Forest Notes, Spring 2022 by Forest Society

TREKKING THE WANTASTIQUETMONADNOCK TRAIL

Growth Spurt New programing and conservation initiatives abound this season

SPRING 2022

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TABLE OF CONTENTS: SPRING 2022, No. 309

26 DEPARTMENTS 2 FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

(CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT) JERRY MONKMAN/ECOPHOTOGRAPHY, DAVE ANDERSON, RYAN SMITH

Our durable mission

4 THE WOODPILE

FEATURE 14 The Ins and Outs of Easement Stewardship Meet some new faces and places as Forest Notes takes a deep dive into the Forest Society’s Easement Stewardship Department.

+ Planting trees for a purpose + Handing over the shears at The Rocks + Annual meeting save-the-date

8 THE FOREST CLASSROOM + Bunnies in the brush + You don’t plant trees?

12 ON OUR LAND Taking the long approach to Monadnock

19 VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT For the love of trail work

20 NATURE’S VIEW Down on the Floodplain TREKKING THE WANTASTIQUETMONADNOCK TRAIL

22 PUBLIC POLICY The future of forestry

Growth Spurt New programing and conservation initiatives abound this season

24 PROJECT IN PROGRESS On our cover:

SPRING 2022

forestsociety.org

A carpet of white pine seedlings spring to life at the Diehl Family Forest in Lancaster, N.H. Photo by Ryan Smith.

Supporting the Mahoosuc Highlands Initiative

26 THE MANY FACES OF CONSERVATION A gardener gives back

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

CHAIR Bill Tucker, Goffstown

VICE CHAIR Drew Kellner, Brookline

SECRETARY Karen Moran, Webster

TREASURER Andrew Smith, Twin Mountain

PRESIDENT Jack Savage, Middleton

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Charlie Bridges, New Durham Deb Buxton, Greenfield Bill Crangle, Plymouth George Epstein, Silver Lake Elizabeth Salas Evans, Weare Peter Fauver, North Conway Don Floyd, Concord Allyson Hicks, Concord Jason Hicks, Meredith Deanna Howard, Etna Patricia Losik, Rye Nancy Martland, Sugar Hill Michael Morison, Peterborough Tom Wagner, Campton Janet Zeller, Concord

STAFF Will Abbott, Project Manager, The Rocks Frank Allen, Building and Grounds Assistant Dave Anderson, Senior Director of Education Anna Berry, Digital Outreach Manager 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 Andy Crowley, Stewardship Projects Manager Linda Dammann, Development Assistant Carrie Deegan, Reservation Stewardship and Engagement Director Maria Finnegan, Manager of Individual Giving Leah Hart, Land Protection Specialist Stacie Hernandez, Land Protection Specialist and Regional Stewardship Manager Laura Holske, Finance Specialist Brian Hotz, Vice President for Land Conservation Steve Junkin, Field Forester Sarah Kern, Creek Farm Education Program Coordinator Susanne Kibler-Hacker, Senior Philanthropy Advisor Allan Krygeris, Senior Technology Specialist Sara Krzyzaniak, Data Processor Rebecca Lapitino, Policy & Reservation Stewardship Coordinator Matt Leahy, Public Policy Director Cameron Larnerd, Land Steward & Volunteer Coordinator Margaret Liszka, Membership Director Nigel Manley, Director, North Country Properties Ann McCoy, Development Manager Jack Minich, Regional Stewardship Manager Michelle Morse, Human Resource Director Carl Murphy, Facilities Manager Meredith Reed O’Donnell, Foundation Relations Manager Tina Ripley, Administrative Assistant John Plummer, Regional Stewardship Manager Gabe Roxby, Field Forester Jack Savage, President Matt Scaccia, Recreation and Community Relations Manager Ryan Smith, Communications Manager Maria Stewart, Senior Executive Assistant Anne Truslow, Vice President for Development Wendy Weisiger, Managing Forester Harriette Yazzie-Whitcomb, Receptionist

Our Durable Mission

s I write “From the President’s Desk,” I am sitting at the Presidents’ Desk. It was manufactured primarily from oak and was used by Jane Difley before me, by Paul Bofinger before her, and likely by Larry Rathbun prior to that. Based on its vintage, it may have been used by Philip Ayres a century ago. Our desk rests on the hardwood floor in the Weeks Wing, added to the Conservation Center headquarters in 1990. The walls of the President’s office feature pine paneling. Visitors enter the office through the wooden door and are offered a seat on wood-framed chairs around a wood table, where we can look through wood-framed windows across the Merrimack River valley. Stored carbon was not likely on the minds of any of the craftspeople making these products decades ago. But nonetheless, as I sit at this desk, I am literally surrounded by carbon stored in durable wood products. And if the forests from which the surrounding wood was harvested have managed to remain as forests, then they have already regenerated more trees, sequestering more carbon, while continuing to provide multiple benefits in clean air, water, wildlife habitat, and perhaps recreation. We care about carbon taken up by trees today because of climate change. As we learn more about the carbon cycle and foresters include carbon sequestration and storage among our forest management goals, the value of durable wood products is often overlooked. When long-lasting wood replaces energy-hungry products like concrete or steel,

it offers a measurable climate benefit. A vibrant wood market allows private landowners, who control 73 percent of New Hampshire’s forestland, to keep their forests as forests. On page 24, Matt Leahy articulates our case for sustainable forest management in the face of those who would have forestland owners manage exclusively for carbon. Good forestry can foster multiple benefits, including carbon. The real threat we face is forest conversion, which continues at a steady pace. The Forest Society’s 1904 mission to “perpetuate forests through their wise use and complete reservation in places of special scenic beauty” is as relevant today as ever. Born of the effort to convince society—and Congress in particular—that the White Mountain National Forest (among others east of the Mississippi) were a worthy and necessary goal, it seeks to bring resource managers and preservationists together in a common purpose. Yes, there are some places we leave untouched. And, yes, we can make sustainable (wise) use of an abundant renewable resource in our region. To keep forests as forests, we must be willing to strike the same balance. It’s a mission as durable as the desk at which I sit.

Jack Savage is the president of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. He can be reached by email at jsavage @forestsociety.org.

WEB EXCLUSIVES

(OPPOSITE PAGE) RYAN SMITH; (THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) MARIA FINNEGAN, COURTESY OF ANN AND MARC DAVIS, ANNA BERRY, , @PINELINEOUTDOORS

Bretzfelder Series A virtual series for virtually everyone forestsociety.org/bretzfelder-series

Tree Farmers of the Year Owners of Woods Without Gile honored forestsociety.org/2022-tree-farm

We kicked off our season today by joining the Forest Society’s DIY clean-up day at Mount Major! Trash pickup is a passion of ours and our team did an awesome job finding micro trash and hidden drink containers. With tens of thousands of visitors every year, Mount Major is one of the most visited mountains in the state. That means the trails and parking lot need lots of extra love to keep them usable and clean. Thanks to the Forest Society for maintaining beautiful spaces like this and thanks to all the volunteers who did their part! Earth Day is not the only day to be a good outdoor steward and you don’t need to attend an event to be a volunteer trash pickerupper! Show your love for our Earth by doing your part to keep it clean! @pinelineoutdoors

A Major Earth Day Mount Major gets some much-needed TLC forestsociety.org/mountmajorearthday

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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 $40 and includes a subscription to Forest Notes. Editor: Ryan Smith Design & Production: The Secret Agency Printing: R.C. Brayshaw & Company, Inc. Forest Notes is printed on elemental chlorine-free Sappi Flo paper with 10 percent post-consumer recycled content. Sappi Flo is made from pulp purchased from suppliers who document sound environmental practices and sustainable forest management. Permission is required for reproduction of any part of this magazine. Copyright 2022 SPNHF. US ISSN: 0015 7457 54 Portsmouth Street, Concord, N.H. 03301 | Phone: 603-224-9945 | Fax: 603-228-0423 info@forestsociety.org | forestsociety.org The Forest Society proudly supports the following organizations:

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Spring 2022 FOREST NOTES | 3

THE WOODPILE—NEWS NOT SO NEATLY STACKED

With Hope for the Future With just one last remaining mature red mulberry tree clinging precariously to the Merrimack River Outdoor Education and Conservation Area’s steep riverbanks in Concord, Forest Society staff have long wished to plant replacements. Their wish came true on April 15, 2022, when local Concord teacher and nature photographer Ellen Kenny and seven students from Broken Ground Elementary School joined Forest Society Senior Director of Education Dave Anderson, Reservation Stewardship and Engagement Director Carrie Deegan, and volunteer land steward Dave Heuss to help plant three young mulberry trees further back from the riverbank. Students helped dig wide holes to place bare-root nursery stock in a mix of soil with cow manure and compost mix. They enthusiastically removed sod and roots

and stockpiled soil on a tarp to be replaced around the tree. The trees were staked to prevent wind damage until the roots begin to grow. Finally, the tender young nursery stock were each fenced aggressively with tall wire cages to prevent browsing or damage by deer, which are common on the floodplain. Native to river floodplains and riparian habitats, red mulberry attracts numerous songbirds, squirrels, chipmunks, foxes, and other wildlife in early June when the trees’ fruits ripen. Anderson and Deegan talked about how the students could return in subsequent years to visit "their" mulberry trees and see if local wildlife had found this sweet sustenance. A total of eight red mulberry trees were planted over the course of two days on the floodplain as part of a grant-funded program with generous financial support from Benjamin

Students and teachers from Broken Ground Elementary are all smiles after a day of planting trees at the Merrimack River Outdoor Education and Conservation Area.

