525+ Acres Conserved Along Wild & Scenic Lamprey River

Transcription

1 Th i s L a d News ad iformatio from the Southeast Lad Trust of New Hampshire 525+ Acres Coserved Alog Wild & Sceic Lamprey River As this ewsletter goes to press, the Southeast Lad Trust is completig the coservatio ad acquisitio of over 525 acres of forestlad ad wetlads alog the federallydesigated Wild & Sceic Lamprey River. These lads, to be coveyed to the Lad Trust subject to a coservatio easemet held by the Natural Resources Coservatio Service, will create the Lad Trust s secod largest owership ad represet the culmiatio of over two years of work. Located i Eppig, the lad falls withi a coservatio focus area idetified i 2005 by the Southeast Lad Trust as a top priority for our work (see map o page 7). The property represets the highest co-occurrece of atural resource values withi the area, with sigificat wetlad resources, icludig more tha 350 acres of diverse wetlads that iclude streams, extesive veral pools, Red Maple floodplai forest, Black gum basi swamp, pitch pieheath swamp, ad over 3,200 feet of frotage o the Lamprey River. I additio, the acquisitio icludes over 150 acres of uplad hemlockhardwood-pie forest. The property, owed by NH Public Golf Courses, Ic., was as you guessed cosidered at oe time as a potetial site for a extesive golf course ad related residetial ad commercial developmet. However, its locatio o the Lamprey River ad proximity to thousads of acres of coservatio lad i Eppig, Exeter, A hero rookery is oe of the may wildlife features o the Friel Forest i Eppig. Photo courtesy of Mike Speltz, Society for the Protectio of New Hampshire Forests. ad Newfields coserved by the Great Bay Resource Protectio Partership, made its protectio a top priority for local, regioal, ad state coservatio orgaizatios. Its protectio will help coect a vast corridor of coservatio lad stretchig to the Piscassic Ice Pod i Newfields. Where the soils ad site coditios are appropriate, public access opportuities will be provided for passive outdoor recreatio icludig hikig, skiig, fishig, ad hutig. Because of the may public beefits, this lad was a coservatio priority both regioally ad statewide, otes David Viale, Lad Protectio & Stewardship Specialist with the Lad Trust. Coservig this lad will help protect the water quality of the Lamprey River, preserve critical wildlife habitat, ad esure that large blocks of ope space will remai udeveloped ad available for passive recreatio ad ejoymet by the public. I 2008, with ladower permissio, several coservatio groups met to discuss how they might work together to coserve the parcel. The diverse wetlad habitat ad the property s restoratio eeds made the property a good cadidate for fudig from the federal Wetlads Reserve Program (WRP). The WRP is admiistered by the Uited States Departmet of Agriculture s Natural Resources Coservatio Service (NRCS) ad is a volutary program offerig ladowers the opportuity cotiued o page 7 Witer 2011 Volume 15 New Eglad Cottotail Rabbits i NH 2 Coservatio Updates 2 Scamma Farm: Coserved Forever 3 Get Out & About 4 Wild & Sceic Film Festival 5 New T-Shirt Available 5 Trail Improvemets at Piscassic Greeway 6 Lad Trust Applies for Accreditatio 6 Aother Fatastic Fudraiser! 7 New Website Uveiled 8 Sig Up for E-ews! 8

2 New Eglad Cottotail Rabbits i New Hampshire by Emma Carcago, UNH Cooperative Extesio Coservatio Updates Cadia As of the pritig of this issue of This Lad, the Southeast Lad Trust has coserved more tha 7,150 acres sice Oe of our more recet projects has bee our first-ever property i Cadia. We partered with the Tow to acquire a coservatio easemet o 27 acres of forestlad, owed by Walter ad Patricia Rad. Usig fuds from its Coservatio Fud, the Tow paid $70,000, the appraised value, for the acquisitio of the easemet ad holds a executory iterest. A executory iterest allows the Tow to eforce the easemet should the Lad Trust fail to do so. Pat ad I are pleased that we were able to do somethig that we feel is good for the tow by protectig