Burnell Ridge
Conservation Easement
Public Access
Trails
March 31, 2026
One spring afternoon, about fifty years ago, Doug Burnell stepped off Little Chatham Road, once known as Ridge Road, and followed his grandfather into the woods. Walter Burnell was ninety then, still steady on his feet and carrying a lifetime of knowledge about the land he had pieced together over decades. This was the south end of Walter’s property, a patchwork of woodlots that would come to be known as Burnell Ridge. Doug, newly returned to Conway and already working as a surveyor, walked beside him, ready to learn.
They didn’t get far before things went a little sideways.
Doug and Walter had set out with a practical goal: to locate boundary lines, to see the land clearly and map it with confidence. But a newly cut transmission line had carved a raw, unfamiliar swath through the property, throwing off Walter’s sense of direction. Landmarks he had relied on for years—the spring, old markers— vanished.
They wandered longer than expected. Walter grew perplexed, then discouraged. The mission failed. They headed home without finding what they’d come for.
Not long after, Doug returned to the woods alone and quickly discovered all the sought-after landmarks they’d missed. They were all located on the opposite side of the road.
“This was when I realized,” he recalls, “that I’d be pretty much on my own, and enjoying a lot of time out there, getting to know this land.”
What began as a frustrating afternoon became the starting point of a lifelong relationship with the land. Doug kept walking. He learned the woods season by season, not just as a surveyor tracing lines, but as a careful observer. Meadows flickered with butterflies in summer. Vernal pools filled with spring snow melt and rains, then vanished as the months wore on. Brooks threaded quietly through the forest, while wetlands stretched into long, finger-like corridors. In a far corner, old-growth trees stood in a stillness that felt almost timeless. Doug learned to listen to the natural world here.
One place in particular captured his imagination: a wetland known as Hardy’s Cranberry Bog. It wasn’t just beautiful, it was alive. Waterfowl traced seasonal paths overhead, with certain clearings opening views of Mount Kearsarge and the Chatham Hills. Over several years, Doug built a trail there.
“Deer and moose have helped themselves to parts of my trail,” he says. “Or did I build mine on their trail?”
That blend of humility and humor says a lot about how Doug approaches stewardship. He doesn’t see himself as its owner trying to control the land. Rather, he is its steward, working with what’s there.
This forest holds more than beauty and ecology. It carries memory. Long before Doug, a small farming community called Little Chatham occupied this ridge. Today, you can still find a myriad of stone walls threading through the woods, cellar holes, and the faint signs of a schoolhouse foundation and old cattle pound. These remnants aren’t preserved behind glass; they sit quietly within the forest as part of the living landscape.
Doug honors all of it by preserving the natural systems, wildlife, and the human stories layered in the soil. “I have tried to consider all these aspects in my stewardship, as well as growing healthy forests and protecting waters and wetlands.”
For decades, that commitment has extended outward to inspire others. For the past 30 summers, Tin Mountain Conservation Center has run week-long day camps from a cabin on the property, bringing young people into the woods to explore, learn, and get a little muddy.
“Keeping these campers and other members of the public coming to learn and recreate here is important to me,” Doug says. “To this end, I’ve been trying to build and maintain interesting trails, and to keep Little Chatham cellar holes on the property opened up and visible.”
But the future of Burnell Ridge wasn’t always certain. With a town road running through it, Burnell Ridge faced steady development pressure. At one point, it was even considered as a site for a regional landfill. That possibility clarified what was at stake: not just open space, but habitat, history, and a place where people learn how to relate to the natural world.
So Doug took action. By 1992, he had assembled all of his grandfather’s original parcels and placed them under a conservation easement with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. And over the last year, he worked to transfer his conservation easement to the Upper Saco Valley Land Trust to continue ensuring that protection would endure while simplifying stewardship for the next generation.
“Our hope has been to instill an appreciation and love for this conserved land in our children and grandchildren,” says Doug. “We plan to convey it into a family trust for their continued stewardship and enjoyment, as well as for recreation and enjoyment by the public. I hope it remains a model of good stewardship inspiring others to do the same.”
From one disorienting walk in the woods grew a lifetime of attention, care, and responsibility. Doug’s story reminds us that sometimes getting lost is exactly what teaches you how to find your way.
State(s): NH
Town(s): chatham, conway, fryeburg
Acres: 794
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