Forest Notes, Spring 2021 by Forest Society

THE MONADNOCKSUNAPEE GREENWAY TURNS 100

From the Ground Up Research and Management on Forest Society Land

SPRING 2021

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Explore Our Forests! Forest Society Reservations are places to enjoy a variety of outdoor activities.

Paddle, picnic, or hike from peak to peak. Fill your ears with birdsong, search for tadpoles, go fishing! Explore New Hampshire’s great outdoors. Visit forestsociety.org to find a family-friendly forest near you; or to explore farther afield, scan the code at right to go straight to our Forest Reservation Guide.

GO ONLINE, GET OUTSIDE!

To help us care for forests and trails across the state, visit forestsociety.org/contributions.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: SPRING 2021, No. 305

(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) RYAN SMITH, APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES, COURTESY OF CHARLIE NIEBLING

16 DEPARTMENTS 2 FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

Turning to the outdoors

4 THE WOODPILE

FEATURES 6 Lost and Now Found One hundred years after the Forest Society established the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway, this 48-mile footpath connecting two of New Hampshire’s most iconic summits still harkens back to its early roots of community connections and recreation.

10 Turned Loose An apple orchard dating back generations at the Heald Tract in Wilton, N.H., is given a second life after being freed from bittersweet’s suffocating grip.

+ The Forest Society’s new paddling challenge + Leading the way at Lovewells Pond

14 THE FOREST CLASSROOM These ants are doing more than marching

16 PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE Boscawen’s talented tree farmers

18 CONSERVATION SUCCESS STORY Protecting the future of a farm

20 VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT A Mann on a conservation mission

22 PUBLIC POLICY UPDATE More than a phrase

THE MONADNOCKSUNAPEE GREENWAY TURNS 100

From the Ground Up Research and Management on Forest Society Land

SPRING 2021

forestsociety.org

On our cover: Students from Antrim Elementary School conduct research at the McCabe Forest in 2019 as part of the Salamander Population and Adaptation Research Collaboration Network. For more on some recent research on Forest Society land, turn to page 14. Photo by Emily Lord.

24 PROJECT IN PROGRESS Protecting more land in the Lilac City

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

CHAIR Bill Tucker, Goffstown

VICE CHAIR Bill Crangle, Plymouth

SECRETARY Karen Moran, Webster

TREASURER Andrew Smith, Twin Mountain

PRESIDENT Jack Savage, Middleton

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Charlie Bridges, New Durham Deb Buxton, Greenfield Peter Fauver, North Conway Don Floyd, Concord Allyson Hicks, Concord Jason Hicks, Meredith Drew Kellner, Brookline Andy Lietz, Rye Nancy Martland, Sugar Hill Michael Morison, Peterborough Lorin Rydstrom, Hollis Tom Wagner, Campton Janet Zeller, Concord

STAFF Will Abbott, Project Manager, The Rocks Frank Allen, Building and Grounds Assistant Abraham Ames, Senior Easement Steward 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, Finance Director Connie Colton, Land Protection and Stewardship Coordinator Andy Crowley, Stewardship Projects Manager Linda Dammann, Development Assistant Rebecca Darman, Policy & Reservation Stewardship Coordinator Carrie Deegan, Reservation Stewardship and Engagement Director Maria Finnegan, Manager of Individual Giving Leah Hart, Land Protection Specialist Stacie Hernandez, Easement Steward 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 Emily Landry, Easement Steward Matt Leahy, Public Policy Manager Margaret Liszka, Membership Director Nigel Manley, Director, North Country Properties Ann McCoy, Development Manager Jack Minich, Easement Steward Michelle Morse, Human Resource Director Carl Murphy, Facilities Manager Zach Pearo, Land Steward & Volunteer Coordinator Meredith Reed O’Donnell, Foundation Relations Manager Tina Ripley, Administrative Assistant Gabe Roxby, Field Forester Jack Savage, President Matt Scaccia, Recreation and Community Relations Manager Ryan Smith, Communications Manager Amanda St. Jean, Office Manager, The Rocks Maria Stewart, Executive Assistant Anne Truslow, Vice President for Development Brooke Vigliotta, Data Processor Wendy Weisiger, Managing Forester Harriette Yazzie-Whitcomb, Receptionist

Turning to the Outdoors

struck a hopeful tone in these pages a year ago as New Hampshire was experiencing a great murmuration of people seeking solace from the pandemic in the outdoors. How many of those rushing to the woods would then come to support conservation and stewardship of forests and trails? I was optimistic then, and I remain so today. As the weather warms (and the pandemic eases), we are returning to the outdoors. Happily, some of the investments we have been making to enhance public use of our 191 forest reservations are coming to fruition. At Creek Farm in Portsmouth, we welcomed Sarah Kern, our new Creek Farm educational coordinator. Sarah will base her work out of our newly renovated classroom and program center, which was completed over the winter thanks to support from the Billie and Chet Noel Fund. Sarah is already planning a summer and fall series of programs, and she will work with our key partners, including The Gundalow Company, to provide a wide array of educational opportunities. At Mount Major in Alton, we welcomed the return of seasonal staff and will continue to make improvements at the trailhead with a new kiosk and welcome area this summer. We’re hopeful that we can soon revive our Mount Major Outdoor Classroom program with local schools. New land conservation at the nearby Morse Preserve is also percolating, so we remain fully immersed in conserving and stewarding lands in the Belknap Range. At The Rocks in Bethlehem, our new forest exploration center is taking shape. This year, we will complete a redesign of the landscape by creating a hillside amphitheater overlooking a panorama of the White Mountains. Our campaign continues to raise funds for the renovation of the historic Carriage Barn into a net zero facility that will welcome the 14,000 visitors

we have each year. The upgrades include a classroom, enhanced parking, and expanded staff capacity. This “Forest Society North” will be a campus from which we energize and enhance our conservation and advocacy work north of the notches. Meanwhile, we continue to focus on protecting the threatened Merrimack River watershed (check out our documentary film about the river at forestsociety.org/ riveratrisk). This summer we are joining with conservation partners to offer a Merrimack Paddle Challenge. In the fall, we will reprise our extraordinarily popular Five Hikes Challenge series. To cap off the summer, on September 25, we hope to be able to welcome our members in person for our 120th Annual Meeting. In a change of format, we plan to meet at mid-day, after morning field trips, to picnic together outside at Creek Farm. Among our guests will be keynote speaker Carolyn Finney, who will talk to us about how we can be welcoming and inclusive for all people. If we want as many different people as possible to support our work, we must support and engage the wide variety of people who are already out there on our lands. I hope to see you under our “big tent” in Portsmouth in September.

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) JAKE BERRY, DAVE ANDERSON, ELLEN KENNY, YVONNE YEUNG

Greening Up Mount Major Staff and volunteers take on trash duty forestsociety.org/earthdaymountmajor

Tree Copulation Love—and pollen—is in the air forestsociety.org/treecopulation

Live and Learn Tune in and watch our eco lecture series forestsociety.org/cottrell-baldwin

Yvonne Yeung (left) snaps a selfie with her hiking partner on Mount Major in Alton, N.H., after finishing an 11-mile traverse of the Belknap Range. Follow Yvonne’s outdoor adventures on Instagram @hikeruneatrepeat.

