This story was originally produced by the Portsmouth Herald. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
A lawsuit filed against the town and its Conservation Commission asserts a barn swallow colony will experience “irreparable damage” if the birds are not allowed back into the historic Goss Farm barn.
This spring, the migratory swallows flew back to the barn to find they’d been locked out of their decades-long nesting place. The barn was closed for several months in 2025 due to accumulated fecal matter from the birds, a key factor in the Conservation Commission’s decision to officially close off the barn to the swallows this February ahead of their return.
In place of the barn, the Conservation Commission authorized funds to pay for alternative nesting structures to be erected on the Goss Farm property. However, some of the swallows have since been observed attempting unsuccessfully to re-enter the barn.
“By May 15, 2026, or sooner, the Rye Conservation Commission will have done intentional and irreparable damage to the decades-old Barn Swallow colony at Goss Farm, which it controls and manages as a conservation property,” the civil complaint states. “The swallows are already returning to the Goss Farm barn for their nesting season, only to discover that the RCC has evicted them from the place that has been the home of their unique colony (now 25-30 breeding pairs) since before the mid-1900s.”
Read more of tihs story at Seacoastonline.
