Fitzwilliam couple’s decades-old vision to preserve 300 acres of forest becomes reality

FITZWILLIAM, NH – Fred and Rosalind Slavic bought 300 acres of forestland at the foot of Little Monadnock Mountain in the 1960s and, aside from cutting some of the trees for their homestead, left the woods relatively untouched for six decades.

They burned their homestead down when age made it difficult to walk up the hill to it, allowing the forest they’d loved and cared for over the years to rewild around it.

Now that forest will be preserved forever, after the Northeast Wilderness Trust accepted the 300-acre parcel as a donation from Rosalind, who is 102 years old. Fred died in 2013, at the age of 96.

The trust is a partner in the initiative that released the New England Wildlands Report earlier this month. The study found that, of New England’s 40 million acres, 81% is forested, but only 3.3% meets the initiative’s criteria to be Wildlands. The goal is to increase that to 10% by 2060, or even 20%, as land preservation efforts gain steam.

The Rosalind and Fred Slavic Wilderness Preserve is one more step toward that goal. It is surrounded on three sides by Rhododendron State Park and fills an important gap in conserved land for the benefit of both people and nature, the trust said in a news release Tuesday.

Because the Slavics did such a good job preserving the forest, it has a major head start “and is on its way to becoming an old-growth forest of tomorrow,” the release said. Wild old forests store more carbon than young forests, helping to slow the effects of climate change.

The land, about 10 miles southeast of Keene, is on the eastern face of Little Monadnock, and includes the headwaters basin of Kemp Brook at the base of the mountain, which feeds the Connecticut River watershed. Its topography and elevation “provide exceptional resilience and capacity for diverse species who call the Northern Forest home.”

The parcel is within a 14,300-acre unfragmented habitat block with little to no development and part of an extensive protected-areas network that includes state, private and public conservation holdings.

A 40-Year Vision

The couple’s vision for their land’s future began in 1987, when they granted the state a conservation easement on 196 acres of their forest, working with the New Hampshire Audubon Society, the Forest Society, and the state.

The move was the “first major step to set into motion a vision that has now become a reality,” the release said.

In 2011, Rosalind contacted the Northeast Wildlands Trust to discuss donating the property at the advice of the New Hampshire Parks and Conservation Land Stewardship Program, according to the release.

“Fred and Rosalind Slavic deeply loved the land they lived with,” Stephen Walker, director of the New Hampshire Conservation Land Stewardship Program, said. “They always wanted it to be wild and free, forever, simply left alone, to be what it had originally been. Getting there was a bit of a winding trail, and there was no straight line or a bright blue ribbon visible at the finish line.”

Fred’s 2013 obituary said, “For the last 20-plus years Fred and Rosalind have been active members of the Fitzwilliam Conservation Commission. So strong has been their attachment to the environment that they have willed their 300-acre property bordering Rhododendron State Park in Fitzwilliam to the Northeast Wilderness Trust. It will be maintained as a wilderness area and wildlife sanctuary.”

The obituary asked that donations in his memory be made to the trust.

The nonprofit focuses on protecting landscapes that benefit wildlife, biodiversity, and climate resilience while celebrating the benefits of wildlands to people. It protects 77,000 acres in the six New England states and eastern New York, including nearly 18,000 in New Hampshire.

“Good things come to those who wait,” Jon Leibowitz, trust executive director, said in the news release. “We are grateful for their commitment to forever-wild conservation and honored to safeguard this preserve.”

Sharon Freedman, the Slavics’ niece, said that the property transfer is a dream come true for her aunt and uncle. “I am pleased I was able to play a part in making that happen,” she said. “At 102 years old, Rosalind is very grateful that she has lived long enough to see their legacy, the Rosalind and Fred Slavic Wilderness Preserve, become a reality.”

Walker, of the state land stewardship program, said that at times, the obstacles to preserving the land seemed insurmountable.

“Finding that right fit with Northeast Wilderness Trust, who grabbed the baton from them in 2011 to see this through, was an important step,” he said. “Protection did not come easily or quickly, but the Slavics and the Wilderness Trust persevered alongside many other champions.”

Walker said that those who are considering passing their land on with forever-wild protection shouldn’t put it off. “Age is not always kind and can make decisions for us at the most inconvenient of times,” he said. “Aging was one of the more considerable obstacles that popped up along the way for the Slavics. I am so glad for the outcome here, but it could have been 20 houses instead.”