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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 2021 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 2021 FOREST NOTES | 3

THE WOODPILE—NEWS NOT SO NEATLY STACKED

Coming Soon! Explore the Merrimack River watershed this summer by joining the Forest Society’s Merrimack Paddle Challenge. We’re teaming up with Five Rivers Conservation Trust, Merrimack River Watershed Council, and Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust to make do-it-yourself paddle adventures on the Merrimack and its major tributaries fun and easy! Visit forestsociety.org/ paddle-challenge for more information.

Paddlers explore a stretch of the Merrimack River in Concord.

Nashua Leaders Visit Lovewells Pond Conservation Easement

Conservation Easement Steward Stacie Hernandez leads a guided tour for Leadership Greater Nashua participants at Lovewells Pond.

4 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021

Masked and socially distanced, yet happy to be together outdoors in the warm April sunshine, a group of professionals enrolled in the 2021 Leadership Greater Nashua recently toured trails at the city’s scenic Lovewells Pond. Forest Society Conservation Easement Steward Stacie Hernandez and Senior Director of Education Dave Anderson guided a walk and talked about land conservation, conservation easement stewardship, wildlife habitat, community recreation values, and a little glacial geology with the group. In 2000, the city, under the leadership of then City Counsellor Kathy Hersch, asked the Forest Society to accept a conservation easement on approximately 170 acres surrounding Lovewells Pond to ensure that it remain in conservation and available for passive recreational use in perpetuity. The easement represented a unique opportunity to preserve the pond’s entire shoreline and much of its watershed in one of the last undeveloped areas of Nashua. Participants walked away with a better understanding of how the pond and surrounding conservation land generate economic growth through recreation opportunities, including hiking and mountain biking, which attract visitors from across the region who use the trails and patronize the businesses in the area.

Women Owning Woodlands Series Features Forest Society’s Wendy Weisiger

(OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM TOP) JERRY MONKMAN, KIRSTEN GEHL; (THIS PAGE, FROM LEFT) FOREST SOCIETY FILES, CARRIE DEEGAN

The New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association will host two Women Owning Woodlands events in June, one of which features Forest Society Managing Forester Wendy Weisiger. On June 5–6, Tish Carr of Tish Carr Consulting, Karin Bothwell of the University of Maine at Orono, and Kirk Niese of Niese Forest Works will teach a Women’s Chainsaw Safety and Maintenance course. This two-day course is specially designed for women by women with insight and experience in educational programs for women. Forest Society Managing Forester On June 19, Weisiger, Jon Martin of Martin Wendy Weisiger Forestry Consulting, and Steve Snow of Snow Conservation Group will lead a course called Ladies Logging with Farm Tractors. This introductory workshop will focus on ways to safely and productively use a farm tractor as a tool in forest management. Participants will meet other women woodland owners and have the opportunity to share their experiences while taking part in demonstrations and discussions led by a group of experienced instructors. For more information about the series, visit nhtoa.org.

SAVE THE DATE! 120th Annual Meeting of the Forest Society September 25, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. Please join us for an outdoor afternoon gathering at Creek Farm in Portsmouth!

9 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Local Field Trips

12:00 p.m. Picnic lunches and open house

1:00 p.m. Business Meeting and Conservationist of the Year Award

2:00 p.m. Conversation about race, land, and belonging with Carolyn Finney, author of Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of Black Americans to the Great Outdoors and Environmental Studies Professor of Practice at Middlebury College’s Franklin Environmental Center.

Windows to the Wild

ONLINE ANYTIME

nhpbs.org/windows Spring 2021 FOREST NOTES | 5

Above: In 1912, a state fire warden constructed Mount Monadnock’s first fire lookout shelter, known as the “Pill Box” (above), on the summit. Watchmen would spend their days looking for fires in addition to answering visitor questions, providing minor first aid, and enforcing property rules. The state replaced the cabin in 1928 with a larger structure, which included a phone line running from the Half Way House Hotel to the cabin. It’s likely the fire watchman staffed at this outpost encountered early trampers of the MonadnockSunapee Trail—as the Greenway was called in the 1920s—during their patrol.

Lost and Now Found Celebrating 100 Years of the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway By Ryan Smith

hen statewide stay-at-home orders went into effect in spring 2020, many people flocked to the outdoors to seek respite and combat some pent-up cabin fever. By chance, or simply as the result of a Google search, these outdoor goers happened upon parks and reservations in the state that were barely known even on a local level. Consequently, the Forest Society observed an uptick in visitor use at some reservations that were more prized for wildlife encounters than they were known for people. As the pandemic raged into the summer, backpackers began sniffing out multi-day trails in New England as a substitute for plans that had been cancelled or postponed. This surging love affair for all things local thrust lesser-known trails, including the 48-mile Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway (MSG), into a spotlight that more

6 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021

popular long-distance trails, namely the Appalachian Trail, have garnered for decades. The MSG’s end points, Mount Monadnock and Mount Sunapee, were already popular day-hiking locations before the pandemic. But now the footpath connecting these two iconic summits in southwestern New Hampshire was beginning to see crowd sizes similar to those in the White Mountains. This summer marks the 100th year since the MSG was laid out by the Forest Society. The trail has had highs and lows over the decades, from once being completely abandoned to now where public and private landowners have granted access on thousands of acres of forestland for low-impact recreation. It’s a milestone that warrants a celebration, but the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail Club (MSGTC), the nonprofit that has maintained and improved the MSG since 1994, plans to keep

(OPPOSITE PAGE) APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB LIBRARY & ARCHIVES; (THIS PAGE, FROM TOP) FOREST SOCIETY ARCHIVES, APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN CLUB LIBRARY & ARCHIVES, COURTESY OF MSGTC VOLUNTEER TRAIL CREW

a low profile this season to prevent overuse and stay true to its roots of being the “hidden gem of southwestern New Hampshire.” “The Greenway saw the most use ever in 2020,” says Tim Symonds, president and co-founder of the MSGTC. “We expect about the same use in 2021 as folks retreat to the woods for solitude.” Symonds advises those planning to thru-hike the trail to consider hiking midweek or later in the season to minimize their impact on the trail and around the campsites. “The fall is nice and the bugs are less hungry,” he remarks. No matter whether you plan to hike a mile or the entire trail this year, knowing a little about its history and how far it’s come from the brink of extinction will serve you well. It’s a story rooted in partnerships, perseverance, and protection, and it would not have been possible without the vision of the Forest Society’s first president/forester Phillip Ayers and his colleague Allan Chamberlain, Appalachian Mountain Club president and Forest Society vice president. Ayers and Chamberlain laid the groundwork for what would become the original route of the Greenway in the 1920s, and despite some setbacks in subsequent decades, the trail is now in the hands of a qualified group of volunteers who are itching to get back on the trail this year to continue the tradition of maintaining it for generations to come.

A photo taken during the early 1900s captures a hiking party descending Mount Monadnock. Nearly 8,000 trampers a year visited the summit and signed the guest book in the fire lookout cabin during the 1910s.

