An
Ode
to
Wetlands Celebrating Their Subtle Beauty and Ecological Significance
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On our cover:
Northern New Hampshire is home to expansive forests, meandering rivers and streams, and undisturbed wetlands, such as those at the Forest Society’s newly protected 730-acre Cascade Hill Forest in Berlin. Pictured, a wetland complex on the property forms the headwaters to a perennial stream, Tinker Brook, located in the Androscoggin River watershed Turn to page 8 to learn more about wetlands. Photo by Ryan Smith.
CHAIR
Drew Kellner, Brookline
VI CE CHAIR
Peter Fauver, North Conway SECRETARY
Allyson Hicks, Concord TREASURER
Jason Hicks, Meredith
PRESID E NT
Jack Savage, Middleton
B OARD O F TRUSTEES
Susan Arnold, Strafford
Philip Bryce, Deering
Deb Buxton, Greenfield
George Epstein, Silver Lake
Don Floyd, Concord
Jameson French, Portsmouth
Patricia Losik, Rye
Nancy Martland, Sugar Hill
Michael Morison, Peterborough
Elizabeth Salas, Weare
Bill “ Tuck” Tucker, Goffstown
Tom Wagner, Campton
Janet Zeller, Concord
STAFF
Ben Aldrich, Field Forester
Frank Allen, Building and Grounds Assistant
Sarah AlSamaraee, Stewardship & Forestry Administrative Coordinator
Dave Anderson, Senior Director of Education
Brie Belisle, Regional Stewardship Manager
Anna Berry, Director of Communications and Digital Outreach
Nik Berube, Maintenance Assistant
Naomi Brattlof, Director of Easement Stewardship
Rita Carroll, Tree Farm Administrator
Tony Cheek, Vice President for Finance
Connie Colton, Land Protection and Stewardship Coordinator
Linda Dammann, Development Assistant
Carrie Deegan, Reservation Stewardship and Engagement Director
Leah Hart, Land Conservation Project Manager
Stacie Hernandez, Land Conservation Project Manager
Brian Hotz, Vice President for Land Conservation
Steve Junkin, Field Forester
Susanne Kibler-Hacker, Senior Philanthropy Advisor
Allan Krygeris, Senior Technolog y Specialist
Matt Leahy, Public Policy Director
Margaret Liszka, Membership Director
Nigel Manley, Senior Outreach Manager, The Rocks
Ann McCoy, Development Manager
Stephanie Milender, Human Resource Director
Jack Minich, Regional Stewardship Manager
Scarlett Moberly, Program Director, The Rocks
Michelle Morse, Finance Specialist
Carl Murphy, Facilities Manager
Sophie Oehler, Communications Coordinator
Cara Pearson, Membership Specialist
John Plummer, Regional Stewardship Manager
Meredith Reed O Donnell, Foundation Relations Manager
Tina Ripley, Administrative Coordinator
Jack Savage, President
Matt Scaccia, Recreation and Community Relations Manager
Ryan Smith, Communications Manager
Maria Stewart, Senior Executive Assistant
Dylan Summers, Stewardship Projects Manager
Laurel Swope-Brush, Land Steward & Volunteer Programs Coordinator
Lauren Thomas, Administrative Assistant, The Rocks
Anne Truslow, Vice President for Development
Wendy Weisiger, Managing Forester
Harriette Yazzie-Whitcomb, Administrative Assistant
A Forest Connection
The cover of this issue features a newly conserved forest, more than 700 acres, in the city of Berlin It seems right that the Forest Society owns and will manage in perpetuity a forest in the “City That Wood Built ” Thanks to a willing landowner, generous donors, and dependable partners, we now do I take heart in the fact that here in New Hampshire we have forests in our cities The Forest Society has conser ved forests in three other of the state’s 13 cities: in Concord (our headquarters, The Merrimack River Conservation and Education Center), in Rochester (Champlin Forest), and in Portsmouth (Creek Farm)
Annie Proulx, this year’s Annual Meeting keynote speaker, writes in the introduction to her book Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short H i s t o r y o f P e a t l a n d D e s t r u c t i o n , “ I a m anchored in that childhood time when to recognize a sassafras bush from its mittenshaped leaves was the sense of finding a friend in the woodland fringe ” She goes on to note that those with a strong sense of natural place are left “aching with ecog r i e f ” o v e r t h e d e s t r u c t i o n a n d l o s s o f those places where such friends reside I know the feeling
F o s t e r
between people and forests, enabling that sense of finding a friend in nature, makes us all feel a sense of loss when we trade the natural world for the developed In too many parts of the world, that trade is unbalanced
In New Hampshire, it is not too late. T
f
r
r
m a k e c o n n e c t i n g p e o -
p l e t o a f o r e s t e x p e r i e n c e m o r e l i k e l y.
We w a n t e v e r y o n e t o h a v e a n d t a k e t h e opportunity to explore and to enjoy their
o w n f o r e s t a d v e n t u r e . T h a t i n i t s e l f c a n make the world a better place The Forest
S o c i e t y e x p e n d s n o l i t t l e e f f o r t u r g i n g p e o p l e t o a p p r e c i a t e t h e w o o d s b y g o i n g
t o t h e s e p l a c e s F o r e x a m p l e , o u r a n n u a l
5 H i k e s C h a l l e n g e , w h i
about forests through their own experiences, we can keep more forests as forests
Thank you for all you do.
Jack Savage is the president of the Forest Society He can be reached by email at jsavage@forestsociety.org.
Coming Home
A musician visits his namesake forest forestsociety.org/tomrushvisit
Losing a Legend
Celebrating the life of Russ Dickerman forestsociety.org/russdickerman
Summer of Sy Meet writer/naturalist Sy Montgomer y forestsociety.org/symontgomer y
“ We had a great time kayaking on Long Pond at the Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest in the MonadnockSunapee Highlands. It was just us and the loons enjoying the placid waters in this massive greenbelt in western N.H. I’m proud to be a 40-year member of the Forest Society, who spearheaded the protection of this area and so many more special places in the state!”
Craig Romano
Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests
A nonprofit membership organization founded in 1901 to protect the state’s most important landscapes and promote wise use of its renewable natural resources
Basic annual membership fee is $45 and includes a subscription to Forest Notes
Editor: Ryan Smith
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Permission is required for reproduction of any part of this magazine.
Copyright 2024 SPNHF US ISSN: 0015 7457
54 Portsmouth Street, Concord, N.H. 03301 | Phone: 603-224-9945 | Fax: 603-228-0423
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5 H ikes Challenge 2024: We all belong outdoors!
