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Purple Trillium, Sheldrick Forest Preserve, Wilton, N.H. - E. Aldrich photo
Nature.org Donate Nature.org/newhampshire
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Photo Essay |
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Earth Day Honors:
Amidst the festive backdrop of an Earth Day celebration, the Conservancy’s New Hampshire chapter was honored with an award from the N.H. Fish and Game Commission. The chapter was selected as inaugural recipient of the Conservation Organization Award as part of the Commission's Annual Awards of Excellence program. Nominated by Peter Wellenberger, manager of the Great Bay Estuarine Research Reserve, the award recognizes the Conservancy’s efforts to conserve Great Bay, its tributaries and uplands. A key part of that work has involved the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership, of which TNC is the lead acquisition agent. "Fish and Game is fortunate to have many dedicated partners, supporters and volunteers, who we work with every day to achieve great things in wildlife conservation," said Fish and Game Executive Director Lee E. Perry. "This is our chance to express our thanks for their hard work and diligence in conserving and managing the state's fish, wildlife and marine resources." "I'm proud to accept this award recognizing the Conservancy's role in protecting Great Bay, and also very grateful to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and all the other organizations that make up the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership, said Daryl Burtnett, TNC's state director in New Hampshire. "This Partnership is a collective effort that shares in deserving this great recognition." Restoring Great Bay: While most people this spring will be gardening in the dirt, Great Bay Marine Ecologist Jay Odell will be gardening in the water and mud of Great Bay: oyster gardening. In an effort to restore oysters to Great Bay, we are working with our partners at the University of New Hampshire to enlist the help of shoreline residents and others in the community. Oysters have declined dramatically in the estuary since the 1800s, with high losses in recent years. Biologists estimate that the largest beds in Great Bay held about 120 harvestable oysters per square meter in 1993. Most of the decline is due to disease, pollution and over-harvest. Today those same beds have about seven harvestable oysters per square meter. Until the big decline, oysters served as the estuary’s kidneys and liver by filtering tremendous amounts of water each day. Great Bay needs strong oyster populations for pollution resilience. In the oyster garden program, volunteers with access to a suitable dock or buoy will raise oysters that will ultimately be planted at historic reefs on Great Bay. The program is collaboration with the University of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Estuaries Project and is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The results of this work will feed into a growing network of more than a dozen Conservancy restoration sites. The work is helping to identify critical gaps in knowledge among restoration practitioners, management community partners and the public at large. The Nature Conservancy established a Shellfish Restoration Network in 2004 to enhance the overall coordination of restoration by the Conservancy and its partners, and to help share lessons learned in a timely manner. For more information on how to be a volunteer oyster gardener, contact Ann Reid at UNH Sea Grant, 603-749-1565. For more information on TNC’s oyster restoration program, contact Jay Odell, 603-659-2678.
Culvert Operations: The Nature Conservancy and the Ashuelot Valley Environmental Observatory are seeking volunteers for a project to study barriers to fish passage and natural stream flows in the Ashuelot River watershed. Volunteers this summer will head out throughout the Ashuelot River watershed of southwestern New Hampshire, measuring bridges, culverts and all sorts of road/stream crossings. With their waders, cameras and measuring tapes, volunteers will help The Nature Conservancy better understand the fragmenting features in the Ashuelot watershed's aquatic landscape. By preliminary count, there are more than 150 dams and 1,400 road-stream crossings in the entire 420-square-mile watershed. The Conservancy chose the Ashuelot watershed for this study for several reasons. The river is a refuge for the globally rare and federally endangered dwarf wedge mussel. It has also been designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an aquatic priority area of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. After a vigorous scientific review, TNC and its partners recently identified 13 terrestrial and 20 aquatic areas as having exceptional habitat significance. And meanwhile, TNC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are examining how flow regimes influence aquatic biodiversity downstream of Surry Mountain Dam. So there’s great potential to restore aquatic habitat in the Ashuelot watershed. But before restoration can even be considered, we have to understand what’s going on. This summer, a crew of trained staff and volunteers will document and evaluate the extent and impacts of aquatic fragmentation in the watershed. Coordinated by TNC and Ashuelot Valley Environmental Observatory, volunteers will assess all road crossings, culverts and other structures that fragment the watershed’s waters. Ultimately, the information will help guide future restoration projects with partners, including the N.H. Department of Transportation and local communities, as they plan bridge and culvert maintenance and replacement projects. This project is supported by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency via the N.H. Department of Environmental Services, the N.H. Conservation Plate (the moose plate), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Volunteers have several opportunities for training sessions, in the coming weeks (all held Friday nights indoors, followed by Saturday mornings outdoors). Volunteers need only attend one Friday/Saturday session.
