08/03/2026
FALLING WATERS LLC FOREST OWNERSHIP IN SHELBURNE
Shelburne Trails Club was recently contacted by a member who asked if information posted on a Shelburne resident’s page about former Bayroot land was correct. STC decided that we should share our experience working with the new land owner, Bob King, and we also asked him if he could offer a response to the post.
Bob first contacted our club when he was contemplating buying the Shelburne timberlands through which many of our STC trails pass. He also met with town officials and abutting landowners to share his plans for the land.
Since the purchase, he has worked closely with STC to ensure that the hiking trail network remains open to all hikers. As part of the Bayroot purchase, he also bought a critical inholding to aid the club in protecting access to Mt Ingalls via the Scudder Trail. Bob has been extensively involved in restoration efforts on the land that was previously subject to intense harvesting by industrial owners. Falling Waters LLC (Bob’s company) has been very helpful to us as a club and we welcome ownership by a ninth generation New Hampshire family with a close connection to this land.
We hope this post clears up a number of misunderstandings. The original FB post followed by Bob’s response is pasted below.
ORIGINAL FACEBOOK POST BY SHELBURNE RESIDENT
I find myself, frustrated, and saddened after a few conversations and some research on an 8000 acre piece of land in Shelburne that the paper company sold to an individual who put the land in a trust.
The problem with this land now, is that he is putting gates up to all access. Logging roads that hunters and outdoor enthusiast have used for centuries. No more swimming holes up Larry brook . No more eagles nest swimming hole and removed the zip line over the eagles nest swimming hole. Cut all the ropes off the tree.
He has told someone, who worked their bear dogs from success to Shelburne , that they cant be there doing that anymore.
Hikers looking to access the cable cart or head up to Gention pond, dream lake, your not doing it from Mill Brook Rd. Uts getting gated. If you used to drive up to a small parking area to cross country ski or snowshoe, its over.
The gates in the woods on all access points has signs saying foot traffic only, no motorized vehicles, no bikes. Yes no pedel bikes!! WOW, bikes really ruin the land I guess. He's told a few locals on the North Rd. That they wont be able to ride their snowmobiles back there anymore.
An era of recreation in the Mill Brook/ Larry brook are over as we know it. Sad that some rich as***le can but all that land, close it off, shut down basically a way of life for generations of outdoor enthusiast, while young locals cant afford to live where they grew up.
These papers companies aren't into land development, I get that. However, they sell a huge lot that has been murdered and cut to death, for huge money, because thats what its all about , money.
We are losing what we love about our community and the North Country more and more as this influx of not from here as***les keep coming up.
I said it years ago with the Atvs and other things. You give away what we have, we will never get it back! Every day its happening around us.
As for the new trust this land is in, is it in current use? What credits will he lose by posting and putting gates? Doesn't sound like current use to me.
All I can say is tax the hell out of him Town of Shelburne!!!!
What people don't get about paper land that was bought by some trust, dont get cut or managed properly. That means no tax revenue on the wood for a small town budget.$ 60-70k a year to 0 a year in taxes wood is huge for a town of 300+ people.
The tax payes have to make it up.
These types of land transactions are killing small towns right under our noses.
Sad. Down right sad.
FALLING WATERS RESPONSE:
Thank you to the folks at STC for allowing me to post this response to Mr. Reardon’s comments on FB. It’s been an honor and a privilege to get to know the Town of Shelburne and some of the good people who live there. Shortly after buying land in Shelburne a year ago, I met publicly with the head Selectman, the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission to share my vision for the land. Here follow some of the facts I shared at those public forums as well as things I’ve learned in stewarding the land for this first year.
Falling Waters Forest is 7150 acres, about half of which is in Shelburne. The land is owned by a limited liability company (not a trust). The sole owners of that company are my wife and me. We live in Keene and our New Hampshire roots go back 9 generations.
The reasons for buying this land were to help in the restoration of a large forest block and to eventually derive some income from forestry. As part of the first goal, we intend to put most of the land in a conservation easement that would continue to allow public access. In service to the second goal, we are in the process of developing a long term forest management plan with a consulting forester.
The idea of putting up gates at the two access roads did not happen overnight. Two neighbors first suggested the idea after noting the damage inflicted in mud season by people who disregard signage about not driving when roads are soft. The idea gained momentum after a few more incidents. Several of the steeper logging roads were severely damaged during the flooding of December, 2023. We immediately set to work repairing these roads, which involved time, money, heavy equipment and lots of sweat, our sweat, since we do most of this work ourselves. We regrade heavily eroded slopes, replace/remove culverts, spread seed (both conservation mix and pollinator friendly wildflower mix), then place erosion control mats over the fresh seed. Problem is, in multiple locations, people have moved protective boulders and driven through these recently repaired areas, destroying the mats, killing young growth, and causing new erosion channels.
More recently, someone decided it was ok to burn tires on the property.
So this is why we are moved to install gates. All that said, the main gates will likely remain open (except during mud season) as long as people are respecting the land and the signage.
Another aspect of our restoration work is to stop the further erosion of ALL the roads, since they are taking a beating from increasingly intense rain events. Because crowning many miles of road is not feasible, instead we are adding many water bars to control run off. Between the new water bars and the repairs described above, we decided to block some of the roads with boulders. We were careful about only doing this where absolutely necessary, leaving many miles of roads open to the public.
What we ask in return is that people respect all signage, navigate water bars VERY SLOWLY, repair water bars if you find them breached, and by all means, not only don’t litter, but pick up any litter you may see. By doing so, you will help keep this land beautiful and open to the public.
Regarding some other points in the original post: the swimming holes on the property have not gone away. We have picked up all kinds of human generated trash including countless b**r cans, shot gun shells, tires, oil drums, 5 gallon pails, old culverts, etc at the swimming holes and elsewhere. And yes, on the advice of our insurance company, we took down the zip line while picking up trash at the Eagles Nest.
We continue to allow hunting but are discouraging hounding. See the signage at entrances.
Hikers may continue to use trails of the STC and AMC. As long as the gates are open (see above) hikers may access STC and AMC trails via Mill Brook Road and Lary Brook Road.
Like the previous owner, we do not allow public ATV use on the property. Limited snowmobile use among residents of Shelburne is fine.
The land remains in current use, with public access. The previous owner cut fairly aggressively which meant the Town got plenty of stumpage revenue. Now, because the trees need decades to grow back, there will be less stumpage revenue in the short term. The majority of the acreage will remain in forestry and thus eventually will return additional tax benefits to the Town beyond the annual property taxes.
If you who are reading this have more questions, feel free to call (our phone numbers are readily available to the observant). Do us all a favor though, and quit with the name calling- it’s not helpful.
Bob King
Falling Waters Forest LLC See less