The Forest Society’s popular do-it-yourself hiking adventure returns for its fifth year this fall with the theme of “We all b e l o n g o u t d o o r s ! ” F r o m A u g u s t 3 1 –October 31, 5 Hikes Challenge participants can visit more than 30 Forest Society properties that boast excellent hiking trails and unique features to explore
The Challenge is designed for ever yone interested in reaching new places and exploring unsung natural destinations in different regions across New Hampshire
N e w l o c a t i o n s t h i s y e a r i n c l u d e F o r e s t Society North at The Rocks in Bethlehem, Lamprey River Forest in Epping, Powder Major’s Forest in Madbur y, and Peabody
F o r e s t a n d B a l d C a p P e a k F o r e s t i n
Shelburne
Each participant will receive printed t r a i l m a p s a n d d i r e c t i
information, hiking tips, and a one-of-a-kind 5 Hikes Challenge sticker. The Forest Society will also host a series of free guided hikes across the state, and organizations, includi n g A d a p t i v e S p o r t s P
t n e r s , L G B T +
Outdoors, and LezHang Seacoast, will lead affinity hikes in Bethlehem and North Woodstock. To cap off the Challenge, the Forest Society will host a community gear swap on October 26 at the Conservation Center in Concord
Easement Stewardship M id-Season Repor t
I n J u n e , t h e E
Department held their annual field day
a t t h e G o v e r n o r ’s I
Easement on Big Island Pond in Atkinson, Derr y, and Hampstead to practice field
t e c h n i q u e s , i n c l u d i n g r e a d i n g s u r v e y s , collecting data points, and map and compass navigation
T h e s t e w a r d s h i p s t a f f s p e n d a l o t o f hours in the field this time of year And sometimes the hardest part isn’t finding
t h e p r o p e r t y t h e y ' r e s u p p o s e d t o m o n i -
t o r i t ’s g e t t i n g t h e r e I n M a y, o n h e r
w a y t o g r o u n d m o n i t o r t h e a d j a c e n t Georgaklis conser vation easements along the Merrimack River, Brianna Belisle ran into rural New Hampshire’s version of a traffic jam when Brookford Farm’s dair y cows walked on the road to access a past u r e o n t h e G o l d S t a r S o d F a r m s , I n c c o n s e r v a t i o n e a s e m e n t i n C a n t e r b u r y. The slowdown was short lived, however, a n d B e l i s l e m a d e i t t o h e r d e s t i n a t i o n with plenty of time to spare.
W h e n m e e t i n g w i t h l a n d o w n e r s recently, stewards have often been asked
Correc tion
In the Spring 2024 issue of Forest Notes, the caption on page 19 should have stated as follows: In a photo from winter 1964, Irving E Jennings (left), original owner of the Jennings Forest, pulls a Christmas tree alongside grandson William B Maley Jr
managers Brianna Belisle, Jack Minich, and John Plummer; and Seasonal Easement Steward
Smith enjoy some time on the water at Big Island Pond.
Right: Cows block part of the road in Canterbury as they walk to a pasture protected by a Forest Society conservation easement
care laws. If you, too, have liability concerns, visit wildlife nh gov/hunting-nh/ landowner-relations-program/landowner-
available resources related to owning and managing conservation easements can be found in our digital reference librar y at forestsociety org/landowner-stewardshipreference-library.
Left: (clockwise from left) Director of Easement Stewardship Naomi Bratloff; regional stewardship
Madeline
Forestr y Word Search
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Bird Banding Begins at Black Mountain
By Carrie Deegan
It’s 4:30 on a July morning and I’m winding through understor y saplings
a n d s h r u b s o n t h e B l a c k M o u n t a i n Forest in North Sutton, tightening guy lines and unfurling nets Despite the fact that we need headlamps to see what we’re doing, the dawn chorus is cacophonous ovenbirds and wood thrushes, vireos, and an assortment of warblers are all belting out their songs simultaneously This is the Black Mountain Banding Station, the newest New Hampshire addition to the MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity & Sur vivorship) program organized by The Institute for Bird Populations
More than 1,200 MAPS banding stations across North America collect important i n f o r m a t i o n o n b r e e d i n g b i r d s d a t a that can be used to determine key demog r a p h i c p a r a m e t e r s s u c h a s b r e e d i n g productivity and survival rates of individuals, as well as the timing of nesting and fledging of young. Banding at each MAPS
station takes place about every 7-10 days throughout the breeding season, roughly mid-May through mid-August in our area, and stations must be run for at least 5 consecutive years.
“This one is all set,” announces Lindsay Herlihy, once we have set up a fine-meshed mist net to the appropriate height and tension And we move to the next net site. Herlihy is a licensed bird bander and educator and is the principal researcher and coordinator for the Black Mountain Banding Station. As soon as the last net is erected, a timer buzzes: it’s time to double back and check the first net for any captures. When we arrive at Net 1, Herlihy is thrilled to find a black-throated blue warbler, typically a high canopy species that is more difficult to capture in our relatively low mistnets. After carefully extracting the bird, placing it in a cloth bag, and checking the other nets for captures (no more this round), we are ready to start banding.
“As an educator, it is very important to me to bring that component into banding because there are ver y few opportunities to get that close to wild songbirds It can be a real spark moment for people to realize how incredible and readily observable these creatures are,” Herlihy explains At the banding table, the black throated blue warbler is sexed (male) and aged (at least two years old) and then Herlihy uses banding pliers to affix a small aluminum band with a unique identification number to the warbler’s leg. The bird is weighed a n d i t s w i n g l e n g t h m e a s u r e d , w i t h Herlihy explaining each part of the process A final step for this bird, before being r e l e a s
of two tail feathers which are carefully placed into a small paper envelope The feathers (whose removal will not affect the bird’s flight) contain DNA that will be analyzed by the Bird Genoscape Project, a complementar y research effort seeking
Left: A lightweight aluminum band with a unique identification number is affixed to the leg of each bird before it is released. These bands are issued to bird banders by the Bird Banding Laboratory at the U S Geological Survey
Right: Educator and licensed bird bander Lindsay Herlihy checks the molt stage and wear on a blue jay’s flight feathers.
to understand whether distinct subpopulations of migratory bird species can be mapped according to their breeding and wintering ground locations
Populations of many songbird species are declining in the Western Hemisphere, t h e r e s u l t o f m a n y o v e r l a p p i n g f a c t o r s including loss of habitat on both breeding and wintering grounds, competition with exotic invasive species, exposure to pesticides and food shortages due to pesticides, and challenges related to climate change. Data from MAPS stations and the Bird Genoscape Project can help scientists fi g u r e o u t w h a t a n d w h e r e t h e g r e a t e s t threats are, with the aim of developing solutions and targeting restoration projects to help these populations rebound. As Herlihy notes, “My goal at the Black M o u n t a i n B a n d i n g S t a t i o n i s t o u t i l i z e the data collected here for as many usef u l p u r p o s e s a s p o s s i b l e s c i e n t i fi c a l l y ; that way I can have the largest amount
of positive impact even with a relatively small banding station.”
Herlihy’s selection of Black Mountain Forest for siting this new MAPS station was deliberate. “Part of the reason I wanted to set this station up on Forest Society property, and specifically Black Mountain Forest, is because it’s already an outdoor classroom for Kearsarge Regional School District. Having taught in the district and having connections there, and just being in such close proximity to the high school, really opens the door to a lot of very rich educational experiences that can be tied directly in to the science curriculum.” She plans to engage KRHS students via the school’s Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) program, which can incorporate independent learning outside of regular school hours or during the summer.
