Geer Family and Upper Valley Land Trust Protect West Fairlee Farm

Hanover, NH: Working in conjunction with the Upper Valley Land Trust (UVLT), the family of Howard “Pete” Geer have permanently protected their 190-acre farm along the Ompompanoosuc River in West Fairlee, VT. The farm’s iconic qualities, which were acknowledged repeatedly by Vermont Life magazine, will be now protected forever through an agreement that guarantees perpetual public access.

“The Geer farm is a meaningful and ecologically significant part of our regional landscape, with features and a location long prioritized for conservation” says UVLT Vice President for Conservation Peg Merrens. ​

In 2022, the West Fairlee Conservation Commission completed a Natural Resource Inventory to assess and inventory town-wide ecological values. This property is part of a more than 13,000-acre contiguous forest block that extends into three other towns.

“We were excited from the start that this property was part of a forest block prioritized for conservation by both the Town and State of Vermont” says Merrens. “Large forest blocks like this help sustain wide-ranging animals, such as bobcats and black bear, and also a diversity of plant species.”

West Fairlee Conservation Commission Chair Peggy Willey applauded the easement’s completion. “This is wonderful news. So proud of everyone’s work at UVLT in this especially beloved area of town.”

Pete Geer bought the farm in 1973 and he loved working the fields, practicing his engineering skills, sugaring, and making wine and cider.

“We kids can take credit for having mom and dad initially visiting the farm,” says Judy Geer. The Craftsbury, VT, resident, together with her Massachusetts-based brother Bart, worked closely with the land trust to finalize the easement.

Like their father before them, Judy and Bart are both Dartmouth alumni, and Judy lived on the farm fulltime for a spell while coaching rowing at the college. The farm was the site of many gatherings involving cross country skiing, hiking, work parties, and Thanksgivings. “These were transformative experiences for our family,” says Judy.

With long river frontage, the property’s key features include open grassland and wet meadows that Pete Geer enjoyed caring for. “Dad dove into the history of the town,” Judy continues. “He had this wonderful vision of bringing back the fields.”

“Dad bought fence posts and barbed wire from Bernard Tullar, who rebuilt the fencing,” says Bart. “Bernard would graze his dry Holsteins there, while our family added a few Hereford-Holstein crossbreeds for beef.”

Over the years the Geers enjoyed neighborly friendships with Bernard, Randall, and Kay Tullar, among many others in the region.

Rendell Tullar, whose family operates Tullando Farm, a large dairy across the river in Orford, NH, embraced the news, saying, “I got notice that Upper Valley Land Trust has protected my grandfather’s farm in West Fairlee. That’s pretty exciting to me. It’s always meant a lot to me that it’s been kept as it was when I was a kid.”

The farm was celebrated by Vermont Life in its calendar – including a cover photograph – over consecutive years in the 1990s. “That’s part of what inspires Bart and I now,” says Judy.

Three threatened and endangered species have habitat on or near the farm. “It abuts other conserved properties” notes Bart. “This easement helps create a wilderness corridor along the river for wildlife and some continued recreational use.”

The farm’s wooded slopes rise more than 700 feet above West Fairlee village, providing an excellent vantagepoint for spotting hawks and other birds catching updrafts. “Dad always welcomed people to hike on the property,” says Judy, and this will continue with a public access provision now enshrined in the conservation easement. ​

“We want to maintain the open fields with selective logging in certain places, and the land trust worked with us on all of that,” says Bart. Adds Judy, “We went through the process with the intent of continuing to share the land with the public.”

The Geers hope to find a farmer with the passion and energy to build a diversified agricultural enterprise on the land that holds so many happy memories.

“The right candidate will share our vision and see what the potential could be,” says Judy.

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About the Upper Valley Land Trust

The Upper Valley Land Trust (UVLT) is a non‐profit land conservancy that works in 45 Vermont and New Hampshire towns in the Connecticut River watershed, providing conservation leadership and supporting communities and landowners to realize their conservation goals. Founded by Upper Valley residents in 1985, UVLT has conserved more than 56,000 acres of land. These include working farms, forested ridges, wildlife habitat, water resources, trails and scenic landscapes. Much conserved land remains in private ownership, protected by permanent deeds known as conservation easements. In addition, UVLT owns and manages more than 30 Conservation Areas. For more information visit www.uvlt.org.

Media contact

For more information contact UVLT Communications Director Peter Lee Miller, peter.miller@uvlt.org.