Nature Conservancy Conducts First Prescribed Burns in the Ossipee Pine Barrens
Burns help protect neighbors and restore fire-dependent ecosystem.
MADISON, N.H. — Sept. 21, 2007 — After more than five years of careful planning and research, The Nature Conservancy has conducted its first prescribed burns in its Ossipee Pine Barrens Preserve.
Trained crew members -- mostly Conservancy staff from New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts -- burned a total of 20 acres on two carefully prepared units Wednesday, Sept. 19. The units of about 10 acres each are near the West Branch River in Madison and Freedom. The Conservancy hopes to conduct additional prescribed burns on nearby similar-sized units over the coming days and weeks.
"We're very pleased with how the burning went and the results," said Jeff Lougee, manager of the Conservancy's Mount Washington Valley Program. "Thanks to excellent weather and an incredible crew of talented folks, the burn we conducted Wednesday was done safely and effectively to meet our objectives of improved safety for neighbors and restoring this unique ecosystem."
 The Nature Conservancy is nationally recognized as a leader in protecting, restoring and managing important ecosystems like globally rare pine barrens. In the Ossipee Pine Barrens, the Conservancy's goals over the next few years are three-fold: 1) to protect and maintain New Hampshire’s last intact pine barrens ecosystem, while 2) reducing the wildfire threat posed by the continued accumulation of hazardous fuels, and 3) to restore and rejuvenate degraded pine barrens habitat through selective timber management, prescribed fire, and other measures.
For almost 20 years, The Nature Conservancy has been protecting land 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 regionally, such as whip-poor-will, nighthawk, Eastern towhee, and brown thrasher; more than a dozen very rare moth and butterfly species are also found here. Accordingly, protecting and maintaining these pine barrens are among the goals of the state’s recently completed Wildlife Action Plan.
The Conservancy now owns 2,286 acres in the area and has plans to protect an additional 616 acres in a campaign involving the community, the state, and a federal Forest Legacy grant. The project is ranked as the No. 2 Forest Legacy proposal nationally, out of more than 80 total, and is included in the President's budget request to Congress.
 While it’s critical to continue protecting what remains of the Ossipee Pine Barrens, land protection alone isn’t enough. Maintaining the pine barrens’ unique fire-dependent habitat requires 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 an ecological and fire management plan in 2005.
 In the past few years, the Conservancy has been clearing fire protection buffers on its lands to provide improved safety for neighboring homes and businesses in the event of a wildfire. The buffers of 150 to 300 feet wide are created by timber harvests that reduce tree density so that crowns of remaining trees are not touching. Also, scrub oak and other low-growing vegetation has been mowed in selected areas. The areas that were burned this week had been prepared in advance by timber harvests and mowing.
The Conservancy plans to treat with prescribed fire this year a total of 53 acres in 6- 14-acre burn units on its preserve. All of those units have been prepared by harvests and mowing. The prescribed burns will be conducted only when all safety parameters are met -- during days when weather, wind and other conditions are just right, and with an adequate force of trained crew members.
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. Each prescribed burn will be completed in one day.
Funds to assist the Conservancy's ecological restoration of the Ossipee Pine Barrens have come in part from the U.S. Forest Service (Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry), and the U.S.D.A. Natural Resource Conservation Service's Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program.
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The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. 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 265,000 acres of ecologically significant land and currently owns and manages 28 preserves across the state. For more information, visit www.nature.org/newhampshire.
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