Even in this inaugural summer at the B l a c k M o u n t a i n
mer students of Herlihy’s at KRHS and a
number of summer interns from the Harris Center for Conser vation Education have b e e n h e l p i n g o u
’s protection in 2010, the Black Mountain Forest has hosted KRHS students engaged i n
projects on the Lincoln Trail, monitoring eastern brook trout and aquatic invertebrates in its streams, and learning about tree identification and sustainable forestry. The Forest Society is thrilled to support a MAPS banding station that will continue to provide opportunities for students and educators to connect with and learn about the natural world, while also contributing data toward a more robust scientific understanding of bird populations.
Carrie Deegan is the reservation stewardship & engagement director for the Forest Society
Left: An adult male chestnut-sided warbler shows off his beautiful plumage before being released This warbler species prefers shrub thickets and forest-edge habitat
Right: Lindsay Herlihy explains the feather molt stage of a wood thrush during an educational field trip at the Black Mountain Banding Station
New Hampshire Wetlands
Key to Climate Resilience, Threatened by Human Activit y
By Dennis McFadden
Aenvironment, the tall peaks and vast forests enjoy pride of place Our many lakes, rivers, and streams are similarly treasured, some lending their names to entire regions:
t h e C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Va l l e y, t
w Hampshire is home to subtle landscapes as well as the grand ones.
Many are complex, shaped not only by the forces of nature, but also by the impact of human activity and the interplay between the two. Broadly known as wetlands, New Hampshire’s fens, bogs, swamps, and marshes are sometimes complicated to define, and yet they knit together land and water to create unique habitat every bit as essential to the wholeness of our landscape as our charismatic mountains, lakes, forests, and rivers
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) defines wetlands as “an area that, either through surface water or groundwater, is wet enough and wet for a long enough period of time to support a predominance of vegetation that grows in saturated soil conditions ” The number of wetlands in New Hampshire and the total land area they represent are hard to quantify The U S Fish & Wildlife Service and DES both use remote imaging technologies to tr y to accurately identify and
measure the state’s wetlands Documenting the many small wetlands, inherently dynamic in size and shape and frequently obscured by vegetative cover, is a particular challenge. While the parameters for what constitutes a New Hampshire wetland are general, the descriptions of fens, bogs, swamps, and marshes are detailed and precise. Each type has its own physical characteristics There can be some overlap between wetland types and over time one sort may evolve into another But the key hallmarks of each wetland type are determined by the sources of the water that feed a particular wetland, the quality and composition of that water, the species of plants that thrive in a particular wetland, and the rate at which dead plant materials in a particular wetland collect and decompose.
Fens and Bogs
Fens and bogs frequently are discussed together. Both produce peat, and the soil and water in fens and bogs is acidic and oxygen-poor As a result, dead plant materials that become submerged in fens and bogs do not decompose readily. In fact, plant materials accumulate more quickly than they deteriorate This is how peat is formed. Over time, in a process called lake-fill
Spruce and fir trees surround a high-elevation wetland complex at the Forest Society's newly protected Cascade Hill Forest in Berlin.
The Forest Society is currently working with three landowners to conserve more than 740 acres in and adjacent to “Campton Bog” in Rumney and Campton, N.H. This area is a high-quality 350-acre peatland complex of regional significance. Peatland habitats are important for carbon sequestration, can contain more than 550 different plants, and provide extraordinary wildlife habitat for numerous species.
peatland formation, enough peat may accumulate to fill the basin in which water had collected to become the bog or fen Both readily support mosses of the genus Sphagnum, but it is the other plants that thrive in them that distinguish bogs from fens Bogs are home to dwarf heath shrubs such as cranberries, blueberries, crowberries, leatherleaf, and a few sedges. Fens tend to support growth of taller signature species, including sweet gale and meadowsweet. Sedges are more abundant in fens, and other plants that are absent in bogs Saint John’s-wort, cinnamon fern, and in some rich fens, orchids are common in fens
In addition to the plant communities that each support, fens and bogs are also distinguished by the source of their water For example, the Natural Heritage Bureau of the New Hampshire Division of Forests & Lands notes that while both are peatlands, “Bogs receive very little surface water ” while “Fens are associated with moving water...” In New Hampshire, fens and bogs are often classified as open wetlands as opposed to swamps, which are characterized as forested wetlands.
Swamps
While open wetlands support low-growing plant communities and shrub vegetation, swamps, which also support these, have significant tree coverage, too. Like fens and bogs, swamps form in stagnant basins. Since they have soils that are acidic and low in nutrients, organic material from plants that grow in them can accumulate and produce peat. But because these plants are growing in the shade, the makeup of those plant communities differs from those of fens and bogs. The dominant species of trees found
in swamps at various locations in the state vary as do the shrubs and herbs that develop beneath them, though winterberry and highbush blueberry are common in swamps statewide.
The 2025 New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan divides forested wetlands into two broad categories: northern swamps and temperate swamps. Northern swamps are most common from the White Mountains north and, at higher altitudes, in the southwestern part of the state. Most often developing around black or red spruce trees, these swamps are frequently surrounded by bogs or fens and may be in the final step of their development from open to forested wetland. Examples can be found at Cape Horn State Forest in Northumberland and Brown Ash Swamp in Thornton The dominant tree in the temperate swamps, found primarily in southern and central parts of the state, is the red maple The soils and waters in temperate swamps are often less acidic than those found in northern swamps and a larger portion of the water flowing into them is likely to come from streams and even small rivers This in turn impacts the species found in them. Examples of temperate swamps can be found at Canterbury Shaker Village and within the watershed of the Contoocook River in Peterborough
Marshes
Marshes are the fourth type of wetland that is common in New Hampshire. With extensive shrub and herbal vegetation, water and saturated soils, but no trees, they are visually reminiscent of fens and bogs. The most common in New Hampshire are drainage marshes found in relatively flat locations where nearby streams, ponds, and other water bodies regularly flood, bringing
them nutrient rich water and causing the water level in them to fluctuate Two other types, sand plain basin marshes and sandy pond shore marshes, also occur in the state. All three types provide the conditions required for plant materials to decompose But because the water levels in them fluctuate seasonally, those materials are exposed to oxygen as they deteriorate. This allows them to release nutrients and produce muck rather than peat Not surprisingly, peat moss, which is a signature species in bogs, fens, and swamps, is not found in most marshes
M a n y m a r s h e s a r e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h b o g s , f e n s , s t r e a m s , rivers, and lakes. One location where a number can be seen is the Connecticut Lakes Natural Area in Pittsburg They can also be found along the Pine River in the Heath Pond Bog Natural Area in Effingham Heath Pond Bog is also one of the few designated Natural National Landmarks in the state
Four Centuries of Sur vival
Most of the bogs, fens, swamps, and marshes found across New Hampshire today are the survivors of the four centuries during which the landscape of New England has been reshaped since the first colonists encountered it. Early European settlers in the region found established and productive but almost entirely abandoned agricultural lands as they moved inland from the coast. These did not resemble the fields they had left behind in England and Holland and they set out to remake them so that they would An important step in many locations was to shape fields to accommodate the agricultural practices and products they knew best This included draining wetlands, which were frequently viewed as wastelands While the exact number is not known, it has been estimated that today’s wetlands represent fewer than half of those that were here when the colonists arrived.
