Northeast Utilities (NU) owns and manages approximately 43,000 acres of land in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Many of these properties are associated with electric or natural gas operations, including transmission line corridors, substations and office buildings, while others are held for future utility uses or for their conservation value. Click on the links below for more information about our diverse land management activities.

• Vegetation Management on Rights-of-Way 
• Forest Management 
• Protected Lands 
• Wildlife Management 
• Recreation 
• Agriculture 
• Cultural Resource Protection 

NU recognizes the value of the land’s natural and cultural resources, and, beginning in the 1980s, has developed formal plans for managing its properties. Management plans to maximize, enhance and sustain these resources focus on:

• Forest health improvement
• Wildlife habitat protection, enhancement and diversification
• Soil and water resources preservation
• Cultural resource protection
• Agricultural stewardship
• Public recreational and educational uses
• Developing relationships with federal, state, municipal and private land-use agencies and not-for-profit land and wildlife preservation groups
• Increasing shareholder value through natural resource improvement, revenue generation and improved access
• Coordinating management objectives on a municipal and regional basis

Vegetation Management on our Rights-of-Way

Today, New England has more forest land than it did just 100 years ago. Unfortunately, encroaching forest also means our shrubland is disappearing, along with the wildlife that thrives in this habitat. Shrublands provide animals with food, shelter and breeding areas. They offer a diverse ecosystem comprised of numerous plant and animal species. Shrubland habitat is commonly found along power line rights-of-way. Rights-of-way are managed to remove tall growing tree species. Tall growing trees may contact the overhead transmission and distribution lines and compromise the safe and reliable operation of the electric system. By eliminating trees from the right-of-way, the result is low growing plant communities of shrubs, forbs and grasses.

The goal of our vegetation management activities is to maintain stable, low-growing grass, shrub and wildflower communities in the power line rights-of-way we manage. This type of vegetation not only provides the ideal environment for the safe and reliable operation of our electric system, it offers the greatest potential for wildlife habitat. To learn more visit our website NU Transmission Rights-of-Way Vegetation Management and watch the video from Treeland to Shrubland.

Our management of distribution and transmission right-of-way has been shown to have a positive impact on the ecosystem. NU’s right-of-way maintenance practices promote biodiversity by controlling selected invasive species and preserving open low shrub, grass and forb plant communities comprised of a multitude of native plant species beneficial to a wide range of wildlife. These early successional habitats are beneficial to numerous species of plants and animals of special concern. The NU publication Tree and Shrub Planting Guide for Transmission Rights-of-Way is an excellent resource for property owners to help in choosing native, low-growing plants that will support both shrubland habitat as well as electric system reliability. To learn more about acceptable uses of transmission rights of way visit our website.

• Andromeda, Pieris japonica 
• Redvein Enkianthus, Enkianthus campanulatus 
• Holly (Winterberry), Ilex spp. 
• Mountain Laurel, Kalmia latifolia 
• Northern Bayberry, Myrica pensylvanica 
• Rhododendron, Rhododendron spp. 
• Common Smokebush, Cotinus coggygria 
• Spirea, Spirea spp. 
• Swamp Azalea, Rhododendron viscosum 

Forest Management

NU manages approximately 11,800 acres of forest land (about 120 properties) in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. These forests contain wetlands, vernal pools, water courses, diverse habitats and scenic resources. Nearly all of these properties are open to the public for passive recreational uses, such as hiking, bird watching, river access or nature study.

NU’s forest lands are typically considered “working forests” and one of our management objectives is the sustainable production of timber. We conduct thorough forest resource inventories to analyze forest health, age, stocking and species composition. Environmental agencies are consulted to identify plant and animal species of concern and sensitive habitats. Sensitive habitats and features are identified and mapped. This information assists NU land administrators in developing management objectives which are then incorporated into comprehensive plans focusing on sustainable forest productivity and wildlife habitat enhancement, while protecting soil and water resources. Management tools include selective harvests, invasive plant removal, and timber stand improvement.

