BETHEL — Four years of discussions between owners of more than 100 acres of undeveloped woodland off North Road in Shelburne, N.H., and officials from Mahoosuc Land Trust and The Conservation Fund netted a conservation easement on the land.

The 126-acre easement on First Mountain will protect wildlife habitat and an important wildlife corridor between the White Mountain National Forest to the south and the Mahoosuc Mountain region to the north, according to a report from trust development assistant Jolan Ippolito.

The land, a gift from owners Larry Ely and Ginger Lawson of Falmouth and Shelburne, N.H., may not be subdivided or developed, Ippolito said by e-mail on Tuesday.

"The Mahoosuc Land Trust thanks Larry Ely and Ginger Lawson for their generous gift of this conservation easement," Mahoosuc Land Trust Executive Director Jim Mitchell said in the report. "The land trust also thanks Nancy Bell of The Conservation Fund for her tireless energy working on the Shelburne Conservation project."

The First Mountain property includes Joe's Ledges and the summit and south slopes of First Mountain, elevation 1,685 feet.

Ippolito called the view from atop First Mountain "quite spectacular."

"That area of Shelburne has some real gems along the (Androscoggin River)," he said.

The property is a documented corridor for bears and other species moving between the White Mountains and wild lands to the south, according to the report.

The trust, which is based in Bethel, will celebrate the donation from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, in the Shelburne Town Park (Shelburne Town Hall if inclement weather). The public is invited for apple crisp and cider and to offer congratulations.

Ely and Lawson will lead hikes from noon to 2 p.m. so that people can climb to the top of Joe's Ledges or hike along the river. Participants are asked to call 415-4933 or write ginlawson@aol.com.

A conservation easement is an agreement between the land trust and a family or individual that limits use of the land.

Conservation easements are flexible, permanent agreements that enable the donor to continue to own, live on and farm or cut timber on their land. The conditions of the easement remain on the land permanently.

Ippolito said that in March 2008, the Mahoosuc Land Trust decided to extend its region into the eastern section of Coos County in New Hampshire where the Mahoosucs start to run into the White Mountains. The range straddles the Maine-New Hampshire border.

Prior to that, the trust only focused on land in western Maine.

The report said the donation of the easement will help provide part of the funding match for a community effort to protect Shelburne's Philbrook Farm Inn. It is the oldest continually owned family inn in the nation.

The Conservation Fund successfully applied for funding from the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program to buy another conservation easement on 700 acres of woodland owned by the inn.

The First Mountain easement will qualify as part of the local funding match for the inn easement.

For more information about the trust, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, visit www.mahoosuc.org or call 824-3806.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com