have encouraged a wide variety of wildlife to thrive on the property.
Due to its size, quantity of wetlands, and impact on wildlife and water resources, this property was listed as the top priority for conservation in the 2002 Town of Merrimack Master Plan.
A Topographical map of Southern Merrimack showing its location and can be found here. There are other very detailed maps including topography, wetlands, wildlife habitat, and base map all developed by the Nashua Regional Planning Commission available on the maps page.
