• Home
  • How We Work
  • Where We Work
  • News Room
  • About Us
  • My Nature Page

The Nature Conservancy in Africa - Conservation in Africa

The Nature Conservancy in Asia Pacific - Conservation in Asia-Pacific

The Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean - Conservation in the Caribbean

The Nature Conservancy in Central America - Conservation in Central America

The Nature Conservancy in North America - Conservation in North America

The Nature Conservancy in the United States - Conservation in the United States

The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America

Granite State Glances

The electronic newsletter of The Nature Conservancy's New Hampshire Chapter,
a monthly roundup of conservation in the Granite State

Contents:

 
Road Retirement at Bunnell
Contractors for The Nature Conservancy remove a bridge from a former logging road on the Conservancy's Vickie Bunnell Preserve. The Conservancy is retiring roads used by former landowner Champion International and restoring the roadbeds back to forest. Peter Benson photo © TNC.

Retiring Roads, Restoring Forests
at Vickie Bunnell Preserve
The Nature Conservancy has started a multi-phase project to restore forests and streams along a network of former logging roads on its Vickie Bunnell Preserve in Columbia and Stratford. The roads were built in the 1990s by former landowner Champion International for timber operations.

"What we'll be doing here over the next year or so is removing bridges and culverts, preventing erosion, and restoring vegetation and water courses to a more natural state like the areas around these roads," said Peter Benson, manager of the Conservancy's Northern New Hampshire Program. "Restoring road and water to a more natural condition will accomplish TNC's goal of providing a more natural and less fragmented 'forever wild' landscape on large preserves like the Vickie Bunnell tract. Forest roads have been identified with threats to the landscape due to fragmentation of habitat, increased predation of some prey, invasive species. The removal of roads will also decrease the impacts of illegal use by ATVs and other off-road vehicles."

The first phase began in November, when contractors removed two bridges and three culverts from the Gore Brook watershed. They also stabilized streambanks and returned the stream to a more natural flow and condition. Light scarification on some of the former log-hauling roadbeds also helped speed up the natural regeneration process. "We have already seen increased beaver activity along a former road bed that has enabled the beavers to re-colonize an area where they had been historically," Benson said.

Next year, the Conservancy will focus on road retirement and restoration in other parts of the 10,330-acre preserve. Some of these roads are very steep, climb to high elevations, and have little erosion control. They threaten to degrade water quality from silt and sediment and have numerous safety hazards.

"In some places, we'll be removing fill, and trying to regrade the road to its original slope," Benson said. "We'll be restoring the natural hydrologic flow regime and stabilizing the former roadbed with native tree or shrub species."

As the process goes along, Benson and other Conservancy staff will be taking careful notes. Until now, there's been little scientific documentation of road retirement and restoration in New England. "We'll share our experience here with others so that this process can continue elsewhere, as it should," Benson said.

The project is supported in part by a grant from Sweet Water Trust, which is also supporting road retirement projects by the Conservancy in Maine and Vermont.

Return to the top

Viewing Osprey at Great Bay

Viewing osprey on Great Bay is a good way to appreciate the value of New Hampshire's estuaries for bird habitat. As Important Bird Areas, Great Bay and Hampton-Seabrook Estuary get additional recognition and potentially greater conservation measures.
Eric Aldrich photo © TNC.

Great Bay and Hampton-Seabrook Estuary
Named as Important Bird Areas
Habitat conservation for New Hampshire's coastal birds recently got a boost with the naming of Great Bay and the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary as Important Bird Areas.

The Important Bird Area (IBA) program is part of an international effort to identify places that are most important to birds. IBA programs are currently in place in over 100 countries and in 45 other states. The New Hampshire program was established several months ago and is directed by The Audubon Society of New Hampshire in partnership with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and UNH Cooperative Extension.

The IBA program has developed scientific criteria with which to evaluate potential sites.  These include the presence of rare or endangered bird species, areas where large numbers of birds congregate, and unique habitats. Both Great Bay and the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary meet all these criteria, and between the two a significant portion of New Hampshire's estuarine habitat has been recognized for its value to birds.

On Great Bay these birds include waterfowl, bald eagles, ospreys, and salt-marsh nesting sparrows. Roughly 2,000 American black ducks winter on the bay, more than the rest of the state combined, and 20 other species of waterfowl regularly use the bay during the year. The complex of mudflats, open water, and salt marsh around Hampton Harbor is a critical stopover habitat for thousands of migrating sandpipers of up to 20 species and as a feeding area for herons and egrets during the summer.

"By identifying the state's largest two estuaries as IBAs, we hope to foster additional conservation activity in the region that can ultimately benefit both the birds and this uncommon ecosystem upon which they depend," said David Houghton, President of New Hampshire Audubon.

Return to the top

Harris Center Protects Land
Generous donors to the Harris Center for Conservation Education have protected this stream and nearby uplands from being developed ... and spurred a successful challenge from the center's founder.
Meade Cadot photo.

Harris Center Donors
Respond to the Challenge
Some beautiful land near Nubanusit Lake in Nelson and Hancock have been protected, thanks to generous donors and the Harris Center for Conservation Education.

About 180 contributors helped the Harris Center purchase 100 acres of forest and wetland off Route 123 - a strategic piece for conservation and wildlife corridors. The land was purchased from home developer Daniel Pratt. And in response, Harris Center founder Eleanor Briggs has pledged to protect more than 350 abutting acres, including land along the northern end of Nubanusit Lake and near Spoonwood Pond in Nelson.

Upon hearing the news -- and seeing newly protected lands marked in green on the conservation map -- attendees at the Harris Center's annual meeting erupted in applause. The resulting block of protected lands now exceeds 1,500 acres, according to H. Meade Cadot, director of the Harris Center.

 

 

New Hampshire's Valuable Waters
We all know that New Hampshire's lakes and rivers are valuable ... now we've got a better idea how valuable.

The New Hampshire Lakes Association recently commissioned a study to explore some of the monetary value of the state's public waterways. The information will help policy-makers in reaching informed decisions on sometimes competing uses of public waters. The study was prepared by Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, P.A., of Concord. In addition to the lakes association, a steering committee for the study included representatives from the N.H. Rivers Council, N.H. Department of Environmental Services, N.H. Fish and Game Department, Squam Lakes Association, Lake Sunapee Protective Association, and the Newfound Lake Region Association.

Among the study's findings:

  • The total sales generated by recreational use (boating, fishing, swimming) of New Hampshire's freshwaters, and by public drinking water supplies, range from $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion annually.
  • Each year, about 14.7 million visitor days are spent by both residents and nonresidents in New Hampshire boating, fishing and swimming.
  • These days collectively generate roughly $320 million to $340 million in annual household income; 9,000 to 15,000 jobs; and $850 million to $1.2 billion in annual total sales.
  • Nearly 200,000 households and businesses rely on public drinking water from surface water supplies. This generates $75 million to $150 million in annual household income and 1,900 to 2,600 jobs.

Return to the top

About The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy's mission is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. The Conservancy has protected more than 98 million acres of valuable lands and waters worldwide. The organization accomplishes its mission through the efforts of state and country chapters, which are responsible for protecting and managing conservation land, and for raising operating and capital funds to support their programs.

Established in 1987, The Nature Conservancy of New Hampshire has helped protect more than 119,000 acres of ecologically significant land and currently owns and manages 26 preserves across the state.

The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire: 22 Bridge St., Fourth Floor, Concord, NH, 03301.
603-224-5853.

Granite State Glances is the monthly electronic newsletter of The Nature Conservancy's New Hampshire Chapter. To subscribe, click here.