Couch Trust, in addition to annual support from Northeast Delta Dental and Merrimack County Savings Bank.

Discover the Merrimack River Watershed! June 15-September 30

$25 per party. Challenge participants receive 5 laminated paddle guides with put-ins/take-outs, directions, interpretive details & safety tips.

forestsociety.org/mpc 4 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

(OPPOSITE PAGE) DAVE ANDERSON; (THIS PAGE, FROM TOP) FOREST SOCIETY ARCHIVES, ©TOM COGILL

Coming in from the Fields After more than three decades of arranging his life around the agricultural rhythms of growing and selling Christmas trees at the Rocks in Bethlehem, Nigel Manley has decided it’s time to hand the shears to the next farmer. Manley will sharpen his focus to programs and community engagement later this year, and the Forest Society will be seeking a new Christmas tree farmer. “It’s been many years and I’ve enjoyed growing not just the Christmas Tree Farm Manager Nigel Manley trees, but the businesses associated with The Rocks,” Manley says. “As anyone who is a farmer knows, it is all-consuming. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with volunteers and visitors and having a bit more time for my own pursuits.” The Rocks was donated by the Glessner family to the Forest Society in 1978. Manley arrived in November 1986 and managed the original planting of the Christmas tree farm. He has been the face of The Rocks and the force behind the Forest Society’s activities at the 1,400-acre site ever since. Over the decades, Manley established a thriving Christmas tree operation with some 32,000 trees in the fields. He has greeted thousands of families who enjoy the annual tradition of traveling to The Rocks to cut their own Christmas trees. Manley also developed a robust set of experiential education programs at The Rocks, which hosts the Maple Museum of the NH Maple Producers Association and offers maple tours, is a destination for tour groups, and is a popular venue for events, including weddings. Manley will continue to work part-time for the Forest Society on a variety of programs, including working closely with Anne Truslow, vice president of development, on the Forest Society North at The Rocks Campaign. With Manley’s help, popular programs such as the Wildflower Walks, the Forever Green Program in association with local schools, and bus tours will continue without interruption. “We are thrilled that Nigel will continue to be an instrumental part of our next chapter at The Rocks. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude for everything he has done to make The Rocks one of our premier forest reservations,” Forest Society President Jack Savage says. “He’s successfully worked with hundreds of dedicated volunteers and with local businesses to make The Rocks part of the tourism economy in the region. And he has shown extraordinary resilience in keeping the operation going in the aftermath of a devastating fire in 2019 followed by the pandemic.” The Forest Society is moving forward with plans to renovate the 1884 Carriage Barn on the property to serve as a new net-zero education and program center with classroom and meeting space and offices for more Forest Society staff. In 2019, a fire leveled the historic Tool Building, which previously had housed a classroom, office, and workshop. The site of the Tool Building has been converted to an outdoor amphitheater that offers views to the Presidential Range of the White Mountains. For more information about the Rocks, visit forestsociety.org/therocks.

Save the Date! 121st Annual Meeting of the Forest Society September 24, 2022 Featuring Keynote Speaker Dr. Michael E. Mann, distinguished scholar of climate science and author of The New Climate War. This year we are coming home to Concord! Please join us at The Conservation Center, the Forest Society’s statewide headquarters on the Merrimack River. 9 a.m.–12 p.m. Local area field trips Noon Registration and lunch 1:00 p.m. Business Meeting and Conservationist of the Year Award 2:00 p.m. Keynote Address and Q&A with Dr. Michael E. Mann

Keynote speaker Dr. Michael E. Mann

Spring 2022 FOREST NOTES | 5

IN THE FIELD

Summer Speaker Series at The Fells

JUNE 19 | 4:305:30 P.M.

Veranda Readings With Dave Anderson

Environmentalist and nature writer John Hay

JUNE 17 | 4:005:30 P.M.

In the Company of Light: A Discussion of John Hay’s Nature Writing Join us for a panel discussion honoring the environmentalist and nature writer John Hay. Panelists include four nature writers who knew Hay and were influenced by him: Dave Anderson, Christopher Merrill, Fred Taylor, and Ted Levin. The Fells and Forest Society members: $20; nonmembers: $30. Beer, wine, and hors d’oeuvres are included in admission. Advanced registration is required. To register, please call 603-763-4789 x3 or visit thefells.org.

JUNE 18 | 4:305:30 P.M.

I Learn from Everything I Do Not Own: The Poet’s Eye in Contemporary Nature Writing Christopher Merrill is the author of The Way to the Salt Marsh, an anthology of John Hay’s essays and poetry about nature. According to Merrill, John Hay is “the nature writer’s writer.” Merrill’s presentation will incorporate selected readings from this book. As director of the International Writing

6 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

John Hay wrote in several of his books about childhood summers spent at The Fells, his parents Clarence and Alice Hay, and the special places he fondly remembers exploring. This late afternoon program on the veranda of the Main House will share readings from John Hay’s works, including The Immortal Wilderness, A Beginner’s Faith in Things Unseen, and In the Company of Light. Join Dave Anderson as he reads several passages from John Hay’s writings—each inspired by Hay’s boyhood rambles at The Fells, Lake Sunapee, and his own summertime explorations of the former farms which now comprise The Fells and the Forest Society’s Hay Forest Reservation. The Fells and Forest Society members: $10; nonmembers: $15. Advanced registration is required. To register, please call 603-763-4789 x3 or visit thefells.org.

JUNE 22 | 4:305:30 P.M.

Hay’s Migratory Sense of Place Join Fred Taylor, who has taught Environmental Ethics, Writing, and Natural History at Antioch University New England and Keene State College. His writing focuses on a Sense of Place and has been published in a variety of literary journals, including the North American Review, Alligator Juniper, and Antioch’s Whole Terrain. He first met Hay in the early ‘90s when they were both a part of the Glen Brook writers’ group. Taylor will discuss the influence of Hay’s

interest in migratory species on his early writing and read from one of his own essays (published in Whole Terrain), which tells the story of Hay’s meeting with one of Taylor’s Antioch classes on Cape Cod. The Fells and Forest Society members: $10; nonmembers: $15. Advanced registration is required. To register, please call 603-763-4789 x3 or visit thefells.org.

JUNE 23 | 4:305:30 P.M.

Honoring Hay’s Legacy During the pandemic, Ted Levin stayed at home and kept a daily nature journal. Encouraged by friends, the journal evolved into a blog called Homeboy at Home During Coronavirus. Levin’s talk will honor John Hay and explore the influence of Hay on Levin’s own nature writing. Levin’s work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Audubon, Sierra, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe, among other publications. He has written books for children and adults. His most recent book, America’s Snake: The Rise and Fall of the Timber Rattlesnake, was published in 2016. The Fells and Forest Society members: $10; nonmembers: $15. Advanced registration is required. To register, please call 603-763-4789 x3 or visit thefells.org.

JUNE 26 | 11:00 A.M.2:00 P.M.

A Hay Family Picnic on Sunset Hill One of the beloved events of the Hay family was to enjoy a picnic on the top of Sunset Hill. This summer, join Dave Anderson of the Forest Society and members of the John Hay Estate at The Fells staff for a traditional Hay Family picnic at the top of Sunset Hill. Co-sponsored by Forest Society and The John Hay Estate at The Fells. Lunch catered by Blue Loon Bakery of New London, N.H. The Fells and Forest Society members: $20; nonmembers: $25. Picnic lunch included. Advanced registration is required. To register, please call 603-763-4789 x3 or visit thefells.org.

FOREST SOCIETY FILES

Program at the University of Iowa since 2000, Merrill has conducted cultural diplomacy missions to more than fifty countries. He served on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO from 2011¬–2018, and in April 2012 President Barack Obama appointed him to the National Council on the Humanities. The Fells and Forest Society members: $10; nonmembers: $15. Advanced registration is required. To register, please call 603-763-4789 x3 or visit thefells.org.