Although the Forest Society and the Appalachian Mountain Club had made progress in establishing the original route of the MSG in the 1920s, the Great Depression, the Great 1938 Hurricane, one of the most costly hurricanes to hit the U.S. mainland, and the country’s involvement in World War 2 in 1941 caused the trail to fall into disuse and ultimately become abandoned until the 1970s. Above: A worker surveys the devastation left behind from the 1938 hurricane in Bartlett, N.H., in which thousands of trees were toppled across New England.

Volunteers from the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail Club (MSGTC) pose for a group photo after finishing a 22foot bridge in Stoddard. Every year, the MSGTC patrols the entire length of the trail, removing downed trees, cleaning water drainages, and maintaining the overnight campsites.

Did You Know? Benton McKaye, founder of the Appalachian Trail, is credited for the original greenway concept, a combination of footpaths with buffer zones of protected space on either side. Spring 2021 FOREST NOTES | 7

In 1974, Lucia Kittredge of the Forest Society initiated a study of the MSG trail corridor in an attempt to re-establish the original trail. While the Forest Society worked with land owners on securing access, the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) consulted with the Forest Society on the trail’s initial planning, design, and construction. AMC also provided professional and volunteer trail crews (left) who maintained and cut new sections of trail from the late ‘70s to the early ‘90s.

Right: Former Forest Society president/forester Paul Bofinger (right) studies a map of the MSG with Forest Society members.

Left: Jon Vara drew the first guide’s trail maps, an important resource for hikers as trail signs had yet to be posted in 1977 and white, route-finding blazes were sparse in some locations. Above: The first edition of the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail Guide was released in 1977 by the Forest Society and the Appalachian Mountain Club.

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Left: After conducting significant work to protect the MSG’s southern and northern terminuses, mounts Monadnock and Sunapee, respectively, the Forest Society published a one-page MSG map and guide in the late 1920s that showcased the trail connecting these two iconic peaks by way of country roads and footpaths. Below: Today, with five overnight shelters and one tentsite and more sections of the trail running in the woods instead of on roads, the current MSG still harkens back to the vision of the trail’s founders in winding “along the granite backbone of New Hampshire” and “adding to the attractions of [the state].”

Online

(OPPOSITE PAGE) FOREST SOCIETY FILES (X2)

For more on the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway, including joining a volunteer trail crew or purchasing a map and guide book, visit msgtc.org.

Spring 2021 FOREST NOTES | 9

Cut loose from the suffocating grip of invasive bittersweet vines, apple trees in a once thriving orchard at the Heald Tract will now grow unimpaired again.

Recent Happenings at the Heald Tract, Part 1 Habitat Management in an Overgrown Apple Orchard By Gabe Roxby

he Heald Tract is one of the Forest Society’s most spectacular properties, and one where landscape-level habitat management is a central focus of our work. Spreading across four towns—Wilton, Temple, Greenville, and Mason—the Heald family’s donation of nearly 1,500 acres to the Forest Society between 1986 and 2016 was one of the most generous gifts of land in our history. Cellar holes and old barn foundations can be found scattered among the property’s tremendously diverse natural features, which include beaver dams, vernal pools, a great blue heron rookery, and a 65-acre pond. The property’s productive and diverse forests are periodically harvested in a responsible manner and yield a variety of wood products that are used for dimensional lumber, flooring, and paper. And an extensive trail network for hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing make Heald an ideal recreation location throughout the year. The 10 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021

management of the myriad of natural, cultural, and recreational resources at Heald is not without its challenges, as invasive species are taking over in a couple locations, threatening the forest’s biodiversity and wildlife habitat. In recent years, the old apple orchards on the Heald Tract have become overgrown with a dense tangle of thorny shrubs, vines, and young trees. Other than the maintained hiking trails that wind through the orchards, this was no longer a pleasant place for people to walk. They were, however, functioning as wildlife habitat for nesting birds and small mammals seeking cover from predators. But there was a problem. The vegetation in this old orchard was being increasingly dominated by invasive species, with oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) the most concerning. Even worse, we were starting to observe this aggressive vine spreading to the rest of the property where it previously had

(OPPOSITE PAGE) RYAN SMITH; (THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) GABE ROXBY (X2), ANNA BERRY

Clockwise, from top left: Prior to the Forest Society’s habitat work, the Heald Tract orchards were a tangle of invasive vines and shrubs, with young trees growing throughout. To re-establish a more open habitat type, workers from Asplundh Tree Experts used a forestry mulcher to cut overgrown vegetation in the orchard. Forest Society Field Forester Gabe Roxby (right) provides an overview of the project for Forest Society staff, including Manager of Individual Giving Maria Finnegan (left).

been absent. In the orchard, the vines had already strangled and killed about half of the apple trees and, left unchecked, they would have caused even more damage. So, Forest Society foresters took action and initiated a habitat improvement project, even though we knew it would result in a temporary disruption for local wildlife. The planning for this project was lengthy. It began in the fall of 2016 with a comprehensive natural resource inventory of the entire Heald Tract. Forest Society forester Steve Junkin and I spent a total of 15 days measuring trees, mapping wetlands, assessing wildlife habitat, and photographing cultural and ecologically sensitive sites. This information was analyzed and used to write a 133-page management plan, a document that outlines how the Forest Society will manage the property for the next 15 years. The inventory revealed about 80 acres of old fields and orchards spread throughout the property, none of which had been cut in decades. Instead of letting these areas grow into forests, Steve and I made the decision to manage these areas as wildlife habitat, cutting them back periodically to encourage the growth of a mixture of shrubs, flowers, grasses, and tree saplings. Wildlife biologists refer to this type of habitat as “early successional.” In New Hampshire, early successional habitat is often scarce, and it can benefit wildlife species in decline, such as New England cottontail, American woodcock, or black racer snakes. Due to the value of early successional habitat in New Hampshire, the Forest Society was awarded a grant to re-open 20 acres of Heald’s old orchards and fields from the Natural Resources Conservation Service through their Environmental Quality Incentives Program. This cost-share program provides private landowners financial and technical assistance to manage their land responsibly.

Managing forests with invasive plants is tricky, and it requires an acknowledgement that complete eradication of invasives is not a realistic goal for areas that are heavily infested. Instead, we try to pick our battles, and focus our efforts in areas where we have the ability, resources, and persistence to make a difference. In many cases, we try to limit the spread of invasives and keep them out of areas that are not currently infested. Prevention, early detection, and treatment are some of the most cost-effective ways of keeping invasives in check. The Heald Tract’s apple orchards were well past the early detection stage, and it was not initially clear to us what the best course of action would be. Another challenging aspect of wildlife habitat management is balancing the temporary negative impacts your work might have on some animals with the longer-term benefits it can have on sustaining the habitat that local wildlife populations require. In the Heald orchard project, we would remove functional habitat (albeit habitat that was declining in quality due to the bittersweet) in order to improve it over the long run. In order to minimize impacts on wildlife, we scheduled the work to take place during winter, when songbirds aren’t nesting and turtles from the nearby pond aren’t foraging or nesting. There were no known rare, threatened, or endangered species in the project vicinity, according to the Natural Heritage Bureau. Had any of Spring 2021 FOREST NOTES | 11

From top: Rows of apple trees stand out prominently in this aerial photo after the habitat work was completed. Forest Society Field Forester Gabe Roxby examines an apple tree in the newly re-opened apple orchard at the Heald Tract.

