The Hraba Forest
About The Hraba Forest
In 2025, MMRG officially conserved the 132-acre Hraba Forest, located off Brackett Road in Wakefield, NH. The Hraba Forest has over 1,900 feet of undeveloped frontage along Brackett Road, which parallels Lovell Lake. Lovell Lake is one of the region's most scenic and pristine water bodies and enjoys the support of long-time families with ownership in and around the lake, as well as from the Wakefield community. Protecting the lake’s water quality was of high importance for MMRG on this project and was accomplished, at least in part, through the increased conservation of the surrounding watershed which has limited development opportunities proximal to the lake, thereby reducing additional sources of erosion and runoff.
The Wakefield community and its visitors will also benefit from access to this local conservation area. A kiosk and small parking area will be established, and the over 1.5 miles of trail will be reopened for passive recreational purposes. This infrastructure will allow local residents to recreate outdoors as well as take advantage of MMRG’s educational opportunities and events on the property, such as forestry walks and ecology workshops. MMRG hopes to deepen its relationship with Lovell Lake residents and association members as we conserve and care for this special space.
The property itself is host to key natural resource values that are important to protect. Approximately 79 acres of the property are ranked as high-priority wildlife habitat by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Wildlife Action Plan. The entirety of the property is underlain with valuable forest soils, which will be very important in helping filter water runoff into the lake. MMRG's recent Conservation Action Plan update shows that 59 acres of the property fall within our Tier 2 priority conservation focus area. The Nature Conservancy's Resilient Lands mapping tool shows that nearly 50% of the property has above-average resilience to climate change, in part due to the nearly 500 acres of other conserved lands that the property abuts, including the MMRG Schlenker Conservation Easement.
This conservation success was made possible thanks to the generous support of multiple foundational donors and community partners. Donors and partners include the Lovell Lake Association, Acton Wakefield Watershed Alliance, the Wakefield Conservation Commission, the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP), the NH State Conservation Committee’s Conservation License Plate Program (Moose Plate), the Adelard A. and Valeda Lea Roy Foundation, Peter and Susan Goodwin, and Cynthia Siemon Wyatt.