Protected Lands

Some company properties receive special protection through conservation easements and project licenses. For example, licensed hydroelectric facilities in New Hampshire owned by Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) create wildlife conservation lands, provide stable habitat for many kinds of wildlife, support healthy fisheries, help control floods, and create recreational opportunities for New Hampshire residents and visitors. PSNH hydroelectric facilities preserve a buffer between the river and uplands that creates scenic waterways.

In Connecticut, a 74-acre parcel of land in the Maromas section of Middletown is protected by a conservation easement granted to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. This land is entirely wooded with both upland and wetland forest habitats, a freshwater pond, a tidal marsh, and a half-mile of Connecticut River frontage. A formal, two-mile pedestrian trail has been mapped and blazed. The conservation easement assures that this important open space will be protected in its natural state in perpetuity. 

In Agawam, Massachusetts conservation easements protect 12 acres of agricultural land, and 33 acres of critical species habitat at one location, and 80 acres of wetland creation and habitat protection at another. Our partners in these endeavors include the Massachusetts Audubon Society and a local land trust. 

As wetland mitigation for the Middletown-Norwalk Transmission Project, CL&P created a wetland within the town-owned Eisenhower Park in Milford, Connecticut. This work restored the South Meadow landscape that was excavated decades ago as a gravel pit for the newly constructed Merritt Parkway and established a diverse wet meadow environment that attracts wild birds, reptiles and amphibians. The project created 2.2 acres of wetland and approximately six acres of enhanced surrounding buffer. The newly created wetland fit perfectly into the City of Milford's Master Plan for Eisenhower Park and resulted in a successful partnership between the City of Milford, CL&P, and the Army Corps of Engineers. 

Wildlife Management

NU’s undeveloped lands provide abundant and diverse habitats for wildlife species. Species and habitats known to be rare or of special concern are accommodated in both our operational activities and in our land management planning.

In Connecticut, NU works with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Wildlife Division to make 2,500 acres available to the public for regulated hunting activities. In exchange for NU’s land availability, the DEEP provides law enforcement, management recommendations and administration of hunting permits on a daily basis. Wildlife areas are managed for both game and non-game species, and also to accommodate public recreation activities. NU administers a private land hunting program on another 2,500 acres of land in Connecticut. For information, contact NU’s Property Management group at 860-665-6176

Recreation

Unless otherwise posted, most NU lands are open to the public for passive recreational uses. Typical uses include hiking, nature study, fishing and cross country skiing. Informal (not blazed) trails are present on many of the company-owned woodlands and rights-of-way lands. These rustic paths include old logging roads, maintenance roads, fishermen's trails and wildlife corridors. In addition, many segments of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association's (CFPA) 700-mile Blue-Blazed Trail System cross NU properties and rights-of-way. Formal trails include the Ridgefield Rail Trail, a 2.4-mile paved hiking-bicycling trail which occupies a transmission line right-of-way in Ridgefield, Connecticut and the Scovill Loop Trail, located near the Connecticut River on company-owned land in the Maromas section of Middletown, Connecticut. NU and the Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA) cooperatively administer this trail, which is part of the CFPA Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail System. 

PSNH has several public boat ramps and portage trails on company properties and also works with snowmobile clubs and the State of New Hampshire to provide access, use and maintenance of snowmobile trails along designated stretches of transmission line corridors. As part of the Jackman Hydro penstock reconstruction project, PSNH deeded an easement to the Town of Hillsborough for a recreational trail. Some stretches of PSNH transmission corridors are part of the Heritage Trail. 

Agriculture

NU land holdings also include nearly 200 acres which are actively managed for agricultural purposes. Company objectives for these lands are to protect soil and water quality while maintaining long-term agricultural productivity. NU licenses these properties to interested farmers and works with the farmer in addition to state and federal agricultural agencies to identify best management practices, including crop selection. Other considerations include erosion control, buffers and pest and weed control methods. 

Cultural Resource Protection

NU land holdings contain a myriad of cultural (historic and archaeological) features. These include old stone walls, foundations, notable utility structures (such as old dams), and Native American sites. The company recognizes the importance of these cultural resources and incorporates their protection into its property management activities. New construction projects include formal cultural resource investigations. NU works with both the State Historic Preservation Officer of each respective state and with Indian tribes, as appropriate.