these species been present, our management would have focused on avoiding any impacts to them, as individual animals of rare species can be very important to the success of a population as a whole. In 2018 and 2019, we invited several groups of natural resource professionals out to the site to provide input. In the end, we decided to act and attempt to knock back the invasives in order to save the living apple trees, to increase the prevalence of native shrubs, and to re-invigorate the shrubland wildlife habitat present. Finally, after years of planning, the project began on an icy morning in February 2021. The Forest Society hired Asplundh Tree Experts to do the work, and the company’s father-daughter team of John and Jesse Roy operated a forestry mulcher to cut and grind up the unwanted vegetation in the orchards. They nimbly worked around the native shrubs, apple trees, and other wildlife habitat features that I flagged in advance to be left uncut. “Working at Heald Tract was a great opportunity [for us] to participate in the management of habitat and invasive species,” says David Chapman, Asplundh Tree Experts general foreman. “We 12 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021

enjoyed utilizing our Rayco Mower to show the benefits that mechanical equipment can have on the healthy management of wildlife and lands. It's always gratifying to use our expertise to support the proper management of wildlife habitats.” By removing the bittersweet and other invasive species, including multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), we aimed to protect the native shrubs—winterberry holly, arrowwood, dogwood, willow, sumac, and highbush cranberry—and leave a smattering of trees that produce food with a high value to wildlife: apple, cherry, oak, and butternut. During the project, we hosted a workshop led by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Cooperative Extension to facilitate a discussion about invasives and habitat management. Interestingly,

the discussions with our colleagues frequently returned to one topic that might be surprising to some: not all invasives are universally bad for our ecosystems. In New Hampshire, there are currently 35 plant species designated as “invasive” by the state’s Invasive Species Committee. These non-native plants have traits that give them an advantage over native species, including the ability to produce many offspring and grow quickly early in the spring, the adaptability to a broad range of sites, and the lack of natural controls to keep them in check. These traits allow invasives to outcompete our native plants, threatening the health and biodiversity of our landscapes. However, not all invasive species are created equal. Some are worse than others and some even have redeeming characteristics, especially when it comes to wildlife habitat. We quickly identified the bittersweet taking over the Heald Tract orchards as enemy number one due to its aggressive spread and its penchant for overtopping and strangling vegetation. Left unchecked, bittersweet will dominate an area, reducing wildlife habitat quality and plant biodiversity. The multiflora rose,

(OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM TOP) RYAN SMITH, ANNA BERRY; (THIS PAGE) A. GARRETT EVANS

WHY HABITATS MATTER Shrubland habitats can provide homes for a number of wildlife species. Black racer snakes live in large shrubby or grassy areas, and hibernate in nearby rocky crevices. Chestnut-sided warblers frequently nest in shrubland, building a loose cup-shaped nest a few feet above the ground in a Chestnut-sided warbler shrub or tree sapling. New England cottontails seek out dense shrubland thickets as primary habitat, using the thick cover to hide from predators. The populations of some shrublanddependent species are in decline, in part due to a lack of suitable habitat. Natural disturbances—hurricanes, fires, floods, and beaver activity—create shrubland habitat, though the lifespan of these environments is ephemeral. The portions of our landscapes that would have historically supported stable shrubland habitat— coastal and valley-bottom forests that are subject to frequent disturbances—are now largely developed. Furthermore, the fires and floods that would have naturally created this type of habitat type are now largely suppressed or controlled. Creation of shrubland habitat by periodic timber harvesting or wildlife management activities is critical to maintaining shrubland-dependent wildlife species on our landscape. To learn more about shrubland habitat, visit https://wildlife.state.nh.us/nongame/documents/ habitatshrublands.pdf.

however, was not spreading from the orchard, and it was already providing the dense thicket habitat we were trying to encourage. Because of its chemical similarity to other native rose species, multiflora rose can be a food source for a number of native insect species. “Although most non-native invasive shrubs don’t support as many native caterpillars as do the native shrubs, multiflora rose is an exception,” notes Matt Tarr, a wildlife state specialist at UNH. “Research from UNH has found that multiflora rose supports as many or more caterpillars as the native shrub species that it typically grows in association with.” The plant produces persistent fruit that can be an important food source for birds and small mammals, and its growing habit can provide wildlife habitat. “The structure of multiflora shrubs is effective at holding the snow up above the ground…effectively creating little caverns or igloos that provide great winter cover for white-footed mice, dark-eyed juncos and white-throated sparrows, hares and cottontails, and even denning sites for black bears,” Tarr says. After much discussion and debate with our colleagues, we chose to cut as much of the bittersweet as possible, but left the multiflora rose uncut in a few areas where it was growing on its own and not mixed with the bittersweet. Habitat management is rarely work that you can do once and then walk away from. It requires follow-up maintenance to guide the trajectory of the habitat and maintain its utility to the species you are attempting to benefit. The work on the Heald Tract this winter was the first step of many. The old apple trees, freed from the vines that once strangled them, could use some pruning to focus their growth and reinvigorate their apple production. The invasives we cut will sprout back vigorously, and we have a targeted selective herbicide application planned for this year or next to give the native plants that are present a head start. And of course, you can’t stop trees from growing here in New Hampshire. If you stop mowing your lawn, nature will run its course; the same is true for this orchard. It will eventually need cutting back again, if our goal is to maintain the early successional habitat we have established here. Managing forestland requires thinking and planning for the long term, and we know that this is a marathon and not a sprint. We look forward to the work in the decades to come that will give this restored orchard the opportunity to thrive. Gabe Roxby is a Forest Society forester and a member of the New Hampshire Invasive Species Committee, a group of eleven Governorappointed professionals who address invasive species and their impacts.

Stay Tuned: Keep an eye out for part 2 of Gabe’s story about forest management projects at the Heald Tract in the next issue of Forest Notes.

Spring 2021 FOREST NOTES | 13

THE FOREST CLASSROOM

Left: Some plants have come to rely so heavily on ants to spread their seeds about that they offer the insects a tasty treat in exchange for the dispersal service. Seeds of these species bear a lipid-filled structure called an elaiosome, whose sole function appears to be the attraction of ants. Here, Aphaenogaster fulva ants disperse bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) seeds. Right: The Allegheny mound ant (Formica exsectoides) makes large, conspicuous mounds in open woods, fields, and forest edges. These ants will kill vegetation within 40–50 feet of their mounds to keep the area clear and open to sunlight.