The Forest Society thanks our business partners for their generous support Summit Circle ($5,000 and up)

Partner (continued)

Matching Gift Companies

Asplundh Tree Expert Company Badger Peabody & Smith Realty Inc. BCM Environmental & Land Law, PLLC Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, P.A. Merrimack County Savings Bank Seaboard International Forest Products, LLC Whalen Public & Media Relations, LLC

Gunstock Mountain Resort Half Moon Enterprises The Lyme Timber Company LP Meadowsend Timberlands Limited Mediation Partners of New England, LLC The Music Mill NH Conservation Real Estate Pine Springs R.M. Piper, Inc. Plymouth Soapworks, LLC Whole Wealth Management, LLC Zambon Brothers Logging

Amaresco, Inc. American Biltrite, Inc. Amgen, Inc. Amica Mutual Insurance Company Autodesk, Inc. Bank of America Bose Corporation Citizens Bank Dell, Inc. Erie Insurance Facebook, Inc. Gartner, Inc. General Electric Gilead Sciences, Inc. Google, LLC The Home Depot, Inc. IBM Corporation Liberty Mutual Insurance MassMutual The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Microsoft Corporation MilliporeSigma Motorola Solutions Novartis Oracle Corporation OSR Open Systems Resources, Inc. Shell Oil Company Subaru of America Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. The Travelers Companies, Inc. Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Trustees’ Circle ($2,500 to $4,999) Northeast Delta Dental Northland Forest Products, Inc. The Secret Agency, LLC

President’s Circle ($1,000 to $2,499) Checkmate Payroll Services Chinburg Properties Community Toolbox, Inc. EOS Research Garden Life, LLC Lumbard & Kellner, LLC Mallory Portraits Martin Forestry Consulting, LLC Mulligan Forest, LLC New England Private Wealth Advisors, LLC Pennyroyal Hill Land Surveying and Forestry LLC Ransmeier & Spellman, P.C. Rockywold-Deephaven Camps, Inc. SCM Associates, Inc. Wipfli LLP

Partner ($500 to $749) Arcomm Communications Corporation Blue Mountain Forest Association Capitol Craftsman, LLC Durgin and Crowell Lumber Co., Inc. GMEC, Inc.

Colleague ($250 to $499) Acapella Technologies, LLC Altus Engineering Ambit Engineering, Inc. Ameresco, Inc. Bangor Savings Bank Black North, LLC Blaktop, Inc. Dublin Road Tap Room and Eatery Eastern Mountain Sports Fuller’s Sugarhouse, LLC Gideon Asen, LLC Great Brook Veterinary Clinic, LLC Innovative Natural Resource Solutions, LLC J and M Morse Trucking, LLC Kozikowski Properties, LLC Lenk Orthodontics New England Flower Farms North Woodlands, Inc. Orr & Reno P.A. Rise Private Wealth Management, Inc. Robbins Lumber Samyn-d’Elia Architects, P.A. Twin State Sand & Gravel Co., Inc.

We are grateful to the many businesses that support the Forest Society with gifts of less than $250.

The Forest Society…Where Conservation and Business Meet For information about business memberships, sponsorships, or to initiate a gift membership program for your clients or employees, please contact Anne Truslow at (603) 224-9945 or atruslow@forestsociety.org

THE FOREST CLASSROOM

Left: NHFG biologist Brett Ferry uses a small plastic vial to collect a cottontail pellet for laboratory DNA analysis. Right: In October 2021, UNH students worked to improve New England cottontail habitat at the Forest Society’s Hills Family Forest in Durham.

Searching for Bunnies in the Brush By Carrie Deegan

he habitat of the New England cottontail is not a pleasant place to go for a walk. Our native cottontail, also known as a “brush rabbit,” prefers an environment with upwards of 20,000 small woody stems per acre—in other words, an impenetrable thicket. I came to this realization the hard way this winter at the Forest Society’s Hills Family Forest in Durham as I looked for evidence of bunnies with Brett Ferry, a biologist with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department (NHFG). “We’re looking for tracks and poop,” Ferry explains, as we slowly pick our way through thorny shrubs looking for signs on the week-old snow. The pelleted excrement of cottontails is circular compared to more elongated deer scat, but it can be roughly the same size. “I usually tell people they look like M&Ms,” Ferry chuckles. “Well, the brown ones anyway.” I concentrate on this search image as I squeeze between saplings, my jacket snagging on raspberry canes and sending tufts of down airborne. 8 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

Collecting rabbit pellets is the most efficient way biologists have found to monitor populations of the New England cottontail, which has suffered a range reduction of more than 80 percent since the 1960s. In New Hampshire, where only two small populations remain—one in the Seacoast and a second in the Merrimack River Valley—the species is listed as endangered. To monitor cottontail populations, scat is scooped into small vials during transect surveys and sent off to a lab at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) where researchers analyze the DNA to decipher how many individual animals live in a habitat patch, as well as their parentage (who is related to whom and how). The southeastern corner of the Hills Family Forest and the adjacent Bunker Creek property, owned by NHFG, in Durham contain about 15 acres of highquality habitat, but during our visit we didn’t find any cottontail pellets. This scrubby “young forest” hasn’t developed on its own but was created by deliberately

clearcutting a more mature forest and planting shrubs about ten years ago. Once it grew up into a thick tangle of alder and poplar saplings, New England cottontails were released here in two consecutive years as part of a captive breeding program to augment struggling wild populations in the region. Unfortunately, these releases were unsuccessful, and the rabbits did not survive to reproduce. “It was disappointing after having releases be successful at other locations” Ferry says. At the nearby Bellamy Wildlife Management Area (WMA), where management efforts have created about 100 acres of suitable habitat, released cottontails have done much better, reproducing in the wild and maintaining their small population after an initial release of eight rabbits in 2013. In 2018, a pellet from one of the Bellamy WMA rabbits was collected on the Hills Family Forest property, igniting hopes that expansion across these landscapes might be occurring, but since that time pellet surveys at the reservation have come up empty.

(OPPOSITE PAGE) CARRIE DEEGAN, ANNA BERRY (THIS PAGE) NHFG/VICTOR YOUNG PHOTO, CARRIE DEEGAN

In the meantime, the habitat created for New England cottontails needs maintenance to remain prime, whether it is currently occupied or not. Students from two UNH wildlife classes spent two days in October 2021 cutting larger stems on the Hills Family Forest habitat, hoping to stimulate those trees to sucker with the additional small stems that cottontails require. Cut brush was heaped in large piles to create even more areas of potential cover for the rabbits. It’s a lot of work and a big commitment on the part of landowners, who will ideally work cooperatively to manage habitat patches on a rotational basis ensuring there is always some prime cover and foraging territory available. The New England Cottontail Project, which was initiated in 2009 and involves more than 50 partners, including the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), state wildlife agencies, land trusts, universities, and municipalities, has worked with landowners to create and maintain more than 1,000 acres of “early successional” young forest habitat in the state. Many of these habitat projects have been at least partially funded through programs like State Wildlife Grants, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, NRCS’s Working Lands for Wildlife Program or New Hampshire’s “Moose Plate” Conservation License Plate grants. Nearly a dozen years into the recovery program, Brett Ferry says the prognosis for New Hampshire’s native cottontail is both encouraging and disheartening. Rabbits in the Seacoast region have been responding well to management actions, but the Merrimack River Valley population, which is centered in Londonderry and had been larger than the Seacoast population, has been struggling. A decade of rapid development has fragmented the landscape there and considerably hampered movement of New England cottontails. At the same time, non-native Eastern cottontails, released in southern New England to augment hunting stock in the early 1900s, have expanded northward into the Lon-

New England cottontail (inset) populations have decreased drastically over the past 50 years primarily due to a lack of suitable shrub habitat (above) as forests have matured and development has fragmented New England’s landscape. donderry area in the past several years. The slightly larger Eastern cottontails are more generalist in their habitat needs and have a wider field of peripheral vision, allowing them to escape predators and outcompete the native brush rabbits. Helped along by milder winters, which increase survival and lengthen the breeding season, Eastern cottontails have begun to expand and displace the New England cottontails in the Merrimack River Valley. “The Eastern cottontails hit like a wave,” Ferry says. “Now the Merrimack population of New England cottontails is less than half of what it used to be.” Considering recent setbacks and successes, NHFG biologists remain hopeful that New England cottontail populations will grow and stabilize in the state. “It’s an uphill battle, but all we can do is try,” Ferry declares. Although maintaining suitable, contiguous habitat will be an ongoing challenge, Ferry is positive that

the effort is worth it. “What is happening to the New England cottontail is really an indication that something is out of balance,” he says, “which means other species are struggling as well.” It is true that other animals that depend on early successional habitat, such as woodcock, grouse, blue-winged and golden-winged warblers, wood turtle, and black racer snakes, have also experienced marked population declines. “We’re creating and maintaining all of this habitat for cottontails, but it’s benefiting every other species that uses this type of habitat, from mammals to songbirds and all the way down to native pollinators,” Ferry notes. In other words, impenetrable thickets are good for more than just brush rabbits even if they don’t make for pleasant human outings. Carrie Deegan is the community engagement and volunteers director for the Forest Society. Spring 2022 FOREST NOTES | 9

THE FOREST CLASSROOM

A carpet of white pine seedlings flourish at the Diehl Family Forest in Lempster, N.H., after a harvest in 2017 made way for a new generation of trees to grow.

