HAMPSTEAD, N.H. (AP) -A Hampstead animal control officer hopes someone will make a very long-term commitment to an abandoned pet.

It’s a 48-pound, brown spiked turtle that could live for about 100 years.

Dale Childs rescued it. She says it wouldn’t have survived the winter outdoors.

The turtle is named Spikerina for the sharp protrusions on her legs. Her temporary home is the Edgefield Veterinary Clinic in Hampstead.

Childs says owners would need special lighting and heating devices to keep Spikerina. But she says there’s a rescue league in Massachusetts that can take the turtle in if all else fails.

Land purchase is uplifting to ATVs

BERLIN, N.H. (AP) – New Hampshire’s Bureau of Trails is considering whether to buy thousands of acres near Jericho Lake for snowmobile and ATV trails.

The land includes more than 4,000 acres the U.S.Forest Service sought to include in the White Mountain National Forest.

Several groups have an interest in the area. They include the Forest Service, conservationists and Maine logging contractor Tom Dillon. Dillon owns or has agreements to buy about 9,000 acres in the area.

Bureau head Paul Gray calls discussions preliminary. He said money to buy the land would be raised through snowmobile registrations and other measures.

Officials say negotiations could take months. The Governor and Executive Council also would need to approve any deal to buy the land.

Tilton cleanup could end early

TILTON, N.H. (AP) – Town officials say the environmental cleanup at Riverside Park could end as early as Wednesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency has been working to remove barium and lead from the site since June. Town Administrator Alice MacKinnon says she’s cautiously optimistic crews will finish by midweek.

The town and the Tilton-Northfield Fire District have planned to spend up to $325,000 to help pay for the work. But MacKinnon says the final cost could be less.

About 600 tons of soil have been removed. Some lead will remain buried under three feet of soil.

The EPA says the amount will fall within safe levels.

Fire prevention week has begun in N.H.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -Fire prevention week has begun in New Hampshire, and state firefighters are stressing the importance of having smoke alarms.

Fire officials say about 80 percent of the state’s in-home fire deaths happen in residences with no working smoke alarms. Fires claimed a dozen lives in New Hampshire last year, and officials say the alarms can cut the chance of dying in a fire almost in half.

Authorities recommend installing smoke alarms in basements and outside each bedroom, then testing them monthly.