If you're interested in volunteering, contact David Moon at the Ashuelot Valley Environmental Observatory: moon@aveo.org or 603-358-2069. People Make it Happen:
You could tell their commitment to The Nature Conservancy right at the outset. They were nearly two dozen donors, friends and Legacy Club members, gathering at TNC’s office in Concord one recent morning to learn about some of our latest conservation projects and share some good eats. They leaned in, asked great questions and encouraged continued success. The Legacy Club shares a big part of making our successes possible. The Legacy Club is for those who join the tradition of making a lasting gift to The Nature Conservancy. These include gifts through a will, retirement plan or insurance policy, as well as life-income and other deferred gifts. Membership is voluntary and without obligation. It is our way of recognizing a remarkable contribution to the Conservancy. Members receive a free subscription to Nature Conservancy magazine, a personalized certificate, the Legacy newsletter, invitations to special domestic and international trips, the Conservancy's annual report, and exclusive discounts and offers. New Hampshire members are also invited to the annual Legacy Club and Friend’s Breakfast where they can meet fellow supporters and hear firsthand how their generosity helps us accomplish so much. We asked them what they value most about the Conservancy’s work. Some said they like TNC’s steady protection of important natural places. Others said they like our science-based approach to identifying the highest priorities for protecting and restoring nature. Bruce Beckley said he likes the Conservancy’s integrity and effective use of limited financial resources. “I believe in and trust TNC folks here in New Hampshire to use my few dollars with good purpose,” he said. And Barry Dame summed it up this way: “One needs an organization that one can trust and that truly cares about the natural environment. I think TNC is such an organization.” To learn more about the Conservancy’s Legacy Club, contact Tiffany McKenna, the Conservancy’s director of philanthropy in New Hampshire, 603-224-5853, ext. 15. Saturday, Sept. 9, 2006 Great Bay will be the backdrop of this year’s annual meeting of The Nature Conservancy’s New Hampshire Chapter. The meeting will be Saturday, September 9 at the Sandy Point Discovery Center in Stratham. The meeting will be at Sandy Point’s Hugh Gregg Coastal Conservation Center, with registration starting at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will include a keynote speaker, update on the past year’s conservation successes, lunch and field trips to Great Bay and other areas the Conservancy is working to conserve. Thursday, May 18: Thursday, May 25: Thursday, June 15: Thursday, June 29: Birders Wanted: New Hampshire Audubon is embarking on a critical new phase of bird monitoring projects and is looking for some help. New Hampshire Audubon biologists are working to implement bird conservation strategies in N.H. Fish and Game's recently completed Wildlife Action Plan. Audubon is also collaborating with regional and national bird conservation partnerships to identify priority tasks and coordinate monitoring efforts. This process will lead to comprehensive conservation plans for New Hampshire and provides exciting volunteer opportunities. Although some bird species are already well-monitored through programs such as the Breeding Bird Survey, many of the species of greatest conservation concern are not. This year, biologists are developing several programs that will help us understand, and ultimately conserve, these species. This is no small task and to be successful, Audubon seeks the help of the entire birding community. N.H. Audubon is creating a corps of volunteer “citizen scientists” to scour the forests, fields, and wetlands of the state to help collect critical data on the species of greatest conservation need. In the conservation community, this is often called “birding with a purpose.”
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