An early start on a Saturday morning at Harilla Landing to meet long-time volunteer, Muriel, at the docks for pickup. Other volunteers have gathered, chatting about the beautiful summer we shared, projects they lent a hand in or those to come, and the peaceful fall morning along Lake Winnipesaukee’s northern shoreline. Bags of tools sit nestled at our feet amongst crock pots filled with yummy mysteries of the celebratory potluck following the toil and play of a Ragged Island workday. It is a short trip over to the island, the lake is glassy and calm, a sign the summer tourists have left for the season. Muriel maneuvers her bowrider with the skill of a lifelong lake resident, avoiding the hidden boulders beneath the surface, since the dams have dropped along with the lake water level.
As we dock the boat along the jetty and unload all of our gear and passengers, I am astonished by the centrality of Ragged Island to the lands we worked with and on throughout our service term. Ragged Island, being on Lake Winnipesaukee, is located in the heart of the Lakes Region Conservation Trust’s (LRCT) service area; fee-owned lands with maintained trails, conservation easements which partner alongside community members and other organizations towards stewardship goals and aiding human-land relations that abide by conservation philosophies, and facilitated projects that the LRCT was instrumental in generating protections of; all of which surround the island on the mainland. These different types of properties that the LRCT has many roles in protecting and conserving amalgamate into preserving key watershed areas that feed into the encompassing waters lapping at my toes, as I stand on the rocky southern shoreline.
Looking directly ahead of me, to the South, the Belknap Range humps along Winnipesaukee’s shore. I think of the water being diverted off the trails by the water bars we built alongside the Belknap Range Trail Tenders earlier this summer. On my left, to the Northeast, the quilted colors of the Ossipee Mountain Range beckon in their autumnal glory. Hidden beneath the foliage are the remnants of cellar holes, remnants of the brave and hardy farming families that first settled within the ring dike's folds. Their family names now mark roads throughout the neighboring towns: Whittens, Roberts, Lees, and Withams. Beside these stony frames reach the limbs of woody elders: “the largest and most diverse old growth ecosystem south of the white mountains in New Hampshire” (Van de Poll, Ecological Survey). Stories I now know and add layers to my relationship with these lands thanks to my time with the Lakes Region Conservation Trust. Behind me and over to the left, looking Northwest, Red Hill’s fire tower pierces the sky, offering panoramic views of the White Mountains, Sandwich Wilderness Range, Ossipee Mountains, Lake Winnipesaukee and beyond, in sum, an overlook of many of New Hampshire’s natural glories. I reflect upon the Cabin Trail ascent to the fire tower, and my encounter with a mother black bear and her two cubs while doing a trail sweep a few weeks prior. My closest encounter with a bear and her cubs that got my heart racing, and I will never forget their proximity and joyful prancing through the undergrowth. Below my feet, Ragged Island was my home and that of my co-servers for a couple weekends this summer. Island hosting to ensure the public are respecting our property rules, the land and each other. A time of service, duty, and labor coinciding with an island stay, hammock naps, and Fourth of July fireworks around the entirety of the island. An experience unparalleled in my entire life even as a born and bred Lake’s Region resident. Each cardinal direction and space now layered with landscape names, stories of history, and experiential knowledge lived and labored during my work with the LRCT.
The largest goal for the day is the disassembling and reassembling of a bridge over a wetland crossing. A devoted volunteer and LRCT board member, Russ, and I haul old boards from torn down projects of before with newly purchased pressure treated posts to the wetland area. As a nonprofit organization, run largely on the donations of our members, frugality is a guiding force when undertaking any and all construction. With this in mind, we are salvaging materials of the past and uniting them with new ones of the present to facilitate joyous rompings into the far future. Marching along the nature trail that encircles the island, my eyes focus on my feet to avoid tripping on roots and rocks along the way. The red tupelo’s scarlet leaves scattered amongst the brown and orange of the beech and birch are underfoot, as we cross the boardwalk built by boy scouts the year before in order to reach sunset beach. I am reminded of the many hands over generations that have sustained and supported the work of the LRCT, and all of the love and joy that will continue to be shared because of the amazing work this organization undertakes. After the materials were deposited at the worksite, the eagerness and innovation of our volunteers took over. The bridge was quickly stripped apart, demolition always being the most fun, and then brainstorming began to best conceive of the new bridge, its design, its height above the water to preserve its longevity, and its stability. Before I had even revived from the trip hauling materials out there, the volunteers had the new bridge built and were loading my arms with old wood to be dumped back into the salvage pile. A project surely expedited by the anticipation to build, the need for the new bridge, and the forthcoming tasty delights of a potluck well earned.
Upon returning to the Lodge, ‘The Bungalow’, alongside the other bridge engineers, and dumping my load back into the pile of other salvageables, a feast commenced. A buffet of seasonal and New England cultural classics: corn chowder, spiced hot apple cider, various Vermont cheeses, and pumpkin cinnamon cookies. Beside these delectable delights of my home was a favorite of my Alabamian co-server: boiled nuts. Breaking bread, sharing stories of the past and excitement of things to come, my co-servers and I dodging the ever-dreaded question ‘so what are your plans for when you finish your service term?’, we learned more about one another upon the common ground of conservation and the beautiful natural bounty of the Lakes Region that brought us all together. A recurring characteristic that quickly became one of my favorites that I enjoyed during my service term: establishing deeper bonds to the human community while working with the more-than-human community. Closing Ragged Island was definitely a bookend to the service term since one of our first missions, as land stewards, was opening the island up for the season. No better way to conclude the term than eating cheddar cheese on American flag crackers on an island in the heart of the lands that we touched, tread, and labored.
Taylor is a half-term member serving with the Lakes Region Conservation Trust. She has a long history with the Lakes Region, her family has lived here for over 100 years! Learn more about this New Hampshire native here.