Another 500 Acres Added to
Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge
The Nature Conservancy assists U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service in protecting additional important bird habitat.
See Map Below
WHITEFIELD, N.H. — June 13, 2005 — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy announced today the addition of 499 acres to the Pondicherry Division of the Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson and Whitefield.
The newly acquired lands (four parcels in all) are near the Mount Washington Regional Airport in Whitefield, on the southern end of the refuge. The lands were purchased from the Dodge family, formerly of Whitefield.
Arrangements to purchase this property were made by the New Hampshire chapter of The Nature Conservancy. TNC secured a purchase and sales contract allowing the property to be transferred directly from the Dodge family to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Funds for the acquisition come from the sales of federal migratory waterfowl permits -- duck stamps -- which are purchased by waterfowl hunters and other bird enthusiasts.
Newly added to the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge is this stretch along the Johns River in Whitefield. With help from The Nature Conservancy, another 499 acres have been added to the refuge, one of the most diverse bird habitats in New Hampshire.
Dave Govatski photo.
The refuge’s new addition is adjacent to a 309-acre tract in Jefferson that was purchased from the Stiles family and added to the refuge in January. TNC also assisted with that acquisition. It is part of a complex of habitat that makes Pondicherry one of the state’s most important bird areas.
“This is some nice land,” said David Dodge, who formerly lived in Whitefield but now lives in Boston. “This land has been in our family since the 1800s. We’re quite familiar with it.”
Dodge said he continues visiting the land, as well as other parts of the refuge, about once a month and enjoys looking for birds and other wildlife.
“Our family is very pleased to be part of what has become a tremendous asset to the North Country,” he said.
The parcel includes Hazen Pond, a section of the Johns River, as well as additional stretches of the river. It also contains several beaver ponds, forested wetlands, black spruce and tamarack forests. The tract also protects three fourths of a mile of both sides of an access trail into the refuge, an old railbed.
A wetland complex on the land has breeding populations of black duck, ring-necked duck, wood duck, hooded merganser, great blue heron, Virginia rail, sora, woodcock, marsh wren, rusty blackbird, and northern harrier, according to Dave Govatski of the Friends of Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge. The river and wetlands are also heavily used by waterfowl during the spring and fall migration. Osprey, northern harrier and bald eagles commonly forage here in late spring and summer.
The acquisition protects nearly 1 mile of the Johns River, an important undeveloped tributary of the Connecticut River. Moose, black bear, otter, beaver, and muskrat are common mammals that use this tract for food, water, and cover, Govatski said. This area is a listed site on the Connecticut River Birding Trail Map. And the view of the White Mountains from this location is spectacular.
“This is a key piece of the ecological puzzle that we’re trying to protect there,” said Andrew French, project leader of the Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. “And the New Hampshire Chapter of the Nature Conservancy has been a crucial partner in putting these pieces together. The other partners are also making conservation happen here: New Hampshire’s Congressional delegation, Friends of Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge, New Hampshire Audubon, and the towns of Jefferson and Whitefield.”
With the new addition, the Pondicherry Division now totals 5,304 acres, including 120 acres protected by conservation easement. 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 has been declared a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Interior Department and was designated as New Hampshire's first Important Bird Area.
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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Since 1961 The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire has helped protect more than 121,000 acres of ecologically significant land and currently owns and manages 30 preserves across the state. For more information, visit www.nature.org/newhampshire.
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