Oh, You’re a Forester…Do You Plant Trees? By James Frohn

s a forester, a common question I get is “do you plant trees after logging?” While this is common practice in other parts of the country and the world, here in New England tree planting as a part of forestry is unusual. Instead of planting, we typically rely on natural regeneration of trees. There are several reasons for this.

Why Utilize Natural Regeneration Due to adequate year-round rainfall and reasonably fertile soils, trees readily regenerate on their own in our region. Consider that at one time much of New England was cleared of its forests and converted to agriculture, then forests readily grew back on their own after farm abandonment, with limited planting by people. Because trees regenerate well on their own, planted trees have lots of competition. Controlling this competition is costly and time consuming. (I managed a property where a stand had been cleared 10 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

of hardwoods and planted with spruce twenty years prior. It was hard to tell it had been planted due to the dense growth of sugar maple and yellow birch. The spruces, which represented a substantial investment of money, time, and labor, were shaded out by the hardwood growth.) In our region, most species that regenerate naturally have commercial value. Therefore, planting to ensure a steady supply of favorable species is not as necessary as in

other areas of the world where only a few species have marketable value. Growth rates are another factor, as it takes a long time to grow a tree to sawlog size in New England. Usually, the cost of waiting for trees to grow outweighs the investment to plant the trees. In other regions with shorter time spans from seedling to harvestable tree, it makes economic sense to plant.

KEEPING FORESTS AS FORESTS The Forest Society proudly practices sustainable forestry on our lands, with the goals of enhancing the diversity of our forests, producing renewable forest products, earning income to support our mission, and safeguarding soils, water, and unique features. Our foresters use silviculture when implementing harvests that allow for natural regeneration to take place. To learn more about how and why the Forest Society practices sustainable forestry on our lands, visit forestsociety.org/cutting-trees-conservation. To read about our active and recent timber harvests, visit forestsociety.org/forest-society-timber-harvests.

While most of our tree species have commercial value, some species are worth more than others in the market. Similarly, some species benefit wildlife more than others, or are more adapted to a changing climate. The task for foresters is to create conditions for the natural regeneration of desired species, whatever the goal might be. This is where silviculture comes in.

Silviculture Silviculture, according to silviculturist David M. Smith, author of a widely used text on the subject, can be defined as “the theory and practice of controlling forest establishment, composition, structure, and growth.” Foundational to silviculture is silvics, “which deals with the principles underlying the growth and development of single trees and of the forest as a biological unit” (Smith).

GABE ROXBY

Sunlight and Shade One of the most important concepts in silvics is shade tolerance. Tree species fall on a spectrum of shade tolerance, from very shade tolerant to very shade intolerant, and different gradients in between. A tree species’ shade tolerance characteristics are critical when considering how to get new seedlings established. Very shade-tolerant species include hemlock, red spruce, and beech. These species can germinate and persist in the deep shade of a closed canopy forest. They don’t necessarily thrive in these conditions, but they will persist, which gives them a competitive advantage over less shade-tolerant species. A sapling size hemlock may be mistaken for a young tree, but, it may be 40 or 50 years old or more. On the other end of the shade-tolerance spectrum, we find species such as paper birch and aspen. These species won’t regenerate in shade. They need full sun and warm soil to germinate and thrive. Known as pioneer species, their competitive advantage is that they are among the first trees to establish after a heavy disturbance such as fire or clearcutting.

Between these two extremes lie numerous species: red oak, white ash, yellow birch, and white pine all exhibit intermediate shade tolerance. They tend toward one end or the other of the spectrum; for example, yellow birch is less tolerant while white ash is more tolerant of shade.

Site Plays a Role Site is also a factor in silviculture. Soil fertility and structure, drainage, slope, aspect, and elevation all play a role in which species of trees can be regenerated on a site. Site characteristics need to be taken into consideration in forestry planning, but there is little, if anything, the forester can do to influence them. The forester can, however, manipulate the light levels that reach the forest floor. This is done through different silvicultural treatments, which involve cutting trees and often include selling the harvested wood. Based on stewardship goals, site characteristics, and shade tolerance of the desired species, foresters develop various silvicultural treatments. They range from clearcutting to regenerate shade intolerant species to single tree selection to regenerate very shade tolerant species, and many variations in between.

Planting Can Play a Role Efforts at natural regeneration aren’t always successful. Excessive deer and moose browsing can keep natural regeneration from developing, and invasive plants can prevent successful establishment of native tree species. Poor logging practices that haven’t taken the future forest into consideration can hinder regeneration of desired species. For example, the stand may have had spruce and fir seedlings that became established in the shade, but skid trails weren’t planned to avoid damage to

the seedlings, resulting in their loss. Along with this, misunderstanding the silvics of the target species can result in regeneration failure. (Clearcutting in spruce-fir when no seedlings were established prior to harvest will result in shade intolerant hardwoods occupying the site, rather than the desired spruce and fir.) In these situations, enrichment planting is an option to enhance the regeneration. The goal is to enrich the species composition, improve timber value, or increase stocking. The focus isn’t on establishing plantations of trees, but rather to fill in places where regeneration may have failed or where species composition lacks diversity. (I worked on a planting project in Maine where the understory prior to harvesting was almost entirely beech. The goal was to improve the species composition and future value by planting spruce and pine with the existing hardwoods.) Planting can also enhance wildlife food sources. Native dogwoods, elderberry, and winterberry, or introduced, but non-invasive, species such as apple all benefit wildlife. Like all plantings, these shrubs and trees need to be protected from competition and wildlife damage while they become established. Before deciding to plant, examination of the site is important. See if fruit and nut-bearing plants are already there and can be helped along by cutting trees that are shading them out. Most of us like the idea of planting trees. In a forested setting, however, planting is often not needed at all. But, planting can play a role, when regeneration is unsuccessful, or species diversity needs to be enhanced. James Frohn is a forestry field specialist and an instructor field specialist for the University of New Hampshire’s Cooperative Extension.

Learn More: If you want to learn more about stewardship of your forest, contact your county forester to set up a site visit. If you’re looking to plant trees or shrubs, the New Hampshire State Forest Nursery is a good source to purchase seedlings. Visit nh.gov/nhnursery for more information.

Spring 2022 FOREST NOTES | 11

ON OUR LAND

Left: From left, WMTC Treasurer Lynne Borofsky and WMTC Coordinator Tom Duston hike along the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail in Hindsdale, N.H. Right: The Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail skirts beside Indian Pond at the Forest Society’s Madame Sherri Forest in Chesterfield.

The Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail:

Linking Favorite Places across Cheshire County By Matt Scaccia

n the southwest corner of New Hampshire, 3,165-foot Mount Monadnock stands alone as the most prominent landmark on the horizon. Its striking profile and rugged pinnacle inspire daily explorations by throngs of hikers. While the summit offers a majestic vista of the surrounding landscape, it may well be that approaching the mountain from “the long way there” is what provides the most rewarding perspective for a select group of hikers. This long approach can be completed by hiking the 50-mile WantastiquetMonadnock Trail (WMT), which connects Wantastiquet Mountain in Hinsdale, N.H. to Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey, N.H. In the late 1980s, members of the Chesterfield Conservation Commission, 12 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

led by Tom Duston, and Friends of Pisgah, led by the late John Summers, simultaneously began to envision a “greenway” trail connecting the many conserved areas between the two peaks. With so much permanently conserved land and miles of existing trails spanning across this region, it seemed possible that a single connecting route could be achieved. Their perseverance and vision, along with the support of many other partners and volunteers, would go on to create one of the most diversified trail experiences in New Hampshire. Trail planning began in 1991, and as the years progressed, local partners representing a wide variety of landowners and interests along the route joined forces to complete it. The Forest Society played an

early role in the formation of the WMT as the routed passed through three of its forest reservations: Madame Sherri Forest, Gap Mountain Reservation, and Mount Monadnock Reservation. Today, the Wantastiquet-Monadnock Trail Coalition (WMTC) serves as the formal organization for the trail and it is composed of members from Antioch University New England, Appalachian Mountain Club, Chesterfield Conservation Commission, City of Keene, Colony Memorial Trust, Forest Society, Friends of Pisgah, Monadnock Conservancy, New Hampshire State Parks, Pathways for Keene, Southwest Regional Planning Commission, State of New Hampshire, Swanzey Conservation Commission, and the Swanzey Rail Trail Advisory Committee.

Planners thoughtfully created a route where only 10–15 miles of newly constructed trail were needed to piece together the entire 50 miles. While the trail provides a multitude of public recreation benefits, the variety of conserved lands it connects represent a key linkage of habitats. “The main ambition for developing the WMT was to connect the existing wildlife corridor that has been protected with a hiking trail,” WMTC Coordinator Tom Duston says. “Most of the trail section between Wantastiquet Mountain and Keene crosses through Tier I areas, [the highest ranked habitat in the state].” Since its completion in 2018, the WMT has seen a surge in public interest, which hasn’t surprised Duston in the slightest. “I believe the trail will become more popular as time goes on, but we don’t want to overwhelm it with too much activity,” he says. “It comes down to striking a balance between fostering an enthusiasm for the trail while protecting the resource.” While stewardship of the trail is largely managed by public and private organizations, the WMTC also works with volunteer trail adopters, including those from the Forest Society, who continually maintain and improve sections of the trail.