the ope space o our property forever, explaied Mr. Rad. The property, located betwee High Street ad Baker Road i Cadia, lies i the heart of a large ufragmeted block of forestlad. This block is over 3,000 acres i size ad has bee idetified as a supportig ladscape for critical wildlife habitat by the New Hampshire Wildlife Actio Pla (WAP). We hope it is the first of may projects i that area. Eppig ad Raymod November saw the completio of the Lad Trust s purchase of a 158-acre property o the Pawtuckaway River i Eppig ad Raymod. Fudig for this purchase was provided by grats from the Ope Space Istitute s Savig New Eglad Wildlife, North America cotiued o page 4 Despite the rabbit s reputatio for prolific breedig, the New Eglad cottotail is beig cosidered for federal protectio uder the Edagered Species Act, ad is curretly listed as a edagered species i New Hampshire. The species has show a sharp declie i populatio due primarily to habitat loss ad fragmetatio. The New Eglad cottotail has very specific habitat eeds, relyig o dese, shrubby thickets for protectio from predators. These habitats are ofte referred to as early-successioal habitats, ad are used by over 100 differet species of wildlife icludig summerbreedig warblers, reptiles ad amphibias, ruffed grouse, America woodcock, ad white-tailed deer. I New Hampshire, the decades followig the large-scale abadomet of farmlads (1900s-1960s) were a time whe earlysuccessioal habitat was relatively abudat. Over time, these habitats have aturally aged ad reverted to mature forests that are o loger suitable habitat for the rabbit ad other species that rely o dese, shrubby cover. As New Hampshire s huma populatio cotiues to grow, other suitable habitats have either bee lost or fragmeted by developmet ito parcels that are too small to support New Eglad cottotails. The New Hampshire Fish ad Game Departmet is takig actio to create habitat for the New Eglad cottotail with fuds provided through the State Wildlife Grats Program. The multi-year effort to create hudreds of acres of the dese, shrubby thickets required by New Eglad cottotails bega last witer o four properties owed by the Departmet i the Seacoast regio. The maagemet work beig doe i New Hampshire is part of a larger multiagecy collaboratio throughout the New Eglad cottotail s rage, which icludes Maie, New York, Massachusetts, Coecticut ad Rhode Islad. State ad Federal agecies are parterig with other coservatio groups ad o-profit orgaizatios throughout New Eglad to arrest the species precipitous declie. The New Eglad Cottotail. Courtesy of US Fish ad Wildlife Service I additio to the work beig doe o state lads, the survival of this species depeds o the cooperatio of private ladowers who are willig to create ad maitai early-successioal habitats o their lad. There is both fiacial ad techical assistace available to ladowers who are iterested i maagig their property for New Eglad cottotails. If you live i the Seacoast or Merrimack Valley regios ad are iterested i maagig your property for early-successioal species, cotact Emma Carcago, emma.carcago@uh.edu. 2

3 Scamma Farm: Coserved Forever This Jauary, the Southeast Lad Trust ad Tow of Stratham completed a two-year process of purchasig two coservatio easemets o the 206-acre Scamma Farm. The Scamma Farm is a highly sceic farm located o Route 108 i the heart of Stratham, with productive farm soils ad importat wildlife habitat. This partership achieved the shared goals of the ladower, the Tow of Stratham, ad the Southeast Lad Trust. For the Scammas, the coservatio easemets allow the lad to remai i family owership, to be a workig farm, ad to hoor the log agricultural legacy of the Scamma family. Wherever I go i this world I kow this lad will be ope forever, said Doug Scamma, ower of the farm. The Scamma family has bee farmig i America for 13 geeratios, ad origially bought the Stratham lad i Doug took over farmig the lad about 40 years ago. Over the years the farm has supported a variety of agricultural eterprises, icludig