The attitude toward wetlands as useless and disposable land persisted through the period when the state’s natural resources
Hampton Salt Marshes, acquired by the Forest Society in the late 1960s and ‘70s, are now the focus of several efforts to restore their original function and protect native species These marshes were heavily ditched over two centuries as early colonists turned them into productive farm fields Now scientists are working to restore their original tidal water flow regime and provide habitat for declining native species Currently, the Forest Society is working with several groups to apply restoration practices on these important ecological reserves.
were exploited extensively to accommodate a rapidly growing population and fuel economic expansion As is well known, beginning in the colonial period and continuing through the nineteenth century, New Hampshire’s landscapes were cleared of timber for lumber and fuel and significant expanses were opened for large scale farming. Prevailing attitudes toward wetlands in that period are captured by R L Allen in his The American Farm Book, published in 1849. There he writes: “Swamps and Peat beds occur frequently in a hilly countr y These are low, level, wet lands, whose constant saturation with water, prevents their cultivation with any useful plant.” Early efforts to dry out damp spots would have relied on small open ditches Subsurface drains fashioned from lumber, stones, or bricks were relied on to dry out larger areas It is reported that the first use of clay tiles to drain land in New Hampshire was in 1854 on a farm in Exeter When wetlands were drained, the waters that had saturated them for centuries were collected, channeled, and directed away, revealing fertile soils rich in organic materials.
In New Hampshire, farmers continued to drain and work agricultural lands that remained productive. But as the advantages of land in the Midwest drew development there, areas in New Hampshire were left fallow and, by the early years of the twentieth centur y, forests began to grow back across much of the state It seems likely that in some locations, especially where woodlands reestablished themselves, wetlands may have done so as well. It is not known whether any may have been purposely restored If so, and if it had involved the removal of networks of drainage tiles, it would have been a costly process requiring excavation
Wetlands at Risk
In parts of the state where the population continues to grow and previously undeveloped or incompletely developed land is
being suburbanized, wetlands that remain are at risk. The view of them as a wasteland is now captured in the perception that any land that remains unbuilt has not been developed to “…its highest and best use ” At the same time, a growing knowledge of natural systems, a heightened awareness of interdependencies between the different elements that comprise them, and the emergence of environmentalism have led to a deep appreciation for wetlands
For some, this appreciation is driven by the beauty they find in landscapes nature has composed of water, land, and varied forms of vegetation The importance of these landscapes for the sur vival of environmental diversity concerns others. New Hampshire’s current list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need includes animals whose survival depends on wetland landscapes. Rusty blackbirds nest in spruce fir trees found adjacent to peatlands; the northern bog lemming feeds on sedges that grow in fens; black gum swamps are home to spotted turtles; and the rare Hessel’s hairstreak butterfly spends most of its life in the canopy of Atlantic white cedar swamps. Marshes that serve a large and highly diverse environmental community provide critical stopping points for migrating birds
Especially powerful in an era in which the extensive impacts of climate change have grown so apparent is the growing awareness of the valuable environmental services wetlands provide. High among these is the ability of wetlands to buffer the impacts of more frequent and severe extreme weather events and the flooding they cause. Wetlands’ ability to absorb sudden surges of water and filter and release it over time has proved invaluable It is now also understood that water they absorb and clean can move below the surface, raising the water table, and, in some instances, emerge as ground water to augment the flow of streams and rivers and even temper them to the benefit of species that live and reproduce in them Research on the reproductive success of native brook trout in Coos County has shown that they seek out spots
Sharon Bog, a rare kettle bog located in southwestern New Hampshire, is home to many unique species including pitcher plant, which can grow in the bog’s mineral-poor and highly acidic soils.
in streams where the ground water that travels underground from nearby wetlands moderates temperatures, creating areas that are cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Finally, at a time when the negative impacts of atmospheric pollution especially that of large quantities of CO2 has captured the attention of policymakers, the extraordinary ability of peat formed in bogs, fens, and swamps to sequester that gas has turned the long-lived characterization of wetlands as wastelands on its head.
Dennis McFadden lives in Sugar Hill, N H He is particularly interested in insights the arts and humanities provide into our attitudes toward the more-than-human world
A Note on Sources: The author wishes to acknowledge his debt to Dan Sperduto and Ben Kimball for their masterful The Nature of New Hampshire: Natural Communities of the Granite State (University of New Hampshire Press, 2011), a source he frequently consulted while researching New Hampshire’s extraordinary wetlands.
Get Out!
Wetlands exist on many Forest Society proper ties and conser vation easements Examples include Cockermouth Forest in Groton, Powder Major ’s Forest in Madbur y, and William H. Champlin Jr. Forest in Rochester. While access to some wetlands is difficult, others can be visited with little effor t thanks to ex tensive boardwalks that have been construc ted These offer oppor tunities to spy some especially fragile wetland environments without endangering them. For more information, visit forestsociety.org/visitor-guide.
I n t h e f o l l o w i n g e x c e r p t f r o m F e n , B o g and Swamp: A Shor t Histor y of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis, author and Forest Society Annual Meeting k e y n o t e s p e a k e r A n n i e P r o u l x o f f e r s a compelling account of wetland history, one that is both eye-opening and a powerful call to action to protect these fragile ecosystems.
Since the fifteenth century when feudalism began to give way to nation-states, Western capitalism and imperialism, we have heard that peatlands are worthless because that same land drained is valuable for agriculture. We are now in the embarrassing position of having to relearn the importance of these strange places that are 95 percent water but fibrous enough to stand on. Climate, weather, season, earth movement, wet and dry environments are all flexible, all giveand-take, and these jostling, shifting processes are only briefly impressed by levees, dams, drains, dikes, culverts Water is the ultimate flexibility as Fela Kuti sang in “Water No Get Enemy ” It will always win. Or will it? Some researchers think that the next fifty years will see humankind take up all the remaining land on earth for agriculture and use every drop of fresh water. And then what?
Europeans, especially in northern Germany and Ireland, have harvested peat by hand for thousands of years with specialized tools, adapted in Ireland as the slane and turf barrow before the invention of heavy peat-cutting machiner y. But now a great change is under way; some people are rewatering and restoring old peatlands Ireland, with plenty of bogs and few oil wells, and thus more dependent on peat than most, has been struggling with difficult decarbonization goals since a study found that in one year each hectare of drained and stripped peatland gassed out 2 1 tons of carbon Britain, freed by Brexit from old EU rules on farming subsidies to promote intense agricultural production, is considering more projects for a category called “the Public Good,” which includes wetland restoration. The richly encouraging books The Shepherd’s Life and Pastoral Song by the British farmer James Rebanks give hope for a turn to thoughtfully ecological agriculture.