(OPPOSITE PAGE) PAULA DUSTON, CLARA SYMMES

A Resource for Recreation Although Monadnock is one of the most climbed mountains in the country, few are offered the perspective of the summit than those that hike the entire WMT in the more popular direction from west to east. For those that finish on the lofty easterly terminus, gazing west over the landscape toward the town of Hinsdale offers hikers a special insight. Wantastiquet Mountain rises in the distance and the full scale of their achievement are in clear view. Memories of the peaks, streams, forests, towns, and rail trails traversed offer an enlightened impression of what is seen across the horizon. Many well-known protected properties across Cheshire County serve as the main connection points along the trail. Beginning in the west, the WMT climbs steeply

to the top of Wantastiquet Mountain (1,388’) and then continues to the Forest Society’s Madame Sherri Forest passing next to scenic Indian Pond via the Ann Stokes Loop. Next, the trail proceeds to Daniels Mountain (1,230’) and Bear Mountain (1,027’) before entering Pisgah State Park where it stretches for 9 miles across relatively flat, yet scenic terrain. About 4 miles after leaving the state park, the trail crosses California Brook and proceeds to the Horatio Colony Preserve. Once the trail reaches Keene, the WMT overlaps with the Cheshire Recreational Rail Trail for approximately 13 miles. A short linkage from there then leads to a hike over Gap Mountain’s 1,900-foot south peak and 1,840-foot north peak. After descending Gap and crossing Route 124, a rugged 2.2-mile ascent of the Royce and White Arrow trails lead to the trail’s east terminus, the summit of Mount Monadnock. An end-to-end hike can either be completed in a continuous trek or portioned

into sections traversed over a longer period. While there are linkages to many public roads, town centers, and access points along the trail, certain sections are relatively remote, including the 12 miles that connect Old Swanzey Road and the Horatio Colony Preserve (starting approximately at mile 16 of the trail) where there are no connections to road crossings or other linkages. The WMT offers an immersive opportunity to experience the scenic and natural character of the Monadnock Region. The summit of Monadnock is visible across most of the journey, which builds anticipation as hikers near their goal. The WMT reveals the beautiful character of the lands in alluring detail across this special section of New Hampshire and makes the view from the summit even more inspiring. Matt Scaccia is the recreation & community relations manager for the Forest Society.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO No matter if you’re hiking one mile or the entire WMT, it’s imperative that all hikers plan ahead and prepare before stepping foot on the trail. Begin by familiarizing yourself with the following pro tips and be sure to visit the WMTC’s website at wmtcoalition.org for the latest trail conditions and land management advisories. + Be prepared for your trek by carrying the ten hiking essentials, including extra food, water, and layers. + Water sources are available along the trail, but hikers should filter any water before drinking. + Bring a map and compass for navigation. Cell phone coverage is spotty and shouldnot be relied on. Detailed PDF maps are available to download for free at wmtcoalition.org. + Learn and practice Leave No Trace principles during your trip. + Exercise caution while hiking on roadways. + For backpackers, three campsites are located along the trail: • Dort Shelter is located near the west end of Pisgah State Park, approximately 8.6 miles from Hindsdale, N.H. Fires are permitted in the designated area only. • Draper Tent Site is located near the east end of Pisgah State Park on private property, approximately 16 miles from Hindsdale, N.H. Fires are not allowed at this location. • Troy Tent Site is located on private property approximately 37 miles from Hindsdale, N.H. and 13 miles from the summit of Mount Monadnock. Fires are not allowed at this location. Spring 2022 FOREST NOTES | 13

The Ins and Outs of the Forest Society’s Easement Stewardship Department he Forest Society’s Easement Stewardship Department ensures that the purposes, natural resources, and other unique features of their conservation easements, deed restrictions, and other related properties are protected in perpetuity. Since the early 1970s, the Forest Society has used conservation easements to protect more than 130,000 acres of forestland, water resources, scenic vistas, wildlife habitat, and agricultural resources in New Hampshire. The easement stewardship staff is responsible for monitoring easements, building mutually beneficial relationships with landowners, providing educational resources, and maintaining permanent records. Despite some turnover in the department this year, the team managed to complete their monitoring objectives—and exceed them in some cases—all the while continuing to work remotely. Everyone is looking forward to the 2022 monitoring season and, hopefully, to the return of some in-person team gatherings later this spring and summer. See you on the trails, – Naomi Brattlof

14 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

Meet The Team Naomi Brattlof Director of Easement Stewardship

Born and raised in southern New Hampshire, Naomi has worked for nearly five years for the Forest Society. She began as a stewardship manager and is now the director of easement stewardship, a title she’s held for three years.

Connie has worked in the Easement Stewardship Department for seven years. She provides administrative support to the stewardship management staff and coordinates the flow of information between the stewards and other Forest Society departments.

Stacie Hernandez

Jack Minich

John Plummer

Land Protection Specialist and Regional Stewardship Manager

Regional Stewardship Manager

Jack grew up in Washington D.C. and after working in education, trails, and ecological restoration programs, he moved to Keene, N.H., to complete his M.S. in conservation biology at Antioch University–New England. As a stewardship manager, Jack has monitored properties in the southwestern corner of the state since 2021.

John grew up in southern New Hampshire and studied at the University of New Hampshire. He was inspired to work in land conservation during his 2017 hike of the Appalachian Trail, which he completed after leaving a job in the corporate world. After that, John served in AmeriCorps for three years, where he supported many nonprofits across New England, doing everything from trail building projects on Vermont’s Long Trail to water quality projects on the Squam Lakes in New Hampshire.

Stacie grew up in the Seacoast area and studied environmental conservation at the University of New Hampshire. After working in natural resource education in Washington State, she moved back to New Hampshire where she started working for land trusts and eventually the Forest Society in 2019. She loves meeting with passionate landowners and seeing the places that make the state so beautiful.

(OPPOSITE PAGE) JERRY MONKMAN/ECOPHOTOGRAPHY (THIS PAGE) FOREST SOCIETY ARCHIVES (X5)

Connie Colton

Land Protection & Stewardship Coordinator

What do you enjoy most about being a stewardship manager?

Q&A F

Stacie Hernandez: I enjoy this role because I get to spend over half the year on the land, meeting with people and getting to know and explore places that I normally wouldn’t. I’m lucky that I get to spend so much time in the woods traveling around New Hampshire. Jack Minich: I enjoy exploring the different corners of our state and learning why landowners chose to conserve their land or sought out conservation land. John Plummer: I enjoy hiking through remote stretches of forest to monitor our conservation easements. I also find it very rewarding when I meet with landowners on their property to talk about their land, swap stories, and share resources.

What are some of the challenges of the job? SH: One of the challenges is battling ticks. Unfortunately, the most active time of the year to monitor properties is also the most active part of tick season. Another challenge is finding and dealing with issues on easements. We hope that meeting regularly with landowners and walking boundaries will prevent issues, but we still find a few issues each year. JM: Ticks. Mosquitos. Surprising abutters when walking boundaries and trying to find a place to park! I could go on! JP: Every part of the job has its challenges. While the field season is arguably the best part of the job, it is also tiring because of the long days of hiking and driving. By the time fall comes around, I’m ready for a long winter’s rest. But, after a winter of being glued to my computer, I am excited to get into the field. Spring 2022 FOREST NOTES | 15

(cont.) A & Q

What are your hobbies?

Why did you want to become a stewardship manager?

SH: Before I started this job, I would have said hiking. Now that hiking is my day job, I don't find myself hiking as much on the weekends. I enjoy spending my time working on my house and tending to my chickens and many flower gardens. I try to travel internationally at least once a year, and I look forward to doing that again soon! Last year, I travelled to Washington to explore the North Cascades. JM: I really love long-distance cycling, be it on a mountain bike or a road bike. It’s a wonderful experience to be able to ride through a landscape for hours or days exploring and coming to know a place. JP: I like to draw and paint when I have a quiet moment, but I’m usually moving. I love to backcountry ski in winter and run and rock climb in the summer.

SH: I sought out a role in land stewardship at the Forest Society because I found myself drawn to land trusts, mainly because of the active role they play in land conservation work. I see the role of land trusts to be proactive, whereas other conservation work can be very reactive, responding to an issue already present (such as restoration). This role was a great fit for me because of my past experiences with stewardship and landowner relations. JM: I enjoy the blend of natural resources and land management analysis, legal and text analysis, and physical exploration. The chance to work in conservation at essentially a landscapescale is exciting. JP: I wanted to steward protected lands while being out in the field and working on a range of projects throughout the year.

Easement Monitoring, From the Ground and the Sky All of the Forest Society’s 763 conservation easements, deed restricted properties, and shifting executory interests are monitored on the ground every one to five years based on their risk level. In 2021, 377 of these properties received a full ground-monitoring visit.

