New Hampshire Trappers Association

Trapper’s 
Cabin (Continued)

     Many cabins were destinations at the center of a remote trapping territory and provided the only comforts and utility for the trapper while trapping in that area. Largely built by single individuals without benefit of modern power equipment the cabins are mostly gone through neglect or lost in wilderness. They served their purpose for a number of years and have returned to the earth, as have most of the trappers who built them. New this year at Owl Brook Educational Center in Holderness will be the trapper’s cabin built by volunteers from the NH Trapper’s Association. The cabin was built entirely with volunteer help and donated materials. As time progresses the cabin will become more of an educational tool with donated traps, furs, and other equipment or paraphernalia to complete the display. Sean Williamson of NHF&G has kept tract of the volunteer labor expended on this project as it represents a considerable sum in matching funds to NHF&G from the US Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Fund. Dwight Pennell, a Carroll County Director of NHTA who lives in Tuftonboro, has served as the Construction Foreman to schedule and direct the many volunteers and coordinate the construction and delivery of donated materials. The project got started in June with several work dates on the calendar and was finished in the fall in time for the NHTA Rendezvous and the Owl Brook Education Center dedication ceremony. Besides the critical position he has played, Dwight also contributed the use of his John Deere tractor to skid out the logs from the Owl Brook property, that were utilized to make the cabin.

Other major contributors were Steve Bennett and Karola Owen both NHTA Directors from Epsom who brought their portable saw mill and considerable experience to the Owl Brook site to mill the timber for this project. Craig Williams of R.P. Williams and Sons from Bristol donated a significant amount of materials for the project. There were many NHTA Directors, members, and friends of trapping who have pitched in at one or more of the work dates or contributed in other ways to make this project a success. The reward for all this effort will be realized over time as the public passes along the interpretive trails at the Owl Brook facility and the Trappers Cabin becomes one of the significant points of interest to be seen by the countless visitors.