Where do the Ants Go Marching? How New England’s ants act as ecological barometers By Carrie Deegan

veryone knows what an ant looks like. At this time of year, you might catch one wandering along your deck or marching across your kitchen counter toward the fruit bowl. “Look! Ants!” you say, with a bit of dread rising in your throat. For a homeowner, it’s usually not a good sign to see one inside, but there are thousands of species of ants across the globe and only a few of them regularly tangle with humans. In New England, there are roughly 140 species of ants known to science, and they inhabit almost every terrestrial habitat you can think of, from forests and mountaintops to swamps and old pastures. Because they are so ubiquitous and so numerous— some species of ant colonies can easily consist of several thousand individuals—ants play a significant role in many ecosystems. Kyle Bradford, a graduate student at Antioch University of New England in Keene, N.H., is researching the roles ants play as indicators of ecosystem health and resiliency. “Ants are keystone species in 14 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021

many habitats,” Bradford explains. “They can affect plant distribution and abundance by consuming or moving seeds, [they can] turn and aerate the soil during nest building, and they are masters at finding and devouring dead insects. They also provide food for many woodland animals, from woodpeckers to black bears.” Ants are even responsible for the spread of several of our treasured spring wildflowers such as painted trilliums, bloodroot, and violets. These flowers all produce seeds with a lipid-rich attachment called an elaiosome, which ants can’t resist. The ants carry the seeds back to their nests and feed the fatty elaiosomes to their larvae, leaving the seed to sprout in its new location. Bradford and his faculty advisor Dr. Michael Akresh are currently studying the ant communities that inhabit dry oakpine barrens and heathlands, a globally imperiled habitat type. Oak-pine barrens and heathlands are fire-dependent natural communities that require disturbance in order to keep other plant and tree species

from invading and overwhelming them. In New Hampshire, barrens and heathlands are split into several natural communities found in very specific locations, including the barrens in Ossipee and Concord and on dry, rocky ridges in the southern part of the state. Government agencies and conservation landowners are increasingly interested in restoring these habitats where they have gone “past prime,” by manufacturing controlled disturbances such as prescribed burns, selective timber harvests, or targeted herbicide applications. Bradford is hoping the presence or absence of certain ant species may ultimately help land managers understand whether their restoration efforts in these habitats have been successful. The first step in determining whether ants could be useful in gauging the health and quality of heathland habitats is creating a baseline inventory of which ant species are associated with regional oak-pine barrens and heathlands. Bradford and field

(OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM LEFT) ALEX WILD, KYLE BRADFORD; (THIS PAGE) MADELEINE BOGA

Antioch University graduate student Kyle Bradford researches ant populations in a dry oak-pine barren in southwest New Hampshire.

technician Ryan Eagleson, an Antioch University graduate student, began their inventory by identifying 18 study sites, one of which is the Forest Society’s Madame Sherri Forest in Chesterfield, N.H. In October 2020, they visited the reservation and crawled around on their hands and knees within a 75-square-meter plot overturning rocks and investigating old logs and chunks of downed wood. Their item of interest: ant nests. Using this method of “hand sampling,” they had a set amount of time to locate as many nests as they could and collect 3–5 worker ants per colony, plus samples of any random foraging ants they found outside of the nests. Individual ants were picked up between the thumb and forefinger and dropped into a small vial of 70 percent ethanol for preservation. “You basically just pinch a leg to pick them up,” Bradford says. I imagine the researchers being swarmed with angry, crawling ants from every disturbed nest, but he insists he’s never been stung or bitten while sampling. “[The bites are] at least not hard enough to break skin,” he adds cheerily. When the sampling is complete, the preserved ants are identified under a dissecting microscope. This is the fun part, according to Bradford. “If you ever have a chance to look at ants under a microscope, they are really beautiful and many are just bizarre looking. Some have spines on the thorax, strangely shaped or [they have] huge heads that seem ridiculously over-

sized for their bodies, with tiny beady eyes or thick spoonlike hairs sprouting from them. It’s almost like a science fiction movie,” he says. From the 77 ants collected on two Madame Sherri Forest plots, Bradford identified 10 species of ant, 4 of which are new to the records for Cheshire County. He’s quick to point out that this isn’t an indication of the relative rarity of these species; rather, it’s evidence of a lack of previous sampling in the state. In nearby Massachusetts, where most of Bradford’s other study sites are located, there are often 4,000 to 5,000 historical specimen records per county. New Hampshire’s Cheshire County had 106 records, and Bradford’s collections at Madame Sherri represent a 73 percent increase. “If you want to contribute to scientific knowledge in New Hampshire, take pictures of ants and upload them to iNaturalist,” Bradford says enthusiastically. Scientists and amateur naturalists can help identify them, and with some counties reporting only a handful of historical samples, you may just document your own county record. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are no ant species found on the New Hampshire or federal lists of endangered and threatened wildlife. “We just don’t have enough data to know what is state endangered, or federally endangered, for that matter,” Bradford explains. There are a few New England ant species on the global International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, and all of them have one

thing in common: they’re all “parasitic” ants. These ants take the complex social and colonial organization seen in normal ant species one step further by requisitioning other ants and ant colonies to support their own. Some parasitic species never produce any of their own worker ants, and others need to constantly kidnap workers from other colonies to tend and feed their larvae and queen. Some simply kill off the queen of an existing colony and supplant it with their own queen to lay eggs, so that the entire colony is raising imposter larvae. As they mature, parasitic workers mingle with their unwitting hosts until, after several generations, the colony transitions entirely to the parasitic species. One of the species identified at Madame Sherri Forest, Formica exsectoides (the Allegheny mound ant) is a local example of these queen-supplanting parasites. Diabolical lifestyle strategies may not win parasitic ants any human sympathy, but because they can’t exist without the presence of other healthy ant colonies, parasitic ants may be more susceptible than other species to changes and degradation in their environment. This is what is most interesting to Kyle Bradford. He is paying particular attention to parasitic ant species in his own research to see if their presence may be a good indicator of ecosystem integrity. Perhaps someday, these ants could be the key to helping us understand what constitutes a healthy pine-oak barren or heathland. “I love ants,” Bradford muses, “but mostly I love thinking about ants as a way to answer interesting ecological questions.” Carrie Deegan is the reservation stewardship and engagement director for the Forest Society.

Learn More: Take your ant identifying skills to the next level by picking up a copy of A Field Guide to the Ants of New England (Yale University Press), a must-have resource of Bradford’s that dives deep into biology, ecology, morphology, taxonomy, and natural history. Spring 2021 FOREST NOTES | 15

PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

A Forest to be Reckoned With By Dave Anderson

s a role model, an impassioned landowner, and a dedicated tree farmer, Charlie Niebling has been a respected leader in the New Hampshire forestry community for decades. Niebling is a forestry industry consultant and a prominent spokesperson and advocate for forestry and tree farming, and he has been employed by and has served on the board of trustees of numerous forestry and open space–related organizations in the state. Renowned for working long days yearround, Niebling walks his talk by tirelessly pursuing forestry improvements on his family’s certified tree farm in Boscawen and by sharing the lessons he’s learned with the larger community. Over the years, he has encouraged his peers to consider traditional and innovative forestry approaches. “Every landowner has a different perspective [when it comes to managing land]. You’re not just managing timber, there’s also wildlife habitat, recreational use, protection of natural communities and ecosystems, and water quality—all those have to be considered,” he says. In recognition of Charlie and his wife Mabel’s dedication and commitment to conservation, the couple was recognized by the N.H. Tree Farm Program as the 2021 Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year. Charlie and Mabel purchased their 67-acre tree farm in May 2001 from the Forest Society. Prior to the purchase, the tract was permanently protected via a Forest Society conservation easement. The woodlot was officially certified as a N.H. Tree Farm in 2003. Although Charlie often works alone, Mabel and their four children have worked on a variety of projects on the woodlot over the last two decades. Ahead of his time perhaps, Charlie quips, “I’ve been socially distancing out here for the past 20 years.” 16 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021

From top: Mabel and Charlie Niebling celebrate and recreate a family photo taken 20 years ago when they acquired their Boscawen tree farm. Charlie Niebling socially distances himself on his family’s property.

