With financial support from New England Councils and Chapters of Trout Unlimited, the Connecticut River Joint Commissions, the Fields Pond Foundation, the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB), many individuals, and the Lyme Angler Store in Hanover, NH, the VRC protected 41 exceptional acres in Bloomfield along the wild upper reaches of the Connecticut River.

Lying adjacent to the old Lyman Falls dam (now breached), the property provides access to some of the finest trout fishing in New England and hosts several outstanding primitive canoe campsites, part of a growing water trail.

In 1903, the old dam brought the first electric power to the country. Since its removal in 1963, the site has become a popular recreational spot. The moderate, wade-able gradient and consistent riffles below have attracted anglers from all over for the fine catch-and-release fishing.

The VRC purchased the property from the Washburn Lumber Co. of Colebrook, NH whose owners, Malcolm Washburn and Dallas Washburn Chase, believed the property ought to be in public ownership.

"We thought it extremely important to have the land maintained as it is now," said Mrs. Chase. "It has a lot of natural beauty and is one of the few places with river frontage that looks out across to a forested shoreline in New Hampshire."

Upon purchase, the VRC donated a grant of development restrictions and public access easement to VHCB, and then conveyed the underlying fee title to the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation. The Department will manage the property as a primitive canoe-campsite (water-access only) and a foot-access fishing area.

"This is a marvelous, marvelous thing to have happen to the river there," said Adair Mulligan, communications director of Connecticut River Joint Commissions.

Anglers from all over New England responded to the VRC's fundraising efforts. The plunge pools, rapids, and riffles below Lyman Falls have the effect of oxygenating the water to create an excellent cold-water fishery.

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page updated 5/14/08 by Zephyr Sites