The world’s largest peatlands are Canada’s Hudson Bay Lowlands, Russia’s Great Vasyugan Mire, the Mayo Boglands, America’s Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Indonesia’s peat forests, the Magellanic Tundra Complex of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands, the marshes of Mesopotamia and the Central Congo Basin’s Cuvette Centrale. Indonesia’s richly complex wooded peatlands where entrepreneurs log, burn and plow to make palm oil plantations are one of the saddest examples of great biological loss In shops and stores I read labels and when I find bars of soap made with palm oil I get a mental image of a ravaged forest. I do not buy that soap.
While some people living in peatland countries may be looking at their watered topography with new respect, some are
looking with fear, as are the residents of the Yakutia region of eastern Siberia, one of the fastest-warming places anywhere. Here, and in the Great Vasyugan Mire in western Siberia, the permafrost is going fast the cover is being lifted off the pot.
The permafrost in Yakutia, a major agricultural region, exists as great lobes of ice a kind of very thick ice called yedoma embedded in the soil like garlic slivers inserted in a roast Up on top, land that was recently crop acreage, cattle and reindeer pasture is swimming in meltwater. Great chasms open up, roadways tilt and slump Weird craters, possibly caused by underground bursts of methane gas, gape wide. The rivers bulge with water and flood the fields Yakutians, intensely sensitive to the subtleties of the natural world after deep generations on the land, now say they no longer understand the place. They do know that they can no longer make a living here and are moving out of the known rural world of their fathers into the wilderness of cities. The only ones
who are happy are hunters of the mastodon tusks exposed for the first time in millennia, the corpses emitting a great stench as they rot for the hunters it is the stench of money as long as Chinese folk medicine believers keep buying. That is the frightening side of peatland’s ability to hold in huge amounts of carbon dioxide: rip or burn the cover off and it is in your face
I n a g g r e g a t e , t h e w o r l d ’s p e a t l a n d s r e s e m b l e a b o o k o f wallpaper samples, each with its own design and character s o m e l i t t l e m o r e t h a n w a t e r a n d r e
s l y d i v e r s e l a n d s c a p e s o f c o l o r s w e u r b a n m o d e r n s n
k n e w existed, silent sepia water, brilliant mosses, pale lichen, sundews like spilled water drops And always they are in achingly slow motion that we cannot discern unless we keep measurement records you can stand for a year and watch, though you won’t see a saltwater marsh silt up and become a fen And always these places are under assault.
Wetlands are classified by the values of what-use-are-theyto-humans. They are categorized as geography, topography, chemistr y and hydrology Ecologists use a different measuring stick; they are interested in the different ways wetlands fit into the natural world’s mesh of existence. In recent decades the ecologists have had a seat near, if not at, the classification table A cool and dispassionate scientific approach to wetland classification in these times often masks painful emotions and grief when confronting environmental loss and destruction. These feelings are as much an occupational hazard for environmental scientists as for people working in disaster relief and health care fields The painful stresses are steadfastly ignored by most of us so there is little amelioration
Copyright © 2022 by Dead Line, Ltd Reprinted by permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, LLC.
Managing for Resilient Landscapes
By Ben Aldrich and Wendy Weisiger
The Forest Society’s foresters incorporate practices designed to address climate adaptability and resilience in the forest management plans formulated for each property, including measures to prepare for more frequent extreme weather events like intense rain, windstorms, and drought Global trade and milder winters have compounded these natural hazards through the introduction and increased survival of forest pests
While every forest will face these challenges, the Forest Society recently had the opportunity to participate in a demonstration project centered at the Charles L Peirce Wildlife and Forest Reservation in Stoddard and Windsor, one of the largest Forest Society properties
The Charles L Peirce Wildlife and Forest Reservation lies in the heart of a 100,000-acre intact forest block in southwest New Hampshire At almost 4,000 acres, the property includes a variety of forest and habitat types, including patches of old growth forest, as well as areas lacking the species diversity that will prove to be important as the climate changes
The property was given to the Forest Society in the late 1970s and was later encumbered by a conser vation easement that
placed a “forever wild” designation on 80 percent of the acreage, thus excluding it from active forest management that can help make the property resilient in the future. The remaining acreage that is open to forest management, nearly 800 acres, is located in several large blocks across the property
In 2023, Forest Society Managing Forester Wendy Weisiger and her team joined a group of land managers, foresters, and climate scientists, coined the Climate Resilient Forest Management (CRFM) network, to think about how they might manage lands, s
level. Funded by a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant,
Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS) and University of Vermont Forestr y, the group developed targeted climate resilient management plans for projects guided by NIACS’s Forest Adaptation Workbook. The project included plans for how to i m p
from each project at future group meetings. The following article, written by Field Forester Ben Aldrich, summarizes some of the methods the team used during the Peirce Reservation project Fo
Facing Page: Forest Society Forester Ben Aldrich spies a woodpecker hole in a white pine tree growing at the Peirce Reservation
Above, left: A group of natural resource specialists from the Climate Resilient Forest Management network tour the Peirce Reservation after the timber harvest. Right: On a cold day in December 2023, Managing Forester Wendy Weisiger and Consulting Forester Jeff Snitkin walk the project area at the Peirce Reservation.
"Forever wild" forest. No trees removed.
Irregular shelter wood har vest in the upper pasture
aerial view of the Peirce Reservation climate-adaptive forestry project and the three types of management conducted on the property.
In winter 2024, the Forest Society initiated a climate-adaptive forest management project on a 140-acre stand at the Peirce Reservation The trees in the project area, known as the Wright Pasture, had received little to no management after regenerating on abandoned pastures and heavy cutting in the 1950s The result was an even-aged stand with little understory regeneration, high levels of unacceptable growing stock, and a mix of tree species that were not all well-suited for the site This made the stand even more vulnerable to stressors expected in a warmer climate, such as drought, windstorms, pests, and disease In their forest inventory, foresters Gabe Roxby, formerly of the Forest Society, and Steve Junkin developed four separate harvest prescriptions for this stand based on site conditions In 2023, Forest Society foresters met with consulting foresters from Full Circle Forestry on site to discuss and refine the prescriptions Over the summer of 2023, Full Circle marked the area for harvest The following sections describe how the goals for adapting the forest to meet the threats of climate change were addressed
I
In the lower portion of the Wright Pasture, where younger trees were growing, foresters decided to remove, or thin, lower quality trees to improve the vigor of remaining trees they wanted to cultivate This presented several challenges to the consulting foresters responsible for marking which trees loggers should cut and which trees should remain. Foresters had to pick trees to cut that would make space or release the crowns of the remaining trees while not shining too much light on the stems. Introducing too much light can trigger sprouting of dormant buds, also known as epicormic sprouting, which degrades the wood quality Epicormics also indicate trees are under stress and are competing for resources. The oak on this site was extremely sensitive to sprouting after disturbances, such as a timber harvest or windstorm. By analyzing the annual growth rings on stumps of the cut trees, foresters noted that growth in the stressed trees had slowed under the dense canopy conditions
The next challenge foresters faced was to maintain the overall diversity of the stand, which was done by retaining less abundant
An
Forest thinning in the Wright Pasture
Aerial perspective of the thinned portion of the stand. Crop trees, including red oak and red maple, were lightly released from competition on one to three sides to improve vigor and resistance to drought
species such as cherry and yellow birch. Thinning improves resilience by allowing more growing space to the best-suited trees, which improves their vigor and reduces competition for water, nutrients, and light. This makes the trees more resistant to droughtrelated mortality, a disturbance that will increase in frequency and duration as the climate warms. Climate change also increases the likelihood of another common forest disturbance: wind events Thinning addresses this by increasing the stability of the trees. Finally, maintaining species diversity acts as a hedge against forest pests and diseases such as spongy moth, emerald ash borer, and beech leaf disease, similar to how a stock portfolio decreases the risks associated with investments through diversification
T R A N S I T I O N T O U N E V E N - A G E D M A N A G E M E N T
In the upper part of the stand, the land use histor y created different conditions This area, bordered by stone walls, was used as a pasture by local sheep farmers before abandoning the pasture more than 100 years ago The forest regenerated in open light
conditions, which allowed the pines to be attacked by the white pine weevil This resulted in the trees growing in the distinctive multi-trunked wolf pine shape, which makes them susceptible to snapping and breaking in high winds and unsuitable for forest products The foresters determined the best course of action was to initiate a regeneration har vest in the former pasture while maintaining a partial overstor y with an irregular shelter wood prescription. The variable site conditions favored an irregular
composition, and soil suitability for seedling establishment of desirable species Creating multiple age classes improves forest resilience by ensuring that when disturbances occur, a new generation is waiting in the understory to take its place.
