Additional Habitat Protected at
Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge
The Nature Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servicecollaborate to secure protection of important bird habitat.
Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge in Whitefield and Jefferson, N.H., offers exceptional bird habitat and was recently named the state's first Important Bird Area by theAudubon Society of New Hampshire. Thanks to a deal completed today with helpfrom The Nature Conservancy, additional bird habitat is now protected and addedto the refuge.
Daryl Burtnett photo © TNC.
Jefferson, N.H., Sept. 27, 2004 — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy announced today the addition of 615 acres to the Pondicherry Division of the Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson and Whitefield.The newly acquired land in Jefferson has a wide diversity of important wildlife habitat, including a large and exemplary black ash swamp, extensive lowland spruce-fir forest and portions of several small streams that flow into Cherry Pond. The land is just south of Cherry Pond and abuts two snowmobile corridors.
Funding for the purchase comes from federal migratory waterfowl permits -- duck stamps -- which are purchased by waterfowl hunters and other bird enthusiasts.
The arrangements to purchase this remarkable property were made by the New Hampshire chapter of The Nature Conservancy. TNC secured a purchase and sales contract allowing the property to be directly transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The deal to purchase the refuge's additional tract was completed today. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the land from Bayroot LLC of Lyme, N.H.
With the new addition, the Pondicherry Division now totals about 4,300 acres. The refuge is a division of the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge, which encompasses six other refuges and critical habitats in the Connecticut River watershed.
"Pondicherry is a national natural landmark and was designated as the first important bird area in New Hampshire," said Andrew French, project leader for the Silvio Conte Refuge and the Pondicherry Division. "Approval as a migratory bird project by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission is quite fitting. This investment for plants, fish, wildlife and people was truly made possible by the New Hampshire chapter of The Nature Conservancy. It is a remarkable addition to the National Wildlife Refuge System."
"This is an amazing place," said Daryl Burtnett, director of The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire. "The rare mix of wetlands and diverse forest types, coupled with its niche as a key migratory bird stopover along the Connecticut River valley, makes Pondicherry a TNC priority for bird and other wildlife habitat protection. We have been pleased and honored to assist the Fish and Wildlife Service in its expansion of this refuge."
"We are delighted to continue our partnerships with The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, identifying lands with particular natural and public values, and transferring them to public stewardship," said Dan Hudnut of Wagner Forest Management, which manages Bayroot LLC.
"The Moorhen Marsh acquisition will protect highly significant habitat for wetland dependent species such as the American bittern, Wilson's snipe, marsh wren, sora, and Virginia rail," said David Govatski, of the Friends of Pondicherry. "It is an important migratory bird stepping stone on the Atlantic Flyway."
Pondicherry has been declared a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Interior Department and was recently designated as New Hampshire's first Important Bird Area.
The area consists of a high quality complex of bogs, streams, ponds and a variety of northern forest wetlands surrounded by a spruce and fir boreal forest. Among the birds that nest in the area are the black-backed woodpecker, common loons, hooded mergansers, American black ducks, mallards, green-winged teal, ring-necked ducks and wood ducks. Other breeding birds in the area include northern harrier, broad-winged hawk, merlin, kestrel, and sharp-shinned hawk. Approximately 230 bird species use the area during the year, of which 125 species have been confirmed as breeding.
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