Lasting Action for Fall Mountain

Searching for Northeastern Bulrush
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Susi von Oettingen, right, and a volunteer search for Northeastern bulrush at Fall Mountain's North Pond. Eric Aldrich photo (C) TNC.

Rarely in conservation do you get a chance to protect an entire watershed. Rarer still when the watershed is in excellent condition, has abundant wildlife habitat, and holds a globally rare plant.

That's why The Nature Conservancy is excited about a remarkable conservation opportunity at Fall Mountain. Rising sharply from the Connecticut River in North Walpole, Fall Mountain has a long, shallow bowl near its 1,056-foot summit. Within the bowl is a series of beaver flowages, including ponds and wetlands that harbor the federally endangered plant, Northeastern bulrush (scirpus ancistrochaetus).

Long identified as a conservation priority by the Conservancy, efforts to protect Fall Mountain are taking a giant step forward. The Conservancy is finalizing an agreement with New England Power Company (NEPCO) to purchase 950 acres on Fall Mountain, including the entire watershed of the mountaintop and three populations of Northeastern bulrush. The Conservancy is raising funds to purchase the property, and hopes to close the deal before the end of this year.

Meanwhile, the Conservancy has preliminary agreement with state officials to transfer the property -- once protected -- to the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands as a new state forest. Under this scenario, the Conservancy would hold a conservation easement that would ensure sound forest management practices to protect the Northeastern bulrush and other sensitive ecological features.

"This is a terrific opportunity to achieve multiple conservation goals," says Daryl Burtnett, state director of The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire. "We've got a remarkable chance to protect three populations of a federally endangered plant and their entire watershed. We've also got the opportunity to work with the N.H. Division of Forests and Lands in establishing a new state forest where the project's primary goal is to protect biodiversity."

George Bald, Commissioner of the Department of Resources and Economic Development (DRED), has supported the project from the start. "We are very pleased that a nonprofit conservation organization would come to the state and offer us the property," Bald said. "The Nature Conservancy is clearly comfortable with our ability to manage this property well."

"This property is a perfect opportunity to apply the stewardship standards we apply to all of our state lands: protecting biological diversity, production of timber, outdoor recreation, and the protection of scenic and cultural resources," said Philip Bryce, director of the N.H. Division of Forests and Lands in DRED. "This project will protect a unique piece of land for the benefit of the state and local communities"

A Power Facility?

The property, which straddles the towns of Charlestown and Langdon, was at one time eyed as a possible power generation facility. NEPCO, owned by National Grid USA, bought the property in the 1960s and '70s for a possible pumped storage hydroelectric generation facility. (Northeast Utilities owns such a facility along the Connecticut River in Northfield, Mass.). Although the power facility later proved economically unfeasible, NEPCO kept the land and managed it for forestry. Had the plans ever materialized, significant changes in the basin's natural hydrological regime would have damaged or wiped out the Northeastern bulrush populations.

After Fall Mountain had emerged as a conservation priority by TNC, Conservancy staff contacted NEPCO about the possibility of protecting the tract. At the time, NEPCO wasn't interested.

Things changed when electric deregulation came along in the 1990s. Under deregulation, NEPCO was required to sell its non-power-generating assets at fair market value and return the value to ratepayers. In April 2002, NEPCO officials contacted the Conservancy about selling the property.

Although the process was slow -- two years in the works -- the outcome looks good.

A Special Set of Conditions

One person who knows Fall Mountain well is Susi von Oettingen. She's a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and has monitored Northeastern bulrush on Fall Mountain for many years.

The wetlands at Fall Mountain support three of New Hampshire's eight known populations of Northeastern bulrush. The Fall Mountain tract includes the largest and best-ranked occurrence in the state.

"What's really important about this project is that it's an opportunity to protect this plant in a whole watershed," von Oettingen said. "And it's the plant's only site in New Hampshire that would be fully protected."

Because Northeastern bulrush "requires such a special set of conditions" for it to thrive, protection of its habitat is an important part of its recovery, she said.

If the Fall Mountain tract is not protected, several scenarios potentially threaten its special natural resources, such as land conversion, residential development, liquidation timber harvesting and changes in the wetland ecosystem's natural hydrology.

Continued Public Access

The project will ensure continued public access for traditional low-impact uses on the property, including hiking, hunting, fishing, nature observation and snowmobiling on existing trails. In addition, students from nearby Fall Mountain Regional High School will be able to continue using the land for athletic training, natural science projects and maple syrup production.

"As conservation professionals and natural resource managers, we need to continue to explore how biodiversity conservation can interface with recreational activities and the working landscape," said Mark Zankel, director of conservation for The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire. "Our Fall Mountain partnership with the state offers a great chance to advance these issues, while conserving one of the state's real gems." Over the past year, the Conservancy has assembled the multi-agency Fall Mountain Technical Committee, which has developed detailed management guidelines designed to balance the property's ecological, recreational, scenic and economic values.

Fall Mountain is part of a largely unbroken 4,000-acre block of forest. The extensive and intact surrounding forest is in good condition with evidence of sound forest management practices. The N.H. Natural Heritage Bureau has documented an additional 14 state-listed threatened or endangered species and exemplary natural communities on or within 1.5 miles of this tract.

The Nature Conservancy, which is leading fundraising efforts to protect Fall Mountain, has so far secured two grants of $175,000 each from the N.H. Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, and one $175,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Austin Memorial Foundation has also contributed a grant of $50,000.

The Conservancy seeks to raise an additional $419,400 to complete the project.

At a Glance:

Northeastern Bulrush
Scientific name: Scirpus ancistrochaetus
Taxonomic group: sedge
Discovered as a species: 1962 by A.E. Schuyler
Status: Globally rare, federally endangered
Occurrences: About 100 populations from Virginia to New Hampshire and Vermont.
Protection status: Most populations on private lands. The Fall Mountain populations are New Hampshire's best in condition and would be the first in the state on protected land.
Why protect it: Doug Bechtel, TNC-NH's Director of Conservation Science: "The desire to protect rare species is what motivated the creation of The Nature Conservancy. The ethic is simple: All life has a purpose and function in our ecosystems and therefore has value. A rare plant by itself may not benefit people, but it may benefit wildlife, build soil, provide nutrients, etc. Northeastern bulrush is a unique piece of the ecosystem at Fall Mountain, which in turn makes Fall Mountain unique."