cows, chickes, ad crops. For the Tow of Stratham ad its citizes, the protectio of the Scamma Farm captures the spirit of the Tow s Ope Space Bod, passed back i May may remember that the Tow Meetig s overwhelmig support of the proposed bod made this possible. I fact, may thought of the Scamma Farm as the most crucial Stratham ladscape to be protected by the bod. [The Scamma Farm] is a icoic part of Stratham history, oted David Caada, chairma of the Board of Selectme. If you thik of Stratham, you thik of farmig. Ad for the Southeast Lad Trust, the preservatio of Scamma Farm cotiues its commitmet to coservig the special places of Rockigham Couty, places that provide local food, clea water, wildlife habitat, ad earby recreatioal opportuities. Now protected, the Scamma Farm s ladscape of hay, cor, ad pumpkis will forever be available for farmig, the woods for forestry ad hikig, ad wetlads for clea water ad wildlife habitat. This year the farm grew more tha 100 tos of pumpkis, sellig may directly to local residets. Photo used with permissio. Copyright Joh Beford, The Scamma family remais the ower of this lad. They are free to sell it ad use it i ways cosistet with the easemet. The Lad Trust ad the Tow hold the coservatio easemets o the property ad have distict roles i esurig that the owers maage ad use the lad cosistet with the restrictios. These restrictios prevet future residetial or commercial developmet, the subdivisio of the lad, or other uses that would degrade the atural resource values, such as miig. The Lad Trust will aually visit the property, observe its coditio ad uses, report its fidigs to the Tow, ad if ecessary, eforce its provisios. The Lad Trust is, i essece, protectig the substatial ivestmet made by Stratham. The easemets iclude provisios that esure public access for outdoor activities like hikig, crosscoutry skiig, ad hutig. As may be expected with a workig farm, the public s access is subject to sesible limitatios, icludig the ability of the ladowers to prohibit access durig the agricultural growig seaso or durig a timber harvest, so as to protect the hayfields, crops, ad the safety of visitors. If you are iterested i visitig the property, please respect ay sigs limitig access ad do ot walk across plowed or plated fields. More iformatio is posted at the Stratham Tow Hall ad Secod, the Scammas have grated groudwater withdrawal rights to the Tow, allowig the Tow the ability to pursue a public water supply system. The easemet provides guidace to esure that this right wo t impact the farm or the key atural resources of the lad. Fudig for the purchase of this valuable coservatio easemet was provided by the Tow of Stratham ad a $950,000 grat from the U.S. Farm ad Rachlad Protectio Program through the Natural Resources Coservatio Service. 3

4 GET Out & About Coservatio Updates cotiued Wetlads Coservatio Act, ad Lad ad Commuity Heritage Ivestmet Program, as well as private gifts. Coupled with past ad pedig acquisitios alog this pristie tributary to the Lamprey River, the Lad Trust hopes to establish the Pawtuckaway River Reservatio for wildlife, outdoor recreatio, clea water, ad sustaiable forestry. To date, the Lad Trust ows 250 acres alog the river ad has a additioal 60 uder agreemet. Look for a update i the ext issue! Kigsto ad East Kigsto I late December, Lad Trust Board member Rick Russma doated a easemet o acres of fields i Kigsto ad East Kigsto. His lad was adjacet to forestlad ad wetlads that Rick coserved through the Natural Resources Coservatio Service s Wetlads Reserve Program (WRP). The fields were ot icluded i the Wetlads Reserve Program to esure that they could be used for active agriculture i the future. Tillig is prohibited o coservatio easemets acquired through WRP. Mid-Witer Sowshoe at the Tucker ad Frech Family Forests Saturday, February 19 9a.m. oo Joi us for a fu sowshoe/witer walk to explore the ow protected 193-acre Tucker Forest ad 370-acre Frech Family Forests. These are two woderful properties that the Southeast Lad Trust has recetly