The history of the tract mirrors the majority of forestland in central New Hampshire. The land was originally cleared in the 1800s and used as sheep pasture into the early 1900s. The forest regenerated first as a crop of old field white pine that was harvested in 1949 by Colby Lumber using a John Deere crawler. Following the first pine harvest, the present stand of red oak regenerated. The Niebling’s forestry practice utilizes group selection to create smaller sunny openings

to favor regeneration of white pine and red and white oak. Careful attention to detail while harvesting wood at a small scale supports maintaining a healthy, productive, and attractive forest while maximizing opportunities for annual growth. In the summer of 2001, the Nieblings roughed in the access road to the timber landing and established a network of woods roads throughout the property. The roads were designed so a tractor can

(OPPOSITE PAGE) COURTESY OF THE NIEBLING FAMILY

theoretically reach every tree in the forest with the 120 feet of cable on its winch. The woods road system includes labels at junctions that correlate to a map which help visitors determine where they are on the property. The property’s trails and openings provide scenic views and recreation opportunities. From the top of Raleigh Hill, the highest point in Boscawen, the view stretches west to Mount Monadnock, Pack Monadnock, Crotched Mountain, and Pat’s Peak. One of Charlie's long-term goals is to expand the view northwest to the Mink Hills in Warner and south to the Uncanoonic Range west of Manchester. For wildlife, the family has observed bobcat, moose, bear, turkey, fisher, deer, and coyotes roaming their property; and a rocky area of the forest is home to a “thriving porcupine condominium complex,” Charlie notes. To support a diversity of habitats, he has set aside twelve acres of the tree farm as a designated natural area, acreage that is left uncut and not managed for timber or wood production; and he created no-cut areas along the riparian zone of a seasonal stream and forested wetland. Attention to detail and pride are apparent in the quality of the Niebling’s forestry work. From 2002 to 2014, the family implemented improvement cuttings on 42 acres of their property. This involved harvesting pulpwood and firewood, as well as girdling non-crop trees and leaving them in place as standing dead snags for wildlife. They harvested mature saw logs— more than 100 MBF of white pine—while continuing to manage for future highquality red oak and white pine timber. The Neiblings consume 4–5 cords of firewood annually to heat their home, and they sell an additional 5–20 cords of low-grade fuelwood each year. Charlie’s timber management goal is to keep 20–25 percent of the forest in sapling stage, which amounts to opening 12 acres of the forest over the next 12–15 years. To do this, he creates small openings each

year in areas of lower quality trees. In better quality stands, crop tree release, which involves picking the best future sawlog stems and cutting out the competing stems that are of inferior quality, favors valuable hardwoods: oak, black birch, and maple. Charlie maintains meticulous records of his timber stand improvements and harvests. “Over nineteen years I have grossed receipts from the sale of logs, pulp wood, and firewood that exceed one hundred thousand dollars,” he notes. The sale of timber and firewood has helped him cover current use taxes and associated management costs such as buying a tractor and creating tractor roads. He admits that he doesn’t factor in the cost of his time when it comes to managing the tree farm, which he estimates amounts to 6–10 hours per week. “I figure it’s like being paid to exercise. I’ve never joined a health club.” Half forester, half logger, and part philosopher, Charlie has demonstrated how even smaller woodlots can be managed conservatively for high-quality timber and still generate significant revenue over time. “Owning woodland has allowed me to apply my land ethic in how I manage our land. A good third of our family forest is off limits to any management, where trees will grow old and where the forest can realize its full natural expression,” Charlie says. “About two-thirds is devoted to the careful, conservative production of goods people use every day, with an eye toward longterm quality, value, and species diversity. After twenty years of very intentional management, the results are gratifying.” Charlie is quick to add that it’s not all about income when it comes to caring for

his land. He says the tree farm’s management plan includes an intentional focus on overall species diversity and retaining quality trees throughout the forest regardless of species. “Seventy-someodd percent of forests in New Hampshire are owned by tens of thousands of different landowners,” Charlie says. “We don’t really experience widespread abuses or narrowly channeled management direction because each and every landowner approaches it differently.” To teach and support the next generation of tree farmers, Charlie has hosted educational programs that cover safe and productive tree felling techniques and the ways to employ logging Best Management Practices. Elementary schools have visited the property and the Niebling family has held a forest field day every three years where about 50 family members and friends gather to enjoy the natural surroundings. “This land has provided my family with a deep sense of place, a refuge to which we can always turn, and an opportunity to fully immerse ourselves in the natural world on a moment’s notice. Our family trust will ensure that our children and their children will be able to steward and enjoy this forest for generations to come. The conservation easement relieves us all of the burden of its market value from influencing our decisions. It’s highest and best use will always be to leave the land to its natural devices, come what may. What a wonderful world it is that there is an award to recognize my family for our stewardship!” Dave Anderson is the senior director of education for the Forest Society.

Did You Know? The New Hampshire Tree Farm Program is an application of the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) and has been operated by volunteers through the New Hampshire Tree Farm Executive Committee since 1950. The ATFS is a nationwide program that encourages private forest owners to actively manage their forests in a sustainable manner for multiple values. To learn more, visit nhtreefarm.org. Spring 2021 FOREST NOTES | 17

CONSERVATION SUCCESS

A Joint Effort Conserving additional acreage on Tuckaway Farm By Kelly Whalen Cioe

he Forest Society worked with the Cox family, Dorn and Sarah Cox (acting through Westwick Farming LLC), and Dorn’s parents, Chuck and Laurel Cox, to buy a conservation easement on a 36-acre parcel of land in Lee, N.H., that was recently acquired as an addition to the family’s Tuckaway Farm. The Cox family has farmed these 36 acres for nearly 40 years and the parcel is an important component of their farming operations for grazing and for the production of hay, corn, and other grains. The historic home on the property is excluded from the easement and will become an agricultural community center run by Tuckaway Farm. The three-generation family farm, “tucked away” along the Oyster River, is just two miles from the University of New Hampshire. The family operates an organic farm, growing vegetables, fruits, hay, mushrooms, and grains, as well as producing pastured lamb and eggs. They currently run a Community Supported Agriculture program and a bread club. “Our family has been caring for this land for more than 40 years and we are grateful to be able to continue stewarding it with the support of our community for years to come,” Dorn Cox says. “The productive and managed woodlands and fields are part of an agricultural history that predates western colonization, and we are honored to steward the land for future generations.” One hundred percent of the property is located within a priority focus area of the Great Bay Partnership’s Coastal Conservation plan. The new easement is surrounded by other conservation land, including the Forest Society’s 192-acre Powder Major’s Forest and the Town of Lee’s existing farm conservation easement on Tuckaway Farm and the historic 18 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021

The Cox family, including Chuck (left) and his son Dorn, recently sold a 36-acre conservation easement to the Forest Society that will protect additional acreage on the family’s Tuckaway Farm in Lee, N.H.