T R A N S I T I O N T O A
The variable canopy cover within the shelterwood harvest creates a variety of shading conditions facilitating the regeneration of
Before and after photos of the harvest area on the slope of Round Mountain at the Peirce Reservation.
species across a spectrum of degrees of light tolerance Windfirm pine with large crowns and climate-adapted hardwoods were retained to serve as both seed and shade trees to facilitate the establishment of a new cohort of trees better adapted to a warmer climate On wetter soils, yellow birch, a species with moderate shade tolerance, were favored for regeneration, while the drier sites were favored for pine and other hardwood species. Less abundant species, such as black cherry, were retained for their wildlife mast value and adaptability. Under current climate projections, the growing conditions in southwestern New Hampshire are shifting to be more suitable for black cherry Expanding the tree species diversity further works toward the Forest Society’s goal of creating a more climate-adapted forest
Under mixed competition, the species least adapted to a warmer climate compete poorly with the better-adapted species in the canopy of a mature forest The more species present, the higher the likelihood that the mature forest will have a comp
Mutualistic interactions between species can also occur when the species mix cooperates to cope with stressors such as drought. This is demonstrated by the dispersal of water from deep-rooted species to the upper soil layers where it can be reached by shallow-rooted species, known as hydraulic lift Mixed species forests have also been shown to be more resistant to insect damage and fungal pathogens by slowing the rate of spread. Wind resistance is also improved in mixed-species forests through higher growth efficiency, resulting in more stable trees with larger crowns.
Mixing forests is a valid strategy to combat the forest senescence observed in monocultures around the world as the climate warms. During my studies in Central Europe, I was exposed to the devastating effects a multi-year drought can have on
monoculture forests, where I observed entire landscapes of dead trees killed by bark beetle In the Rocky Mountains, climate change has increased the vulnerability of the forests to Mountain pine beetle infestations and fires, effectively deforesting a large swath of the landscape Fortunately, the forests of the Northeast have much higher species richness than other economically important forest areas in the world
P R O T E C T I O N O F V U L N E R A B L E S P E C I E S
Climate change will shift species distributions to higher elevations and latitudes (in the northern hemisphere) Two species facing different types of threats, red spruce and white ash, were the focus of strategic protection during the Peirce project Ash are threatened by a novel pest, the emerald ash borer (EAB), whose larvae feed on the cambium resulting in tree mortality. To retain ash on site, moderately sized openings were created in wetter, enriched soils in both harvest areas to create favorable sites for ash seedling establishment While mature ash are susceptible to EAB, the smaller diameter trees are ignored by the insects The hope is that a new generation can be established and will mature at a time when the EAB population is under control
Growing in the harshest Northeast environments, red spruce is exposed to high winds and snow loads at high elevations and can only thrive when competition from faster growing trees is hindered by the harsh winter. The spruce patches at Peirce are in danger of disappearing as winters warm So to combat this and work to maintain the species’ distribution, patches of red spruce regeneration overgrown by hardwoods have been released Fellerbuncher operator Joey Hardwick went above and beyond in this task by cutting off the tops of small diameter hardwood saplings that were overtopping the spruce stems
The continued presence of spruce (pictured in the background) at the Peirce Reservation was promoted through the removal of competing, overtopping hardwoods (pictured in the foreground). M A N A G E M E N T F O R U N C E R
TA I N T Y
R
would pose a significant risk to forests Our management in this harvest was designed to address the uncertainties of climate change through a variety of strategies to improve the vigor of the remaining stand while creating a more resilient and diverse new cohort of trees. The results of this project will lie in contrast to the uncut wild land that exists on the majority of the Peirce Reservation This is part of the scientific process that guides our decision making for future management. Establishing mixedage stands with a diversity of species will also increase carbon sequestration resiliency. As carbon continues to be stored in the older wild lands, the newly established cohort of trees will maximize their carbon sequestration rate as they reach 30 to 70 years of age. The remaining legacy trees will continue to store large volumes of carbon and provide critical wildlife habitat Through thoughtful and sustainable forest management, carbon can be sequestered and converted into durable wood products, extending carbon storage far beyond natural conditions Working forests play an important role in fighting climate change. It’s a goal of the Forest Society to educate more landowners about the benefits and importance of climate-resilient forest management as a critical tool in proactively keeping forests healthy
Online
C A M B I U M
Y
Layer of living cells between the bark and the wood.
E V E N - A G E D S TA N D
All trees are the same age or at least the same age class A stand is considered even-aged when the range of tree ages do not var y by more than 20 percent.
E P I C O R M I C S P R O U T I N G
Branches that sprout from the main stem of the tree below the crown, lowering the value of the wood.
H Y D R A U L I C L I F T
Water in deep soil layers in the ground is pulled upward by roots and distributed in soil closer to the sur face.
L E G A C Y T R E E S
Usually mature, older trees left on-site after har vesting for biological, wildlife, spiritual, or aesthetic purposes
M U T U A L I S M
An association between species, where each derives their own benefit from the interac tion.
R E G E N E R AT I O N
Seedlings and saplings that may come from seeds or vegetative sprouting.
S H A D E T O L E R A N C E
Ability of trees to grow in shaded conditions
S H E LT E R W O O D
A silvicultural prac tice, aimed at regenerating an area with par tially shaded conditions.
T H I N N I N G
A silvicultural practice that reduces the stand density primarily to improve growth, enhance tree health, or recover potential mor tality.
U N A C C E P TA B L E G R O W I N G S T O C K
Trees not suitable for valuable timber produc ts due to form, rot, or lifespan.
W I N D F I R M
I n addition to the Peirce Reser vation har vest, many other projec ts from across the countr y that are focused on climate resilienc y and adaptation can be viewed at forestadaptation.org/adapt/demonstration-projec ts. F O R E S T R
A term used to describe trees that have a higher crown to diameter ratio that will likely be less impac ted by wind damage.
