Whoever set up a campsite, a fire pit, and a dock on the Clapp conservation land has moved out, commission member Jim Breslauer reported to the Conservation Commission. The Clapp land is on the west side of Bare Hill Pond, around a cove. It is part of a larger block of conservation land, the Clapp-Scorgie-Tufts-Smith land, that surrounds Bellevue Cemetery.
Breslauer said that only a couple of tarps remained at the campsite. The commission plans to remove those if the owners don’t do so soon.
A pond abutter reported the campsite to the commission last month. Land Agent Liz Allard and Breslauer informed the police and went out to investigate. Chairman Paul Willard signed a warning letter that Breslauer delivered to the campsite by kayak.
“You have a very nice spot here,” the Aug. 21 letter began. “Unfortunately, it is located on the Clapp conservation land on which no camping, fires (without a permit) or trespassing dusk to dawn are allowed.” The letter also pointed out that the campers had violated state law by installing a dock on a Great Pond. The campers were ordered to remove all their belongings, including the dock, under threat of police action.
On his next visit, Breslauer told the commission, all the campers’ tools and belongings were gone except for the tarps. The fire pit had been broken up. And the campers had left a polite note of their own, saying they had been unaware of the regulations and had cleaned up everything they could. The letter bore the mysterious signature “The Arcane.”
Conservation Commission member Wendy Sisson said, “We need to get across the idea that it’s not OK to have these fires” on conservation land. In another incident, she said, a commission sign prohibiting fires had been defaced and a fire pit rebuilt. Sisson said she had once found a fire on Blueberry Island still smoldering along a tree root, even after whoever made the fire evidently thought they had put it out.