acquired. They iclude a historic mill site, extesive marshlads, ad the Little River corridor. Our tour leaders will be members of the Frieds of Kigsto Ope Space (FOKOS) group ad staff from UNH Cooperative Extesio. We ll look for sigs of river otters, mik, fisher, ad sow shoe hare. Brig sowshoes, bioculars, ad appropriate mid-witer clothig. The walk is moderately streuous with some small hills ad ueve terrai. Tour & Coservatio Celebratio at Massabesic Audubo Wildlife Sactuary Saturday, April 2 9a.m. oo Aubur Over the witer, the Southeast Lad Trust ad NH Audubo took successful steps to permaetly protect through a coservatio easemet 135 acres of fields, wetlads, ad forests behid the Massabesic Audubo Ceter i Aubur. A collaboratio of parters, icludig the Tow of Aubur, Machester Water Works, the Natural Resources Coservatio Service (NRCS) ad the State of NH s Lad ad Commuity Heritage Ivestmet Program (LCHIP), helped make this project possible. Now, the lad resources will be maaged forever for people ad wildlife for recreatio, ope space, ad wildlife habitat. Joi leaders Phil Brow (NH Audubo s Director of Lad Maagemet) ad Kari Rubi (Southeast Lad Trust s Coservatio Lad Stewardship Maager) for a atural history tour of the recetly-coserved Massabesic Audubo Wildlife Sactuary. We ll pay particular attetio to the may atural spectacles of sprig that ca be ejoyed here, such as returig migrat sogbirds, breedig amphibias, ad the retur of life to the forest floor ad caopy. After the walk, come iside to explore the Massabesic Audubo Ceter ad ejoy some celebratory refreshmets. Brig bioculars, water, ad appropriate footwear for up to 2.5 miles of muddy trails. Wild & Sceic Film Festival Friday, April 22, :45p.m. The Music Hall, Portsmouth For more details, see ext page. Third Aual Birdig Walk at the Piscassic Greeway Saturday, May 14 (rai date May 21) 7 10a.m. Newfields Joi avid birdwatcher Patiece Chamberli ad past Presidet of NH Audubo s seacoast chapter Roger Stepheso for a morig of exploratio i Newfields ad Newmarket. The 380-acre Piscassic Greeway ad Cole Farm were coserved i 2006 by the Tow of Newfields ad Southeast Lad Trust. Featurig hardwood ad softwood forests, ope fields, ad extesive wetlads, the lad is a have for wildlife ad a importat stopover for migratig birds. This will be durig peak migratio, so we will observe breedig plumage ad behaviors of migrats ad residets! Our field trips are free uless otherwise oted, ad ope to the public. Registratio is required. Please call or ifo@selth.org. Directios will be provided to registrats. 4

5 Wild & Sceic Film Festival Arrives o Earth Day! Celebrate Earth Day by attedig the 2011 Wild & Sceic Film Festival at The Music Hall i Portsmouth o Friday, April 22. The festival is a collectio of films from the atioal Wild & Sceic Film Festival, a threeday film festival focused o evirometal topics. Origially created by the South Yuba River Citizes League (SYRCL) to celebrate their ladmark victory i gaiig Wild & Sceic status of 39 miles of the South Yuba River i Califoria, the festival ow aims to ispire grassroots support for local ad regioal evirometal work. This eveig festival is a atural extesio of the Southeast Lad Trust s work to protect the special places that make our regio such a woderful place to live ad work. We promise that through this collectio of short films you will laugh, cry, ad lear a little, ad be ispired to act! Tickets are $12.50 per perso ad ca be purchased at The Music Hall or o lie at www. themusichall.org, or by callig New T-Shirt Desig Available Voluteers Needed! Voluteers are eeded to make the Wild & Sceic Film Festival a smashig success. Our hope is to sell out the 900-seat Music Hall but to do so we eed your help i spreadig the word. Here s what you ca do to help: Ivite your frieds ad eighbors to atted make it a ight out for the eviromet! Better yet buy a $25 gift membership for a fried ad get a free ticket to the Festival. Spread the word through your local civic orgaizatios, churches, ad other groups: cotact us