Left: Goldfinches frequent weedy fields, gardens, and edges of habitats in search of food, including sunflower seeds.
Right: Male goldfinches reach their peak yellow breeding plumage by August, when they are busy building nests and feeding hungry nestlings while many other birds have already fledged their young, molted, and are quietly preparing for their autumn migration south.
Biding Their Time
Late -nesting goldfinches signal how summer is slipping
By Dave Anderson
American goldfinches are common, conspicuous year-round resident b i r d s f o u n d w i d e l y a c r o s s N e w Hampshire In winter, hungr y hordes of g o l d fi n c h e s c a n b e f o u n d v i s i t i n g b i r d feeders stocked with their preferred seeds: thistle, Niger, and black oil sunflower As winter progresses, males molt drab olivebrown plumage during late March and April into a striking canary-yellow breeding plumage Most of our familiar resident winter birds are early nesters Chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, and woodpeckers all begin nesting in April inside tree cavities
w i t h s m a l l e n t r a n c e h o l e s . T h e s t u r d y
w o o d e n s t r u c t u r e s a r e s a f e f r o m w i n d , rain, and cold The peak of the springtime s o n g b i r d m i g r a t i o n o c c u r s l a t e r, w h e n dozens of colorful warblers arrive from the tropics timed to take advantage of the
abundant insect protein available in the Northeast in May As weather conditions usher in warm air and clockwise winds of high pressure from the southwest, successive waves of songbirds arrive in what birders describe as a “warbler fallout ”
But goldfinches are the avian equivalent of the waning summer sunshine as they delay their nesting season until August, t h e l a t e s t o f a l l t h e s o n g b i r d s . P e a k singing of their cheerful musical twitter of jumbled notes and po-tay-to-chip flight calls occur long before nest building and egg laying in mid-summer, after the other colorful songbirds begin to supplement their spring diet of insect protein with a summer diet of carbohydrate-rich fruits, including strawberries, black raspberries, blueberries, and elderberries The sugar calories fuel the growth of their fledglings,
who leave their nests by mid-June. Postbreeding season, most adults molt into their “traveling clothes,” a less colorful d r a b a u t u m n p l u m a g e
their young, adults generally disperse in all directions to feed and rest. The dawn songbird chorus quiets dramatically, but the goldfinches still bide their time
Finally in August, goldfinches weave n e s t s m a d
h soft downy fibers of thistle flowers Their delayed nesting strategy gives young gold-
during the late summer when availability of their preferred foods tiny weed seeds, sunflowers, common mullein, bull thistle, milkweed, and insects are all at their peak Over time, the yellow, black, and white flocks of goldfinches seen rising from weedy, unmowed fields or perching
on overhead wires become less noticeable. They pay more attention to quietly incubating eggs and brooding vulnerable chicks even as the autumn migration of coastal shorebirds has already begun.
The late summer days are the height of peak dr ying season in browning fields of weeds where green grasshoppers buzz by day and black field crickets chirp at night a m i d g o l d e n r o d , o x - e y e d a i s y, b r o w neyed Susan, Queen Anne’s lace, and wild
asters The untended fields and edges of dr y roadsides fill with flowers and insects, w
o l dfinch flocks
As fall arrives, take time to watch their u n d u l
nesting season signifies another perfect summer is seemingly flying past
Dave Anderson is the senior director of education for the Forest Society.
Interested in spotting goldfinches near you?
The Rocks in Bethlehem, the Merrimack River Outdoor Education & Conser vation Area in Concord, and Creek Farm in Por tsmouth are great places to spy goldfinches along the weedy edges of these proper ties Keep to the open fields and meadows as these birds do not prefer forested habitats
Consulting Foresters
The Forest Society encourages landowners to consult with a licensed forester before under taking land management ac tivities. The following are paid adver tisers.
Calhoun & Cor win Forestr y, LLC
Realize what you value the most in your forest. Ser ving individual, municipal, state, non-government, and industr y forest owners
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Email: swiftcor win@gmail.com
Full Circle Forestr y, LLC
Ehrhard Frost, NHLPF #103, Thetford Center, V T 802-785-4749 • efrost fcf@gmail com
Take a moment to appreciate that “weeds” and “untended” areas provide a wealth of seasonal food sources for these common birds of late summer.
Eric Radlof, NHLPF #447, Antrim, NH 603-321-3482 • eradlof.fcf@gmail.com
Jeffrey Snitkin, NHLPF #452, Newbur y, NH 802-310-0292 • jsnitkin fcf@gmail com
Benjamin Vicere, NHLPF #453, Springfield, V T 802-779-7021 • bvicere fcf@gmail com
We specialize in creative, ecological approaches to forest management that are designed to provide longterm economic and intangible benefits to landowners and their forests FCF par tners are licensed foresters, NRCS Technical Ser vice Providers, pesticide applicators, and Tree Farm Inspectors.
752 Rt 103A Newbur y, NH 03255 • 802-310-0292
Mar tin Forestr y Consulting, LLC
Offering complete forest management services, including timber sales, cruises, appraisals, and wildlife habitat management. Ask us about recreation trail planning, ction, Brontosaurus mowing, and forestr y on ser vices 89, New Hampton, NH 03256 • 603-744-9484 ar tinforestr y@gmail.com
owsend Consulting Company
Consulting Forestr y with Integrity Guaranteed urner, NHLPF #318 Southern NH @meadowsendco.com
s Nevins, NHLPF #518 Central NH mnevins@meadowsendco com
Ryan Kilborn, NHLPF #442 Nor thern NH rkilborn@meadowsendco com
Vast range of quality land management ser vices
Connect with us for a free site consultation! meadowsendco com • 603 526 8686
Licensed foresters should address inquiries about advertising to Anne Truslow by calling 603-224-9945 or emailing atruslow@forestsociety.org.
How New Hampshire’s Forests Benefit From the Federal Farm Bill
By Matt Leahy
The Farm Bill, officially called the A g r i c u l t u r e I m p r o v e m e n t A c t o f 2018, is one of the key tools available to incentivize and promote the protection and stewardship of our countr y’s natural resources In fact, it is the single largest source of federal funding for conservation activities The nearly $6 billion the legislation annually allocates is used for the health and sustainability of our forests, wildlife, and natural landscapes For example, in 2021 with Farm Bill funding, the Forest Society restored important e a r l y s u c c e s s i o n a l h a b i t a t i n a l a r g e l y forested landscape at the Heald Tract in Wilton by removing invasive plants that were overrunning an apple orchard to promote the growth of native shrub species
Beyond the funding it provides, the law authorizes several programs that support forests and the recreational, economic, and environmental benefits they provide, including:
• The U.S. Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, which provides technical and financial assistance to deliver nature-based solutions to support the forests and trees in urban and suburban communities.
• The Wood Innovations Grants Program and the Community Wood Grant Program, which support and build markets for wood products
• The Good Neighbor Authority (GNA), which supports collaboration between the Forest Service and state, tribal, and local governments to keep our forests healthy and productive
To date, 380 GNA agreements have been completed across 38 states
• The reauthorization of the Forest Legacy Program’s Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, which, using money from the Land
and Water Conservation Fund, provides grants to states to permanently protect forested properties through easements.
