Townsend Conservation Commission Votes to Partner With New Trails Alliance on Town Properties

PEPPERELL — April 8, 2026 — Townsend Conservation Commission backs new trails nonprofit and snowmobile club in wide-ranging April 8 session. The commission voted 4-0 to formally partner with the Townsend Trails Alliance, a newly chartered 501(c)(3) founded by Patrick Kwanczyk, Ron Sears, and Steve Lavery, to maintain and improve trails on town-owned properties beginning with Meeting House Park. In a separate 4-0 vote, the commission issued a letter of support for the Lunenburg Snow Riders' bid to gain grooming access to the Squannacook Greenway rail trail ahead of the club's April 15 meeting with the greenways committee; the club has completed more than $250,000 in grant-funded trail and recreation projects in Lunenburg over the past five years. A joint session with the Cemetery and Parks Commission, convened at the request of Parks Chair Robert Therrien and member John Barrett, surfaced strong objections to a state Division of Ecological Restoration study examining removal of Adams Dam, with Therrien arguing the grant is "foreordaining the result" and resident Mary Jane Churchill warning that the grant's framing is "a one-way study." The commission voted 4-0 to invite the Native Fish Coalition to a future meeting for an independent assessment of the Squannacook River's ecological health.