for free postcards ad hadbills to distribute or visit our website for a e-otice o the film. Place posters i your commuity: We ll provide the posters just cotact us. Atted for free by voluteerig that ight! Help is eeded with set up, clea up, ad staffig various booths. Cotact Kare McCormack at ifo@selth.org or to voluteer. Show your support for lad coservatio with our ew, beautiful t-shirts. Shirts are white with a full color desig o the back ad the Lad Trust s logo o the frot. Sizes available are S, M, L, XL, ad XXL. Short sleeves are $15 each ad log sleeves are $20 each, plus $2.00 S/H per shirt. To order, call Kare McCormack at or order directly from our website. Board Members Tom Chamberli, Presidet, Exeter Richard Adams, Vice Presidet, Portsmouth Huter Browlie, Treasurer, Newmarket Bob Eato, Secretary, Rye Phil Auger, Bretwood Do Briselde, Exeter Terry Coyle, Rye Aie decossy, Rye Diae Forsyth, Rye Etoile Holzaepfel, New Castle David Kirkpatrick, Portsmouth Robi Najar, Portsmouth Rick Russma, Kigsto Elisabeth Saders, Daville A Smith, Kesigto Roger Stepheso, Stratham Chad Vaderbeck, Hampto 5

6 Trail Improvemets at Piscassic Greeway Uderway Lad Trust Applies for Accreditatio This witer the Southeast Lad Trust officially iitiated the accreditatio process through the Lad Trust Accreditatio Commissio (LTAC). LTAC is a idepedet program of the Lad Trust Alliace ad awards the accreditatio seal to commuity istitutios that meet atioal quality stadards for protectig importat atural places ad workig lads forever. Lad trusts applyig for accreditatio submit extesive documetatio ad make a sigificat commitmet of time ad moey to participate. I a rigorous review process, LTAC examies each applicatio, iterviews the lad trust, ad evaluates multiple sources of iformatio, icludig commets from the public. Already i preparig for the accreditatio applicatio process, we have leared much ad improved greatly, explais Bria Hart, Executive Director. The ultimate outcome of this process is ot simply becomig accredited but of best usig the limited public ad private fuds to have the largest coservatio impact ow ad esurig we ca protect ad steward those resources i perpetuity. For more iformatio o accreditatio, visit the Lad Trust Accreditatio Commissio website at The Piscassic Greeway i Newfields is gettig a facelift with improved trails, ew bridges, ad a culvert, all to make ejoyig this property easier. This past fall the Appalachia Moutai Club (AMC) led a great crew of voluteers o the fall Uited Way Day of Carig to istall approximately 500 feet of bog bridgig o the Cole Farm i order to elevate the walkig trail above wet spots. A separate crew helped pull ivasive plats i the ope fields. Earlier i the year, Altus Egieerig geerously helped desig a ew ope bottom culvert for the mai access betwee the two fields at Cole Farm. The culvert replaced a failed culvert ad was desiged to allow wildlife to traverse the stream safely ad to deal with 100-year floods. Fially, the trail crew from AMC came back i November to build a ew walkig ad moutai bikig trail ad bridge o the Piscassic Greeway. Additioal work is plaed for this sprig ad summer ad a grad opeig of the improved trail system is plaed for later i 2011! Look for updates o our website. If you are iterested i voluteerig for a work day, please cotact Kari Rubi at krubi@selth.org or Right: Bog bridge beig istalled at Cole Farm. Below: The Uited Way Day of Carig voluteer crew. 6