Aerial Monitoring The Forest Society worked with Upstream Tech for the first time in 2020 and then again in 2021. Their Lens application allows us to easily purchase and analyze satellite imagery for aerial monitoring. The shift to satellite imagery through Upstream has made our annual aerial monitoring both more reliable and economical.

Executory Interests We annually ensure that conservation easements in which we hold the executory interest are monitored by the primary easement holder. Connie Colton oversees this reporting process. So far, we have received monitoring reports on 136 of 147 executory interest properties that are confirmed to have been monitored in 2021. No properties have gone more than three years without submitting a monitoring report.

Conservation Easements 639 Properties, 120,281 Acres

Deed Restricted Properties 97 Properties, 13,535 Acres

Shifting Executory Interests 27 Properties, 1,800 Acres

16 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

Left: Land Protection Specialist and Regional Stewardship Manager Stacie Hernandez installs a conservation easement boundary tag on the corner of a property boundary. Right: Hernandez uses her phone’s mapping application, GAIA GPS, to orient the walking direction along an easement property’s boundary.

Easement Monitoring, By the Numbers In 2021, the easement stewardship staff completed 377 ground monitoring visits and 56 partial/task visits spanning over 63,736 protected acres and covering approximately 740 miles in the process. During these visits, stewardship managers met with 185 landowners.

Volunteer easement monitors practice their map and compass skills at a Forest Society-led training.

Volunteer Easement Monitoring Program To help the department monitor thousands of acres of conservation properties, the Volunteer Easement Monitoring Program was started in 2016. Since then, the program has expanded to cover 58 conserved properties. In the 2021 monitoring season, 18 volunteers conducted 48 total monitoring visits across 7,938 acres. This year, VEMP coordinator Jack Minich is looking forward to welcoming back 16 volunteers and having them monitor just as many properties as last year.

Newly Acquired Easements in FY ‘22 Childs | Salisbury, NH | 579 acres

FOREST SOCIETY ARCHIVES

On October 1, 2021, the Forest Society and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department jointly acquired the conservation easement on the 579-acre Childs property in Salisbury. The bargain sale easement purchase was funded through several grants, including a grant to the NH Fish and Game Department from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program and a grant to the Forest Society from the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program. Additional funding was contributed by individual donors and the landowner, who provided a significant bargain sale. Conserving this property is an important step towards the final linkage of the 9,000 acres of conserved land on and around Mount Kearsarge and more than 5,000 acres of conserved wetlands and riverine communities associated with the federally owned Blackwater River lands and the state's Leonard Wildlife Management Area.

Eliassen | Warren, NH | 116.7 acres On October 15, 2021, the Forest Society completed the second and final phase of the Eliassen Assets to Acres project in Warren. The 121.5-acre Eliassen property was sold subject to a conservation easement on 116.7 acres. This property contributes to a

The Eliassen easement helps to protect part of the Baker River in Warren. network of contiguous conservation land adjacent to the White Mountain National Forest, and the conservation easement protects high-quality wildlife habitat, 1,375 feet of frontage along the Baker River (located in the upper reaches of the Merrimack River watershed), upland forests, and scenic views from public roads and trails. Spring 2022 FOREST NOTES | 17

Newly Acquired Easements in FY ‘22 (continued) Clay Brook Forest | Hampton Falls | 32 acres In May 2021, James and Katherine Kibler sold a 30-acre conservation easement known now as Clay Brook Forest to the Forest Society. The property is within a core conservation focus area of the Great Bay Partnership’s Coast Conservation Plan, and approximately 80 percent of the property is ranked as “Conservation Priority Area,” by the Rockingham Planning Commission. The project was funded by grants from the Town of Hampton Falls ($376,365), NH Land & Community Heritage Investment Program ($100,000), the Department of Environmental Services’ Aquatic Resource Mitigation Fund Program ($40,000), Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership ($10,000), as well as private foundations, including the VF Foundation and the Fuller Foundation. Community outreach led by the Friends of Clay Brook Forest played an important role in getting the word out about protecting the property, and as a result, about 100 individual donors contributed to the effort.

James and Katherine Kibler acted quickly to protect Clay Brook Forest in Hampton Falls, N.H.

Hoffman #2 | Sullivan | 30.8 acres

Robert and Sherri Morrill (pictured) operate Morrill Farm with their sons, Andy, Kevin, and Ryan.

Morrill Farm | Boscawen | 124.5 acres In December 2021, the Forest Society worked with the Town of Boscawen to purchase a conservation easement on 124.54 acres of high-quality farmland and wetlands on Long and Water streets in Boscawen from the Robert D. Morrill and Sherri A. Morrill Revocable Trust (part of the Morrill Dairy Farm). The farm was founded in 1925 in Penacook, has won national awards, and is well known for its red and white Holsteins. Over 90 percent of the project is located within a priority focus area of the Merrimack Valley Regional Conservation Plan.

18 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

In August 2021, John and Jean Hoffman generously donated to the Forest Society a 30.8-acre conservation easement on a forested parcel of land in Sullivan. With this newest conservation easement addition, the Hoffmans have now protected more than 800 acres of farm and forestland, a majority of which the family still owns and manages as Seward Mountain Farm. The Hoffman conservation easements contribute to an interconnected block of permanently protected land containing more than 13,000 total acres and spanning the towns of Sullivan, Stoddard, and Gilsum, including the Forest Society’s Andorra Forest Conservation Easement and The Nature Conservancy’s Otter Brook Preserve.

Boulderwood Trust | Holderness | 18.6 acres In 1991, the Boulderwood Trust generously donated a conservation easement to the Forest Society on 14 acres located on Mooney Point Road, on the shores of Squam Lake in Holderness. This past April, the Boulderwood Trust made an additional gift of a conservation easement on an abutting 18.6 acres of land. The additional conserved land contributes to a large network of conservation lands both on islands within Squam Lake and among the surrounding hills of the Squam Range. The forested parcel of land helps to improve the water quality in Squam Lake and add important wildlife habitat to the original conservation easement property. The landscape-scale protection efforts surrounding Squam Lake are driven by numerous conservation organizations and guided by the 2012 Lakes Region Conservation Plan.

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

A Volunteer Delivers Top-Notch Service By Andy Crowley

(OPPOSITE PAGE) BRIAN HOTZ (X3); (THIS PAGE) JEN CAHILL

eing outside has always been a big part of Jen Cahill’s life. When she was young, her parents instilled in her and her younger brother a love for the outdoors by taking them on vacations to Maine and on day trips to the White Mountain National Forest in the summer. “I’d walk barefoot as much as I could,” she remarks. “That was the life we lived. It was fun!” As she got older, Cahill began to appreciate hiking more and more as she went on trips on her own and eventually with her family. She knew getting her two kids outside at a young age was important, so she started taking them to the mountains and she hasn’t stopped since. Living in southern New Hampshire, Cahill travels north nearly every weekend to hike in the White Mountains. After using the trails for so long, especially during the pandemic, she felt it was time to give back to the places she loves. In 2021, she started doing volunteer trail work by adopting a remote hiking trail in the Wild River Wilderness of the White Mountains through the U.S. Forest Service’s Trail Adopters Program. After spending weekends camping and doing trail maintenance, she’d return to her work at UPS in Manchester, N.H., where she’d share stories of her wilderness adventures with her coworkers. A lot of people were interested in hearing about her hiking trips, and it became a familiar topic of conversation at the office. When coworkers heard about the amount of volunteer work she was doing, they recommended she register her hours with UPS’s Neighbor-to-Neighbor volunteer work tracking program. Inspired to do more volunteering last summer, Cahill signed up for the Forest Society’s Monadnock Trails Week after seeing a post online. “I was very apprehensive to do trail maintenance, but I knew it was something I wanted to try…My theory was that if

What is so great about getting outside? Jen Cahill: You could ask anyone who’s hiked with me, and they’ll tell you that’s when I’m the happiest. I meet new people more easily when I’m out on the trails and I make new friends. That’s where I consider my home. I smile the most when I’m on the trail. It could be a miserable day, pouring rain, but it doesn’t matter. It’s hard to explain that euphoria. It’s a simple way of life: you walk a little, you see something pretty, and even when it’s miserable and it’s that type-two sort of fun, it just makes for a great story to tell later on.

Jen Cahill takes a selfie at Monadnock Trails Week 2021. I didn’t like it, I never had to do again,” she notes. Volunteering for trails offers participants the opportunity to learn more about nature and oneself, which is something Cahill valued after spending time on a trail crew. “I learned that I didn’t need to be the strongest, and I had some great ideas that contributed to the success of the team. I just had to be willing to learn and help and those ideas would present themselves. I also learned that I shouldn’t be afraid to get a little dirty!” It was her sustained 4-day effort totaling 32 hours during trails week that caught the attention of the UPS Foundation, who would later generously contribute $15,000 toward volunteer efforts with the Forest Society. This summer, Cahill plans to return to trails week to get a little dirty and possibly participate in all 4 days again. Forest Notes caught up with Cahill to learn a little more about her passion for the outdoors and her motivation to volunteer.