Randall Farm, which dates back to 1719. “This project, while small in acreage, is big in public benefits and conservation value,” says Brian Hotz, vice president for land conservation at the Forest Society. “Tuckaway Farm has been a part of the Lee community for three generations, offering organic produce, hay, and livestock. It also protects 4,000 feet of frontage along the Oyster River, which is a significant source of drinking water for the Town of Durham and the University of New Hampshire.” The property contains the stone abutments and rock foundation of the “Dishwater Mill,” which was a neighborhood sawmill on the Oyster River and is listed as one of Lee’s historic mills. The property is home to the Emerson Family Cemetery as well. Captain Smith Emerson

served in the Revolutionary War and likely built the nearby farmhouse, circa 1753. Emerson is mentioned numerous times in the history of the Town of Durham, and he and other family members are buried in formal graves, including both headstones and footstones, next to less formal, unmarked graves on a knoll above the Oyster River. The property itself is valuable farmland with excellent agricultural soils. Its wildlife habitat value is enhanced by the fact that it has frontage on the Oyster River. Twenty-six acres of the property have been identified as high-quality wildlife habitat. “Protecting valuable agricultural land is so important to our state and our country,” states Ian Rodgers, easement specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Consulting Foresters Natural Resources Conservation Service in New Hampshire. “The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program helps keep working lands working. The protection of this land will allow the Cox family to continue its tradition of farming for generations to come and we are thrilled to have played a role in that.” Federal, state, and individual donors came together to help conserve the 36acres on Tuckaway Farm, including the

United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Services, the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, the State of New Hampshire Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund, the New Hampshire Farm Future Fund, and Great Bay 2020, in addition to 200 private donors.

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Kelly Whalen Cioe is the owner of Whalen Public & Media Relations.

Bellamy Reservoir

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Bolstridge, Madbury FO, Town of Madbury, 93 Acres

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Tibbetts Field, Madbury FO, Town of Madbury, 51 Acres

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DeMerritt Hill Farm, Lee CE, Town of Lee, 61 Acres

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Powder Major's Forest, Madbury FO, Forest Society, 192 Acres

Old Mill Reserve, Lee CE, Town of Lee, 9 Acres

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Comprehensive forest and wildlife management, serving the conscientious New Hampshire landowner. -NRCS-Tech Service Provider

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Five Corners Reserve, Lee CE, Southeast Land Trust, 22 Acres

Garrity Rd

(OPPOSITE PAGE) COURTESY OF THE COX FAMILY

560 Windy Road, Peterborough, NH 03458 • 603-562-5620 Email: swiftcorwin@gmail.com

Powder Major's Farm, Madbury CE, Forest Society, 32 Acres

Tuckaway Farm, Lee PE, Town of Lee, 79 Acres

Sackett Rd

Realize what you value the most in your forest. Serving individual, municipal, state, non-government, and industry forest owners.

Schreiber, Madbury FO, Town of Madbury, 59 Acres

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

Conservation Lands

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The Forest Society encourages landowners to consult with a licensed forester before undertaking land management activities. The following are paid advertisers.

1,400

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Licensed foresters should address inquiries about advertising to Anne Truslow by calling 603-224-9945 or emailing atruslow@forestsociety.org. Spring 2021 FOREST NOTES | 19

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

More Than Just a Volunteer: Land Steward and Easement Monitor Bob Mann By Emily Landy

20 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021

in the VEMP program, I was forced to go beyond flip phones and into the new world of hand-held GPS. That is a major transition for any map-toting geezer! Thanks to [Forest Society Land Steward & Volunteer Coordinator] Zach Pearo, I didn’t totally mess it up. What’s your favorite part of volunteering for the Forest Society? The food at the annual volunteer dinner is second only to the satisfaction of contributing [to the Forest Society’s mission] with a bunch of like-minded volunteers.

Bob Mann Volunteer Easement Monitoring Program (VEMP). Mann has also adopted a Forest Society reservation through the Land Steward Program which he visits annually to conduct stewardship activities and serve as a local ambassador for the program. When asked about what the most important aspects of working and volunteering in the environmental field are, Mann says he “thinks the key in any environmental work is to achieve some public support for long-term protection of our natural resources. These are resources that, once lost, aren't coming back in many cases. [The] stewardship of open spaces is one of those areas where public support is vital.” In March 2021, Forest Society Easement Steward Emily Landry caught up with Mann to learn a little more about his volunteer experience. What’s one thing you learned as a volunteer that you did not know previously? As an old school map-and-compass type, I enjoyed the Forest Society’s VEMP training, which updated my old disused skills. With the adoption of digital tracking

Do you have a favorite reservation or conservation easement property? Each reservation has its own unique features, but I do have a special soft spot for the properties around Mount Kearsarge and Mount Monadnock. Did the pandemic impact your monitoring visits this year? Actually, I welcomed the social restrictions as one more reason to take to the outdoors. Social distancing is all the easier in the woods! What do you most appreciate about the volunteer programs? From the outside, it appears that the Forest Society’s volunteer programs provide a great way for the organization to leverage people power to monitor its properties. The training that the Forest Society provides is a great way to get everyone on the same page. All of the staff I have met have been super-friendly and helpful for those of us chipping in. Emily Landry is an easement steward for the Forest Society.

EMILY LANDRY

obert “Bob” Mann grew up in Amesbury, Mass., along the banks of the Merrimack River, but has lived in New Hampshire since 1975. As a child in the 1950s, Mann spent a lot of time outdoors with his friends. Not much was off-limits for them, except the Merrimack River, which was considered toxic due to the amount of raw sewage and pollutants that were dumped into it. “We were given clear instructions not to play in the water [by] every adult who was aware of what happened when you flushed a toilet and where it went,” he notes. “Such was the state of environmental concerns in the 1950s, and it was clear even then that things had to change for the better.” Growing up during a time when many rivers across the U.S. were treated as open sewers, and experiencing it first hand with the Merrimack, Mann was inspired to work in the environmental field. In the beginning of his career, he spent two years with the Peace Corps working on water projects, and he says that he has been in a “groove” ever since. This led him to work as a civil engineer, including for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, and later in life he joined his local conservation commission in Chichester, N.H., where he has served as chair for the last 20 years. Now retired, Mann has more time to hike, bike, and shore up his 1840s era New England farmhouse and barn, which he says has been a multidecade hobby of necessity. Around 10 years ago, Mann began volunteering for the Forest Society. “My family and I have admired the work and mission of the Forest Society for decades and saw that giving some time in the outdoors was a good use of my time,” he says. Every year, Mann monitors five conservation easements through the Forest Society’s

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

Colleague ($250 to $499)

Matching Gift Companies (continued)

Asplundh Tree Expert Company BCM Environmental & Land Law, PLLC Ed Reilly Subaru Event Builders, LLC Merrimack County Savings Bank Seaboard International Forest Products, LLC Whalen Public & Media Relations, LLC

57Hours Aesthetic Dental Center Altus Engineering Ambit Engineering, Inc. Black North, LLC Blaktop, Inc. Cersosimo Lumber Co., Inc. Fuller’s Sugarhouse, LLC Great Brook Veterinary Clinic, LLC Innovative Natural Resource Solutions, LLC Kel-Log, Inc. Kozikowski Properties, LLC Lenk Orthodontics Limington Lumber Company New England Biolabs, Inc. New England Flower Farms North Woodlands, Inc. Parade Properties River’s Bend Woodworking Studio, LLC Shoppe1921 Sunset Park Campground Tri-State Iron Works, Inc. Twin State Sand & Gravel Co., Inc. Whole Wealth Management, LLC