7 525+ Acres Coserved cotiued from page 1 Map prepared by the Southeast Lad Trust of NH, Jauary Features ad locatios approximate. This is ot a survey product. to protect, restore, ad ehace wetlads o their property. While the WRP program provided a opportuity to secure fudig to purchase a coservatio easemet, the ladower also wished to covey the uderlyig fee owership. Further, additioal fuds were eeded to cover associated project costs ad the log term maagemet ad stewardship of the lad. The LRAC idetified this parcel as oe of our highest coservatio priorities, states Sharo Meeker. Protectio of this property is a major victory ad we were pleased to parter with the Lad Trust to make it happe. To secure the remaiig fudig, the Lad Trust reached out to log-time coservatio parter, the Lamprey River Advisory Committee (LRAC), for their help. The Lamprey River Advisory Committee was formed i 1991 ad serves as the local maagemet advisory committee uder the state Rivers Maagemet ad Protectio Program ad the federal Wild & Sceic Rivers program. The LRAC is comprised of appoited represetatives from each of the four tows withi the Wild & Sceic River desigatio (Eppig, Lee, Durham, ad Newmarket), ad focuses o protectio of the ecological, cultural, ad historic resources of the river. LRAC had log sought the protectio of the NH Public Course property, ad agreed to provide key fudig to match the WRP applicatio ad to support the log-term maagemet of the property. The Lamprey River Advisory Committee idetified this parcel as oe of our highest coservatio priorities, states Sharo Meeker, chair of the LRAC lad protectio committee. Protectio of this property is a major victory ad we were pleased to parter with the Lad Trust to make it happe. This ew property will cotiue to be a focus of the Lad Trust for several years, as we work to restore the property s wetlads ad reverse damage doe by uauthorized users, explais Viale. Illegal off-road vehicle use has created ew trails, rutted wetlads, ad damaged sesitive habitat. I additio, Birch Road, a umaitaied dirt road i Eppig, has bee illegally wideed oto the property by users, beyod the road right of way. The Lad Trust will be workig with the Tow ad NRCS to block illegal access poits, retire iappropriate trails ad woods roads, ad restore wetlads fuctios to the property. Aother Fatastic Fudraiser! Last November s Fall Foliage Fudraiser at the Discover Portsmouth Ceter raised $37,000 to support the work of the Southeast Lad Trust. Our voluteers outdid themselves i the time ad talet they cotributed ad a good time was had by all! We wish to thak all of the busiesses ad members who supported the orgaizatio through their geerous gifts of services ad items, ad give particularly warm thaks to our evet co-sposor, Cambridge Trust Compay of New Hampshire, who uderwrote the evet. Plas are uderway for 2011 cotact Kare McCormack at or ifo@selth.org if you would like to help out. Eat, Play, Give 7

8 New Website Uveiled The Southeast Lad Trust is pleased to uveil our improved website! Over the past year we have worked with Exeter Iteret Solutios to desig a website that will offer you more of the iformatio you are lookig for ad will allow the website to grow ad chage as eeded. The address is the same but the look is brad-ew! Fid detailed iformatio ad photographs of specific properties i our Protected Properties sectio, see what evets are plaed, dowload ewsletters, or fid out more ways to help out. Sig Up for E-ews! Wat to save paper ad postage ad receive This Lad electroically? How about get ivited to local field trips ad evets? Sig up for our E-ews our based ewsletter service. It s free ad easy just visit our website ad eter your address. Questios, Commets, Cocers? To cotact the Southeast Lad Trust of New Hampshire, please call or ifo@selth.org. PO Box 675, Exeter, NH Fax: Website: The Southeast Lad Trust of New Hampshire is a 501(c)(3) o-profit orgaizatio. Cotributios are tax-deductible. This Lad is published quarterly ad is the ewsletter of the Southeast Lad Trust of New Hampshire. Edited by Bria Hart ad Richard Adams. Prited o recycled paper. Photo credits: Cover l to r: Bria Hart; Jerry Mokma, Ecophotography.com; Bria Hart; Peter Vadermark Page 2: Jerry Mokma, Ecophotography.com Page 3: Eva Powers Page 4: Page 5: Bria Hart Page 6: Eva Powers PO Box 675 Exeter, New Hampshire Formed by the merger of the Rockigham Lad Trust ad Seacoast Lad Trust NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE PAID MAILFORCE INC PORTSMOUTH, NH ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Friday, April 22 The Music Hall, Portsmouth