What advice do you have for others thinking about volunteering? JC: Don’t be afraid to get involved— just do it! You’ll meet some great people. Everyone is out there for the right reason, and trail work attracts the type of people that make for great company. Don’t fear the hard work because when you do it as a team, it’s so much easier; you get so much accomplished together and it’s so rewarding. If you’re looking for a way to get involved and give back, then Monadnock Trails Week is definitely something to look at. The experience is priceless. What did you enjoy most about volunteering at Monadnock Trails Week? JC: I really enjoyed how the group [of volunteers at Trails Week] had a mix of newbies and seasoned trail workers all working together with Forest Society staff and state parks employees. It was really neat to work with the huge array of people because everyone had their own individual interest and talent, but they shared the same vision of how to get the project done. It was a very educational experience for everyone. Andy Crowley is the stewardship projects manager for the Forest Society. Spring 2022 FOREST NOTES | 19

NATURE’S VIEW

Left: A walking bridge is all that’s left of a trail at the Merrimack River Outdoor and Education Conservation Area after water levels rose and flooded the property temporarily. Right: Growing season is kick-started into high gear after water recedes in the floodplain and sunlight begins to bake the forest floor.

The Silver Maple Floodplain Forest By Dave Anderson

rare and special riverside forest community grows not far from downtown Concord on undeveloped floodplains along the Merrimack River adjacent to the Forest Society’s headquarters. Silver maple floodplain forests are unique not only for their relative scarcity, but also due to the historical development pressures and specialized plant communities and wildlife habitats that occur on the rich, silty soil deposited by annual flooding cycles. For more than two centuries, industrial mills built dams in many New Hampshire rivers, including the Merrimack, to provide waterpower and later to control flooding. Changing the historicalfrequency and severity of spring flood events altered soil, plants, and wildlife popula-

20 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

tions. Natural flood cycles built rich alluvial soil deposits, which became the most productive sites for agriculture. Industrial and agricultural land uses altered and converted disproportionate percentages of the original riparian floodplain forests to farmlands and mills and industrial centers of growing cities. Undeveloped floodplains often feature the former river channels that form oxbow ponds and seasonal vernal pools, which provide habitat for aquatic plants and wildlife. Wet meadows, thickets, shrubs, and silver maple forests are the original fast food “Miracle Mile,” outlying downtown and rich with protein and carbohydrate calories. Spring and fall bird migrations tend to follow river floodplain corridors with

fruit- and berry-producing shrubs. Ample fish and amphibians feed birds and small mammals which, in turn, feed larger predators and birds of prey. Waterfowl and wading birds—ducks and herons—stalk fish and amphibians. Barred owls and red-shouldered hawks often nest near floodplain wetlands. Migrating birds of floodplains include bank swallows, kingbirds, orioles and kingfishers. Fish, frogs, salamanders, snakes, and turtles breed in and near warm, shallow water. Teeming insects fuel aerial foraging by bats and birds. Mammals particularly well adapted to live along rivers and wetlands include raccoons, muskrats, beaver, mink, and otters. At the Forest’s Society’s Conservation Center, silver maple forests narrow to an

Consulting Foresters

ELLEN KENNY (X2)

artificial southern limit due to extensive industrial development further south from Bow and Hooksett to Manchester, Nashua, and on to Massachusetts’ Lawrence, Lowell, and Haverhill. Northward, silver maple forests stretch in a narrow belt along the meandering Merrimack River from Concord to Boscawen, Canterbury, Northfield, and Franklin. Adjacent oxbow ponds and agricultural fields on rich alluvial floodplain terraces are common sites to see on a paddle in this area. This same linear natural community occurs along the floodplains of the Connecticut and Saco rivers. Prior to agricultural and industrial development, silver maples won by default being best adapted to sand and silt and able to tolerate late winter and early spring flooding with periodic ice jams along these major rivers. Understory plant communities of silver maple forests include wildflowers, ferns, and poison ivy. Ostrich fern, the commercial fern fiddleheads people forage for personal consumption and found for sale in supermarkets emerge on low-lying river floodplains by early May. Invasive plants spread by birds and through flooding readily spread to outcompete native vegetation. The “three bad B’s” include patches of non-native buckthorn, Eurasian barberry, and thick coiling bittersweet vines, in addition to Japanese knotweed and honeysuckle. Rich soil and the open understory create a beachhead for aggressive plants adapted to disturbance. “A silver maple-false nettle-sensitive fern floodplain forest community occurs

on sandy and acidic soils adjacent to medium and large rivers in the southern half of New Hampshire,” notes Forest Society Forester Gabe Roxby. “They are commonly found along the Merrimack River but are also present along sections of the Ashuelot and Contoocook rivers. The community is characterized by a nearly pure canopy of tall silver maple trees that arch out over the river’s edge. The understory is diverse and variable, but commonly is dominated by a mixture of both ferns and nettles. The natural community on the floodplain is closely related to the silver maple- wood nettle-ostrich fern natural community type, though, and there is likely overlap in the plant species found on each.” Floodplain forests and wetlands provide some of the most important edible native plant resources utilized by Indigenous Abenaki peoples for thousands of years. This forest type, where it survives intact, remains little changed. Our Indigenous predecessors would not recognize most contemporary forests and land use, they but would certainly recognize a silver maple floodplain forest as familiar. Tall and straight or arching trunks of silver maples lined all the primary pre-colonial transportation corridors: major rivers analogous to modern highways. The Merrimack and Contoocook rivers were functional precursors to I-93 and I-89 for thousands of years.

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41 Pine St., Peterborough, NH 03458 • 603-562-5620 Email: swiftcorwin@gmail.com

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P.O. Box 597, Rumney, NH 03266 • 603-786-9544 P.O. Box 161, Contoocook, NH 03229 • 603-746-4846 Email: office@forecollc.com

Full Circle Forestry, LLC Jeffrey Snitkin NHLPF #452 802-310-0292 • jsnitkin.fcf@gmail.com Ehrhard Frost, NHLPF #103 802-785-4749 • efrost.fcf@gmail.com Eric Radlof, NHLPF #447 603-321-8249 • eradlof.fcf@gmail.com Providing a full range of ecologically based and economically practical forestry services to landowners that share a long-term stewardship vision for their forest. -NRCS Technical Service Provider, Tree Farm Inspector

752 Rt. 103A Newbury, NH 03255 • 802-310-0292

Martin Forestry Consulting, LLC Offering complete forest management services including timber sales, cruises, and appraisals and wildlife habitat management.

P.O. Box 89, New Hampton, NH 03256 • 603-744-9484 Email: martinforestry@gmail.com

Meadowsend Consulting Company Dave Anderson is the senior director of education for the Forest Society

Get Out! The Merrimack River Outdoor Education and Conservation Area is open every day from sunset to sundown. For more information, visit forestsociety.org/property/merrimack-river-outdoor-education-conservation-area.

Quality Consulting Forestry with Integrity. Guaranteed.

Jeremy Turner, NHLPF #318 — Southern NH jturner@meadowsendco.com Matthias Nevins, NHLPF #518 — Central NH mnevins@meadowsendco.com Ryan Kilborn, NHLPF #442 — Northern NH rkilborn@meadowsendco.com Vast range of quality land management services. 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. Spring 2022 FOREST NOTES | 21

PUBLIC POLICY

Sustainable Forestry And Its Uses Today By Matt Leahy

orests deliver significant benefits to people, wildlife, and the natural environment. They filter water, provide wildlife habitats, offer outdoor recreation opportunities, and mitigate the damaging effects from climate change. Unfortunately, a split seems to be emerging within the community of forest advocates over the issue of forest management, particularly as the urgency to address climate change increases. For some, the critical need to take concrete steps now to avoid the worst effects of climate change must include leaving forests intact so they can continue to sequester and store carbon. That position would seem to incorporate placing restrictions on timber harvesting. The Forest Society shares the commitment with those groups to keep forests as forests. However, even as society faces the

urgent need to address climate change, public policy should not undermine forest health and the goal of keeping forests as forests. Paradoxically, restricting sustainable forest management would do just that. We are especially mindful of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Climate Change which states, “Sustainable forest management can prevent deforestation, maintain and enhance carbon sinks, and can contribute towards GHG emissions–reduction goals. Sustainable forest management generates socioeconomic benefits, and provides fiber, timber, and biomass to meet society’s growing needs.” Although in practice sustainable forest management is complex, in very basic terms it means to always be growing more trees than are being cut. That simple definition, though, does not accurately

Give Back To The Trails! Join Us At Monadnock Trails Week Learn about the mountain on a guided hike, care for the trails on a volunteer trail crew, or enjoy an evening event at one of our local business partners. • Volunteer trail crew opportunities • Free guided hikes • Social gathering at Dublin Road Taproom and Eatery • Virtual keynote speaker Earl B. Hunter Jr. from Black Folks Camp Too Monadnock State Park | July 22–26, 2022