Furthermore, the bill’s Conservation section contains programs to help steward and protect important resources, including:
• The Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which helps the owners of working lands integrate various conservation practices to address natural resource concerns on their property.
• The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, which helps land trusts cover the cost of placing conservation easements on privately owned agricultural properties.
• The Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which enhances partner initiatives to protect working agricultural lands as well as the restoration of wetlands and other sensitive natural resources
These programs and services illustrate the Farm Bill’s broad reach Since many of these programs are geared toward private landowners, they also reflect the role this group of stewards plays in overseeing the country’s resources. They need the support found in the Farm Bill to carr y out that responsibility
The U.S. Congress needs to renew or reauthorize the Farm Bill every five years I
With Farm Bill funding, the Forest Society restored an apple orchard at the Heald Tract in Wilton to promote the growth of native shrub species and create early successional habitat
that the act is one of the largest and most complex pieces of legislation the Congress considers In addition to the sections on
c
n
a m s , the Farm Bill includes 10 other sections o n
d e v e l o p m e n t p
o g r a m s . E a c h
f t h e s e sections has its own set of stakeholders who advocate for or against proposals relating to the issues that concern them the most Adding to the complexity of passing the reauthorization, the proposal the U.S. Senate considers is typically different from the version the House of Representatives
d e b a t e s . O f c o u r s e , w h a t e v e r v e r s i o n passes out of the Congress may need to have enough support to overcome any veto threat from the president
What that means is that, most likely,
C o n g r e s s w i l l n o t a p p r o v e a n u p d a t e d Farm Bill in 2024 and will therefore need to pass a short-term reauthorization. That has happened several times this centur y The 2002 farm bill expired at the end of 2007, and Congress extended it into the spring of 2008. The 2008 Farm Bill expired at the end of 2012 and was extended for one year to 2013 The 2018 version has already been extended to 2024.
R e g a r d l e s s o f t h e e x a c t t i m i n g o f final passage, the reauthorization of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 will provide significant opportunities for land trusts, private landowners, and communities to protect and steward high-priority farmlands, wetlands, forests, and other important natural areas.
Ultimately, the Farm Bill demonstrates that ensuring the nation’s communities are healthy and vibrant starts with safeguarding our forests, soils, and water resources. As such, the Forest Society will continue to work with our state and national partners, and with New Hampshire’s Congressional delegation, to ensure that conservation priorities are included in the next Farm Bill.
Matt Leahy is the public policy director for the Forest Society.
to
Work, and Explore
We thank our business par tners for their generous suppor t
Forest Society Nor th at The Rocks –
CDFA Tax Credit Program
Badger, Peabody & Smith Realty, Inc.
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Twin State Sand & Gravel Co , Inc
Underhill Acres, Inc.
Winnipesaukee Chocolates
Zachar y Berger Associates, Inc.
Matching Gift Companies
ADP, LLC
Advent International
American Biltrite, Inc.
Amgen, Inc
Bank of America
Bank of New Hampshire
Boston Scientific
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
The Cigna Group
Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation, Inc.
Davis Polk & Wardwell, LLP
Dell, Inc
Erie Insurance
Gar tner, Inc
Gilead Sciences, Inc
Google, LLC
Gradient
Hearst Communications, Inc.
Intel Corporation
Jacobs Solutions, Inc
Jefferies Financial Group, Inc
Johnson & Johnson
Liber ty Mutual Insurance
Lincoln Financial Group
Mac y ’s, Inc.
Manulife Financial Corporation
Microsoft Corporation
Motorola Solutions, Inc
NetApp, Inc
Prudential Financial, Inc
Raytheon Technologies Corporation
Shell Oil Company
Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Inc
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc
The Travelers Companies, Inc
UnitedHealth Group
Ver tex Pharmaceuticals, Inc
VMware, Inc
A River Runs Through It
Help Protec t the Morrill Farm and
This fall the Forest Society and the Morrill family hope to complete the long-held vision of conserving the 200-acre Morrill Farm Dairy property along the Merrimack River in Penacook This would be the Forest Society’s fourteenth project in ten locations along the main stem of the Merrimack in the section between its origin in Franklin and our capital city of Concord a total of more than 2,000 acres.
Morrill Farm cows have grazed within the Concord city limits in fields along the Merrimack River for nearly a century. Their milk travels just four miles down North State Street to the H.P. Hood plant for processing More recently, the Morrills have diversified the farm to grow grains such as barley, rye, and oats that are then marketed through partnerships like Valley Malt, which supplies local craft brewers, distillers, and flour millers Morrill Farm products are available straight from the on-site farmstand.
But why is the Forest Society working so hard to conserve farmland? The 200-acre Morrill Farm property includes over a mile of frontage on the Merrimack River and another mile of frontage on Oxbow Pond. The mix of open fields, wetlands, riparian areas and forest creates an important system for buffering the river, supporting both water quality and flood control functions, w h i l e a l s o m a i n t a i
h i g h
u
agricultural soils that will remain available to produce food and fiber into the future.
d
T h e M e r r i m a c k R i v e r a l s
people, many in urban areas downstream from Concord With more extreme rain a
overflow threaten water quality The more we can do to protect the upper watershed, the healthier the river will be in the long
Merrimack R iver
film The Merrimack: River at Risk, found at forestsociety.org/riveratrisk.
The Forest Society is working with the Morrills to purchase a conservation easement that forever prohibits subdivision and development of the farm fields and r i v e r f r o n t , w h i
i n u e d agriculture and recreational uses, including fishing, hunting, and paddling. The
Morrills will continue to own the property, and the Forest Society will hold and uphold the conditions of the conservation easement in perpetuity.
C o n
not only support local agriculture and a family business, but also protect the natural qualities of the meandering banks of this iconic river, a source of food and trade over
centuries of human settlement and seasonal m i g r a t i o n . P a d d l i n g a k a y a k a l o n g t h e river today remains a timeless experience, with sandy beaches, oxbow bends, silver maple forests, and wildlife ranging from freshwater mussels to bald eagles
To accomplish this project, the Forest Society must raise a total of $270,000 to purchase the conser vation easement and support acquisition and stewardship costs Fortunately, grant programs like the NH Land and Community Heritage Program
and private donors like you have given us a head start. Now we must raise the final funds needed before the end of the year Please join us to support local farming, protect water quality, and conser ve the Merrimack by making a donation today!
Name:
Address:
Telephone:
Enclosed
Please mail the completed form to:
Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests 54 Por tsmouth Street, Concord, NH 03301
Town/City : State: Zip:
Donate online at forestsociety.org/morrill-farm or scan the QR code using your smar tphone's camera app. For more information, call Anne Truslow at 603-224-9945 or email atruslow@forestsociety.org.
The Morrill Farm property includes over a mile of frontage on the Merrimack River and another mile of frontage on Oxbow Pond
Mount Monadnock as seen from the Forest Society's Gap Mountain Reservation