Eloise Clark -- Keene

Paul Crosby - - Stoddard

Paul Crosby is a licensed New Hampshire forester who has enjoyed a 27-year career managing privately owned forestland in Coos and Cheshire Counties.  He has been the forester and manager for Andorra Forest in Stoddard, NH for the past 10 years, which also includes managing the wild blueberry fields at Pitcher Mt.  Paul has always enjoyed helping landowners set and achieve goals for the use of their woodlands using methods and techniques that conserve and improve those forests, which in turn provide many benefits for all who live in and near them.  Throughout his career, Paul has worked as a County Extension Forester, consulting forester, logger and dabbled in maple syrup production.  Paul is excited to be part of the CCCD team that is committed to making sure the tremendous natural resources of Cheshire County are conserved and managed wisely for present and future generations.

Bill Fosher -- Westmoreland

Pete Throop -- Keene

Pete’s connection to the land formed at an early age, exploring the woods in a nature preserve abutting his childhood home in Connecticut and spending summers on his grandparent’s sheep farm in North Hebron, New York.

Lisa Davidson Grashow -- Keene

Emily Hague -- Keene

Emily Hague came to love the natural world exploring Moose Brook and the Lake Horace Marsh near her family’s home in Weare, New Hampshire. Emily spent summers in college working for the USGS assessing water quality all over the New England coastal basin and developed a strong interest in environmental issues. After living briefly in Ireland, Australia, and Ohio, she has returned to her native state and made the Monadnock Region home. Emily and her partner Jonah currently live in Keene. At both Oberlin College and subsequently Antioch University New England, Emily pursued her interests in geology and environmental science, supplementing school with work in the fields of recycling, organic agriculture, water resource management, and land conservation. Emily holds a Master's Degree in the field of Resource Management, telling of her interest in conscientious land use planning and resource conservation. Emily joined the District board to work on resource conservation issues in Cheshire County through her staff capacity at the Monadnock Conservancy. Off the clock, Emily can be found hiking, wading, snowshoeing, taking photographs, or playing music. 

Richard Mellor -- Rindge

Tara Sad -- Walpole 

Tara Sad is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a degree in Business Administration. She has had careers in film and law, and is currently a State Representative for New Hampshire’s Cheshire County Second District, where she serves as Chair of the Environment and Agriculture Committee. She also serves on the Joint Legislative Committee for Administrative Rules and the Milk Producers Emergency Relief Fund Board. On the Cheshire County Delegation, Tara is a member of the Executive Committee and is Chair of the County Farm Committee. Tara is past president and current board member of the Walpole Historical Society, founding member of the Town of Walpole’s Local Energy Committee (TVEC) and is secretary of The Walpole Players. 

Tracie Smith -- Fitzwilliam

Tracie Smith has been growing vegetables for families in the Monadnock region since 1999.  In 2001, she graduated from UNH with a B.S. in Environmental Horticulture. In 2008, she bought conservation land in Fitzwilliam, NH where Tracie's Community Farm continues to grow food for a 280 member CSA farm. She has a passion for growing healthy food and aims to nourish the community throughout her life. Tracie currently serves as a member of the Agricultural Advisory board for the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture.

John Treat -- Keene

   CCCD Staff

Amanda Costello, District Manager

 Amanda Costello is the District Manager of the Cheshire County Conservation District. Her appreciation for the land blossomed as a child, as she spent her free time exploring the woods behind her home or the shores of Rhode Island. She is a graduate of Antioch University New England's Environmental Studies program with a M.S. in Environmental Education and has completed a B.A. in Anthropology and Psychology at the University of Rhode Island. Before coming to the CCCD, she has held positions in various public outreach and education roles promoting agriculture and the study and conservation of the natural environment. She currently sits on the Cities for Climate Protection Committee for the City of Keene, chairs the Localvore Project in the Monadnock region, and is a board member for the Hannah Grimes Center and Monadnock Sustainability Network. She has great interest in supporting the region's working landscape for the value that it contributes to the local economy, the good stewardship it provides for our local environment, and the benefits it brings to our rural communities. She lives in Chesterfield NH with her family, and when not working can often be found fixing up their old home, skiing, hiking, or playing in the waters of the Monadnock Region. 

Sharlene Beaudry, Monadnock Menus Coordinator & Administrative Coordinator

 Sharlene LeClair Beaudry was recently hired as the Administrative Coordinator for the Cheshire County Conservation District. After graduating from UNH with a BS in Animal Science she worked as a technician for a veterinarian and  then a poultry breeding company.  She left the work force to focus on dairy farming , raising her family and later cheesemaking.  She and her husband own and operate a small purchased feed dairy operation, Elm Island Farm, in Walpole, NH.  Their farm consists of registered Holstein and Ayrshire cattle that will be shown at local fairs throughout the season.  They also provide the  milk for the Walpole Creamery ice cream mix.  Sharlene is a long time Pinnacleview 4-H leader who has coached 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl and N.E. Holstein Dairy Bowl at the local, state and national level.  Over the years she has been a member of numerous boards: Granite State Dairy Promotion, Frederick B. Hooper Institute, NH Health and Human Services Committee, NH Holstein Club and the Extension Advisory Council, to name a few.  In her free time she enjoys hiking, gardening, horseback riding, photography and creative writing.   Sharlene is passionate about conservation on both a personal and professional level and looks forward to helping others achieve their goals. 

NRCS Staff, Walpole Field Office

Heidi Smith Konesko has been working with farmers to optimize their grazing systems for the past 16 years, as a Soil Conservationist with NRCS in New Hampshire.  She has always been interested in animals and animal behavior, and worked with horses while growing up. In college she was introduced to dairy cattle and worked on a local dairy farm. She studied Animal Science at the University of Connecticut, earning a Bachelor's Degree in 1987. After graduation she worked on different farms in the U.S. and Europe, gaining experience with dairy and mixed livestock.   While caretaking a small diverse farm in England she was introduced to Rotational Grazing. It seemed like a natural choice for the animals, the land, and for the farmer. Upon returning to the U.S. she came to New Hampshire to work on a grazing dairy, where she gained more experience with cattle and grass management. Eventually she returned to school and earned a Master’s in Adult and Occupational Education from the University of New Hampshire. She continued studying and learning about grass farming during a wonderfully intense year at a small college in northern Vermont, where she interned with the Farm Management faculty. It was there that she acquired her first set of insulated coveralls and a perspective on the sustainability of grass based agriculture in the northeast. She was hired by the NRCS soon after, and with them has worked on conservation programs with all kinds of farm and forest landowners, including grass based dairy, sheep, goat, poultry, and horse farms.  For several years she served as the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative coordinator for New Hampshire and has been fortunate enough to attend several excellent grazing conferences, pasture walks, and workshops over the years including:  Two weeks with Bill Murphy at UVM on Grazing Management, and two weeks with Fred Proveza at Utah State University on Plant-Herbivore Interactions.

I am a 3^rd generation New Hamshireite (is that what we call ourselves?) Native to Keene.