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Restoring the Pine Barrens:
Plans for Ecological Management for 2007

Restoring Fire to the Ossipee Pine Barrens
TNC staffers conduct a test burn in the Ossipee Pine Barrens
in 2006. This year's plans call for clearing fire protection
buffers and conducting as many as six prescribed burns.
 Photo © Eric Aldrich/TNC

This will be a busy year for the Conservancy’s efforts to restore and manage the Ossipee Pine Barrens. We’re planning to clear additional fire protection buffers to protect homes and businesses in the area from wildfire. And we’re planning to conduct prescribed burns on parts of our preserve in Freedom and Madison. Details of these projects are below.

Why are we doing this? For almost two decades, The Nature Conservancy has been protecting land here in the pine barrens of Freedom, Madison, Tamworth, and Ossipee. These lands represent a globally rare forest type, New Hampshire’s last viable occurrence of a northern pitch pine/scrub oak pine barrens. The pine barrens are an important habitat for several bird species that are declining elsewhere in the state, such as whip-poor-will, nighthawk, Eastern towhee, and brown thrasher; several rare moth and butterfly species are also found here. Accordingly, the habitat, and maintaining it over the years, are among the goals of the state’s recently completed Wildlife Action Plan.

The pine barrens have had a relationship with fire that goes back thousands of years. Those wildfires started from lightning strikes and occurred just about anywhere, creating the patchwork of different forest age and structure that defines the pine barrens. In the absence of fire, the barrens’ pitch pine and scrub oak would slowly be replaced by other species not adapted to fire, and the character of the ecosystem would change.

So while it’s critical to continue protecting what remains of the Ossipee Pine Barrens, land protection alone isn’t enough. It’ll require active and careful management.

Plans to restore and maintain this special habitat have been taking shape for more than five years, starting with research into uncommon bird and insect species. Additional research has examined fuel that has been accumulating throughout the pine barrens over the past 50-plus years because of fire suppression. In some areas, fuel loads (the accumulation of woody debris and dense vegetation) have reached potentially hazardous levels, which could result in difficult-to-control wildfires. This research culminated with the completion of our ecological and fire management plan.

The Nature Conservancy is nationally recognized as a leader in protecting, restoring and managing important ecosystems like the Ossipee Pine Barrens. Our goals here over the next few years are two-fold: 1) to maintain New Hampshire’s last intact pine barrens ecosystem, while 2) reducing the wildfire threat posed by the continued accumulation of hazardous fuels. Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's use of prescribed fire to restore ecosystems.

In keeping with these goals we will be conducting timber management this spring that will create fire protection buffers in four areas: along Route 41 in Madison; two portions of the preserve near Windsock Village and Soaring Heights in Ossipee; and along our shared boundary with Camp Calumet in Freedom (see map). In these buffers of 150 to 300 feet wide, we will significantly reduce the tree density so that crowns of remaining trees are not touching. Also, scrub oak and other low stature vegetation will be mowed in selected areas. These buffers will reduce the likelihood of wildfire near adjacent homes.

We will also conduct up to six carefully planned prescribed burns in 6- to 14-acre burn units on the preserve, a total of 53 acres (see map). The prescribed burns will be conducted sometime between June 1 and September 30 and only when all safety parameters are met – during days when weather, wind and other conditions are just right. The burn units have already been prepared mechanically for a combination of safety and ecological purposes. These burns will be done with the help of partners, including the state, White Mountain National Forest, Conservancy staff in other states, and in some cases local fire departments.

Ossipee Pine Barrens Fire Restoration
Learn more about the Conservancy's efforts to
restore fire in the Ossipee Pine Barrens.
Before any burn, we will secure necessary permits from local fire departments and will review the burn plans with them. Precautions will be taken to limit smoke and to ensure that the prescribed burn stays within its boundaries. In addition, fire suppression vehicles will be available on-site during the burn. Each prescribed burn will be completed in one day.

“The management that we’ll conduct here over the coming years will help restore and maintain this distinct habitat,” said Jeff Lougee, Mount Washington Valley program manager for the Conservancy. “Ultimately, this work benefits not only the habitat and its unique flora and fauna, but also families and businesses in the neighboring communities by reducing fuel loads that have built up here over the decades.”