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Nature Conservancy's First Phase or Restoring Ossipee Pine Barrens Expected Start this Spring

Informational meeting set for Thursday, Nov. 4, in Madison

Madison, N.H.—October 18, 2004—The Nature Conservancy is preparing to begin the first phase of management to restore and maintain the Ossipee Pine Barrens, a globally rare habitat.

The Conservancy will hold an informational meeting on Thursday, Nov. 4, in Madison on its plans to use mechanical treatment and carefully prescribed burns to manage the pine barrens. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Madison Library. It will include an overview of restoration efforts—including mechanical treatments and prescribed burns—and scientific projects to understand fuel loads and biodiversity.

Work will likely begin this spring with mechanical treatments of pitch pine and scrub oak near East Shore Drive in Madison to reduce fuel loads and help ecological management.

Ultimately the Conservancy will use carefully prescribed burns in this pine barrens ecosystem that has depended upon fire for its maintenance and regeneration for thousands of years. In the coming years prescribed burns will be conducted by trained Conservancy staff, with assistance from local and state firefighters, the White Mountain National Forest and other organizations.

The classic pitch pine and scrub oak forests of the Ossipee Pine Barrens have had a long relationship with fire. The Nature Conservancy is preparing to carefully restore fire to the globally rare Pine Barrens ecosystem with a combination of mechanical treatment and carefully planned prescribed burns. The Conservancy will hold an informational meeting on its management plans on Thursday, November 4, 7 p.m. at the Madison Public Library. © Eric Aldrich photo/TNC

"This project will set us on a course of tackling two critical issues in the Ossipee Pine Barrens," said Jeff Lougee, stewardship ecologist for the Conservancy in New Hampshire. "They include the degradation and loss of New Hampshire's last remaining pitch pine/scrub oak woodland and the continued buildup of hazardous fuels that threaten hundreds of homes in the area. This project will provide some welcome relief to the ecosystem and the people living in the Ossipee Pine Barrens."

The Conservancy has undertaken a thorough review of fuels present in the Ossipee Pine Barrens (such as twigs and limbs, anything that can burn) to better understand how fire might react and how to manage different parts of the property.

Due to improved fire suppression capabilities and changing land use patterns, fire has been virtually eliminated from the Ossipee Pine Barrens. The last fire in the area was in 1957 when several hundred acres burned north of Ossipee Lake Road. The lack of fire since then has enabled fire-intolerant species (such as white pine and some hardwoods) to gain a foothold, while pitch pine and scrub oak have declined. At the same time, the lack of fire has led to an accumulation of leaf litter, branches and limbs, which has drastically increased the possibility of a difficult to control fire.

Mechanical treatment will improve the Ossipee Pine Barrens habitat and reduce fuel loads before prescribed burns are implemented.

To learn more, come to the Nov. 4 meeting in Madision, or download a brochure (.pdf, 1.9 MB) on restoring the Ossipee Pine Barrens.