CONWAY — With a 65-acre conservation restriction enacted in mid-March, 74 acres of land on Reeds Bridge Road have now been permanently conserved by a local family and the Franklin Land Trust.

Jack and Danielle Lochhead worked with the Franklin Land Trust over the last several years to see the conservation restriction through, with this latest parcel joining a 9-acre conservation restriction the couple donated to the land trust in 2011.

Beyond their conservation commitments, the Lochheads have also participated in the Franklin Land Trust’s Volunteer Public Access Program, which opened up 203 acres of land on Reeds Bridge Road for public recreation of all types.

“We think towns benefit from having a lot of open space, particularly a town like Conway. People live here to be in the country and to have woods they can walk through and hunt and all those kinds of things,” Jack Lochhead said in an interview, adding that this piece of land has been valued by residents for its snowmobile trails, hiking trails and the sledding hill for children. “We just thought it should be used that way.”

The protected property includes about half a mile of frontage along the South River, as well as active farmland and wetlands. It is also recognized as a priority habitat for rare species.

With those characteristics and the property’s recreational opportunities, Franklin Land Trust Deputy Director Alain Peteroy said the land was a perfect candidate for permanent conservation.

“This was a property we were very excited to work on conserving because it has such great river frontage that needs protection,” Peteroy said. “It has all the great attributes for conservation, so we were thrilled to be able to protect this land for Jack and Danielle.”

The key aspect of this conservation is the opportunity for climate-resilience projects due to the land’s river frontage. The Lochheads’ property contains historic river oxbows that could be restored, which could then potentially mitigate future flooding. Nic Miller, a fluvial geomorphologist (someone who studies how hydrodynamics shape rivers), said in a statement that the South River was artificially straightened over the last two centuries due to human industrial needs, but a straight river can accelerate erosion and create flooding hazards.

While much of the land is expected to remain in its natural state, the conservation restriction includes provisions from the Lochheads that can support agriculture by allowing the land to be leased to a farmer. The restriction also allows for restoration projects, such as adding fallen trees to slow water flow in the river.

“When rivers are artificially straightened, they become ‘flashy’ — meaning water levels spike rapidly during storms, causing significant erosion and flood damage downstream,” Miller said. “The Lochhead property contains a historic oxbow wetland, which provides an opportunity to restore the river’s natural meanders and improve flood resilience.”

On top of meeting many of the land trust’s goals for conservation, Peteroy said it is a win-win for the community, as the land is a public resource that can still generate income for Conway.

“This meets much of our mission to conserve agricultural land in important places and ecologically diverse properties,” Peteroy said. “This land is privately owned and it’s still on the tax rolls and it can now be held in his estate, but it will always be conserved.”

For more information about the Franklin Land Trust, visit franklinlandtrust.org. The nonprofit has protected more than 35,000 acres in the region, according to Peteroy.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.