For more information, visit forestsociety.org/monadnocktrailsweek

22 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

describe the range of benefits it brings. Timber harvesting can help landowners reach other outcomes they want for their forest stand including the creation of diverse wildlife habitats, maintenance of plant biodiversity, and promotion of recreational opportunities while providing sustainably produced renewable forest products. Regarding one of the most pressing societal problems we face—climate change—forest management provides a key solution here, too. For example, the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS) has developed several “climate aware” management strategies forestland owners can use to manage their lands. While each of the approaches— resistance, resilience, or transition—is based on the conditions in a specific forest stand, they all involve to different extents

the harvesting of trees. Again, sustainable forest management has a constructive role to play providing these ecosystem services. Furthermore, human activity has affected forest health. The introduction of invasive pests and plants, poorly planned development patterns, heavy and unsustainable logging and, now, climate change all have altered the composition of the forests in New Hampshire and elsewhere. We therefore have an obligation to help improve forest health by trying to lessen the effects of those past decisions. Historically, a large disturbance like a flood, fire, or major storm would clear out weaker trees allowing room for new growth. Over time, people have developed spaces where these naturally occur, along rivers for example, and have suppressed natural fire regimes or altered these natural disturbance patterns with infrastructure like dams and pavement. This all challenges the growth and functions of forests, especially young forests. To balance out these changes to

the ecosystem, the Forest Society incorporates timber harvests into the management plans for our reservations in order to create the disturbances that forests need to regenerate. The goal of these actions is to develop more diverse habitat types for more species of wildlife and better forest health overall. But the Forest Society is far from the only forestland owner in New Hampshire. Seventy percent of the forested areas in the state are privately owned. That equates to more than 128,000 landowners. This group of stakeholders are responsible for stewarding the majority of the forests that support the broad public benefits forests provide us. It is important to allow those landowners to use the tools available to them to manage their land responsibly and thoughtfully. Sustainable harvesting, as we have noted, is one of those tools. Revenue from the harvests allows these landowners to avoid permanently converting them into

some other use. That permanent conversion is a real concern. According to the most recent data from US Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) statistics, New Hampshire experienced a permanent loss of 126,710 acres of forest from 1983 to 2017. The bottom line is when we lose forests, we also lose forever those many values they bring. Public policies should seek to both educate and demonstrate how to properly manage these resources for the long-term good of people and nature. Yes, there likely are examples of poorly planned and executed timber harvests. However, thoughtful stewardship and careful management like the Forest Society and many other public and private forestland owners practice in New Hampshire will conserve our forest assets now and for future generations. Matt Leahy is the public policy director for the Forest Society.

GREAT STORIES!

On-Demand| Online |Podcast

nhpbs.org/windows Spring 2022 FOREST NOTES | 23

PROJECT IN PROGRESS

Streams, Mountains, Bears, Loons and Trees—Yes, Please! Help us conserve 3,750 acres in the Mahoosuc Highlands Mahoosuc Highlands Initiative

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24 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2022

Mahoosuc Gateway Forest Legacy Easement - 8,741acres

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he Forest Society has the opportunity to conserve a magnificent landscape and a key link in the chain of connected lands that reach from the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire to Grafton Notch in Maine, encompassing the beautiful Mahoosuc Mountain range. Working in partnership with The Conservation Fund and the Town of Shelburne, N.H., the Forest Society seeks to purchase 3,750 acres of forestland that includes 1.6 miles along the Androscoggin River. Rising from the banks of the Androscoggin, the Mahoosuc Highlands property reaches to the ridgelines of Stevens Point, Mount Hayes, Cascade Mountain, and extends to Bald Cap Peak and Middle Mountain, together forming the scenic backdrop and big country seen from Route 2 from Gorham through Shelburne, the Moose Trail Scenic Byway. This land has been managed as industrial timberland for many years, and as it reached the turn of an investment cycle, Shelburne residents were eager to see it remain in forest management, contributing to the regional timber economy, but with enhanced conservation protections to safeguard its unique habitat for wide-ranging species and allow for continued passive recreation over the long term. The Forest Society emerged as the perfect partner. Conserving the Mahoosuc Highlands will advance the Forest Society’s vision of expanding our footprint and capacity in the North Country, served from our growing center of operations, Forest Society North at The Rocks in Bethlehem. The Mahoosuc Highlands property surrounds the Forest Society’s Peabody Forest, an 81-acre property that the historic Peabody Brook Trail winds through on its way to connecting with

Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail Hiking trails 0

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the Appalachian Trail (AT). The Shelburne Trails Club and the Appalachian Mountain Club have collaborated on maintaining a robust trail network around the AT for many years and now the entire Peabody Brook Trail to Giant Falls will be protected. And, as one of the Forest Society’s largest reservations, the Mahoosuc Highlands offers outstanding opportunities for fishing and paddling among loons and other migratory waterfowl on the Androscoggin, hiking along the extensive network of trails in the region, and biking the Cross NH Adventure Trail. Encompassing Leadmine Brook and Peabody Brook, this is a magnificent area with cascades and cold-water streams that support native brook trout and other threatened species. Long-cycle forest management will maintain the habitat values inherent in this large contiguous area so important to black bear, moose, and migratory songbirds, while also offering the opportunity for stand improvement and climatefriendly management regimes. These forests also form the viewscape seen from the Carter-Moriah Range in the White Mountain National Forest.

As part of its Mahoosuc Highlands Initiative, the Forest Society is working to protect more than 3,500 acres abutting the Appalachian Trail in Shelburne, N.H. This land conservation effort will advance in two phases, together known as the Mahoosuc Highlands. In phase 1, the Forest Society will acquire the 2,717-acre Shelburne Valley Forest from Bayroot LLC, and in phase 2, the Forest Society will acquire the 1,030-acre Bald Cap Peak Forest from The Conservation Fund, subject to a Forest Legacy conservation easement. With a total project cost of $3.3 million, which includes purchase price, acquisition costs, and a long-term stewardship endowment for its care in perpetuity, the Forest Society must raise about $500,000 from private individuals and foundations. The

Mahoosuc Highlands project has already received grant commitments of $900,000 through the NH Land and Community Heritage Investment Program and a $50,000 grant from the Wild East Action Fund. Several other significant grant requests are presently under consideration by decisionmakers, the results of which will determine our private fundraising need. Your support helps us demonstrate to grant funders that conserving these lands has public value. Please join us in this exciting effort to create one of the Forest Society’s largest reservations!

YES, I’D LIKE TO HELP THE FOREST SOCIETY ACQUIRE AND CARE FOR THE MAHOOSUC HIGHLANDS. Name: Address:

Town/City:

Telephone:

Email:

State:

Zip:

Enclosed is my tax-deductible contribution of $_____________ VISA

MasterCard Number: ________________________________ Exp. date: ______ Security code: ______

Please mail the completed form to:

KATIE STUART

Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests 54 Portsmouth Street, Concord, NH 03301

Or donate online at forestsociety.org/shelburne-forest. For more information, call Anne Truslow at 603-224-9945 or email atruslow@forestsociety.org.

Thank you for your help! 4104T135/SH225FN

SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FORESTS 54 Portsmouth Street Concord, NH 03301-5400

Nonprofit Organization US Postage Paid Manchester, NH Permit No. 0494

Address Service Requested

THE MANY FACES OF CONSERVATION

Lizette Sliter Owner and founder, Garden Life New London, NH Member since 2020

RYAN SMITH

“F

MEMBERS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE! Lizette Sliter is among the 10,000 members who helped the Forest Society protect more than a million acres in New Hampshire. To join her, use the envelope in this issue, or visit forestsociety.org/join-today.

rom a young age, my parents took me and my sister camping in the White Mountains and hiking on trails not far from where we grew up in central New Hampshire. I’ve always enjoyed being outdoors, but my deep admiration and respect of nature began when I was 15 when a friend asked me if I could help them at a nursery for a couple of days. During that time, I realized how much I loved being among plants and trees. At the end of the day, the owner of the company offered me a job and, as the saying goes, the rest is history. Since that day, I have worked in the landscape industry. I obtained my degree in landscape architecture and began my own company in 2011. Over the years, I have witnessed the development of both urban and rural areas, some of which incorporate sound ecological principles while others have little regard for the environment. All land development has an impact, and I knew I wanted to encourage people to make decisions that did as little harm as possible to the environment—and install as many plants as I could! As I raise my young family and tend to my home property, 80 percent of which is under a conservation easement, I think more and more about long-term sustainability and how I can help protect flora, fauna, and Mother Earth overall. As population increases equate to more development, it is vital to help raise the next generation of stewards and support organizations like the Forest Society. I believe that the more people care, the better everyone and everywhere will be. The Forest Society does just that—they care.”

Forest Notes, Spring 2022

Articles inside

NATURE’S VIEW

PUBLIC POLICY

THE WOODPILE

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

THE FOREST CLASSROOM

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

THE MANY FACES OF CONSERVATION