Facebook, Inc. FM Global Foundation Gartner, Inc. General Electric Google, LLC Graham Holdings Company Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company Grove Street Fiduciary, Inc. Hewlett Packard Company Foundation The Home Depot Foundation Honeywell International, Inc. IBM Corporation Intel Corporation Jefferies, LLC John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated JP Morgan Chase Foundation Liberty Mutual Insurance Lincoln Financial Group Foundation Lumina Foundation for Education Markem-Imaje Corporation MassMutual McKinsey & Company Medtronic Merck Partnership for Giving Meredith Corporation Microsoft Matching Gifts Program MilliporeSigma Motorola Solutions MSD Capital National Grid The Norfolk & Dedham Group Novartis Nuance Foundation, Inc. Oracle Corporation OSR Open Systems Resources, Inc. PayPal Giving Fund Pfizer, Inc. Premier, Inc. Riverstone Resources, LLC SAP Software Solutions Seaboard International Forest Products, LLC Shell Oil Company TD Ameritrade Matching Gifts Program Textron Matching Gift Program The Travelers Companies, Inc. TriPyramid Structures, Inc. UnitedHealth Group UNUM Matching Gifts Program Verizon Foundation The Vertex Foundation Waters Corporation

Trustees’ Circle ($2,500 to $4,999) Northeast Delta Dental The Secret Agency, LLC

President’s Circle ($1,000 to $2,499) Bangor Savings Bank Checkmate Payroll Services Chinburg Properties Garden Life, LLC GMEC, Inc. Lumbard & Kellner, LLC Mulligan Forest, LLC New England Private Wealth Advisors, LLC Northland Forest Products, Inc. Peabody & Smith Realty, Inc. Ransmeier & Spellman, P.C. Rockywold-Deephaven Camps, Inc. SCM Associates, Inc. Target Corporation

Steward ($750 to $999) EOS Research

Partner ($500 to $749) Arcomm Communications Corporation Bronnenberg Logging & Trucking, LLC Capitol Craftsman, LLC Carlisle Wide Plank Floors, Inc. Devine, Millimet & Branch, P.A. Durgin and Crowell Lumber Co., Inc. Gunstock Mountain Resort Half Moon Enterprises LockNLube The Lyme Timber Company LP Mallory Portraits Meadowsend Timberlands Ltd. The Music Mill Pine Springs R.M. Piper, Inc. Samyn-d’Elia Architects, P.A. Zambon Brothers Logging

Matching Gift Companies AARP ADP Aetna Foundation Allegro MicroSystems, LLC American Biltrite Charitable Trust American International Group, Inc. America’s Charities Ameriprise Financial Employee Gift Matching Program Amica Companies Foundation Autodesk Foundation Automatic Data Processing, Inc. Bank of America The Boeing Company Bose Corporation Boston Scientific CA, Inc. Matching Gifts Program Cadence Design Systems, Inc. Chevron Human Energy Chroma Technology Corp. Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation, Inc. Crestwood Advisors Dell Employee Giving Program Erie Insurance ExxonMobil Foundation

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, or to initiate a gift membership program for your clients or employees, please contact Anne Truslow at (603) 224-9945 or atruslow@forestsociety.org.

PUBLIC POLICY UPDATES

An angler casts a line from a canoe on the Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest’s Sand Pond, a property that was protected with funds from the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program.

A Catch Phrase that Still Matters By Matt Leahy

ll politics is local” is one of the most oft-repeated phrases in political history. Although it has become a cliché since former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Thomas Phillip “Tip” O’Neill first said it back in 1982, its meaning, that local concerns and interests can drive the development of public policy, is still a timely reminder of how people can influence the direction of government if they believe they have a stake in the outcome. Take, for example, what happened during this year’s New Hampshire Legislative session. The Ways and Means Committee

“

22 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021

in the House of Representatives considered, and then ultimately retained, House Bill 621, legislation that would have allowed the County Registers of Deeds to keep up to 10 percent of the dedicated $25 fee charged which supports the mission of the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP). Retaining a bill means the committee will reconvene at some point later this year to review, debate and then vote on it. In effect, the Committee has put it on the legislative backburner. Because of the benefits the program brings to our state, the Forest Society

joined with other LCHIP stakeholders to oppose HB 621. We argued the bill would have diverted $468,000 away from the program, thereby undermining its mission. We therefore were pleased with the Ways and Means Committee’s decision to retain the bill. While the better outcome, of course, would have been for the Committee to simply vote to reject the bill, the members acknowledged the serious flaws with HB 621. There was other positive news for LCHIP this year. The Governor’s proposal to increase LCHIP’s yearly funding from $3.5 million to $5 million in the Fiscal

Years 2022 and 2023 state budget continues a trend where the program has seen an increased level of recognition and appreciation for its role in strengthening the quality of life in our state. In contrast, LCHIP supporters may remember the early days of the program when the funding levels fluctuated from budget to budget or how in certain years the Legislature diverted LCHIP’s dedicated fee into other state purposes. So, what accounts for this apparent change in attitude to the program? It could be because the advocates have continually noted the program’s ability to leverage other sources of funds to support a specific project. Or maybe it is because conserved lands also support outdoor recreation opportunities, tourism, and the forest and agriculture economies. Alternatively, maybe the real reason is more personal and more locally oriented.

When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted people’s lives, many of them instinctively gravitated to the outdoors and to places of natural beauty. It was there where they experienced a feeling of calm and a sense of normalcy. What was noteworthy about this surge in outdoor visitors is the public still preferred sharing the hiking trails to being stuck at home, even when others had swamped their favorite spot. As land trusts, conservation commissions, and other like-minded partners push for policies that support land conservation, we should remember our best advocates are often the broad segments of the public who, as we witnessed during the pandemic, want access to nature, to parks, and to greenspaces. We still will need to have the facts, data, and other information that quantify the benefits of conservation. Moreover, we still will need to remind policy makers about how forests

can mitigate global warming, nurture biodiversity, filter groundwater, and reduce storm water runoff. However, people’s love for open natural spaces and the recognition of the effect those areas have on their physical and mental health are powerful driving arguments in favor of the continued support for conservation funding. Tip O’Neill did not have LCHIP in mind when he passed along his political wisdom. I have a feeling, though, if he had ever had a chance to walk the Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest in Lempster (or any property in New Hampshire the program has helped to protect), he too would have become a champion for it. All politics is still local. Matt Leahy is the public policy manager for the Forest Society.

Book Your Virtual Screening Today Released in spring 2020, The Merrimack: River at Risk tells the story of one of America’s most threatened rivers and what can be done to save it.

JERRY MONKMAN/ECOPHOTOGRAPHY

Produced by the Forest Society and directed by Jerry Monkman of Ecophotography, the full-length documentary is now available to be screened by organizations and businesses at virtual events.

For more information about hosting a screening, email Communications Manager Ryan Smith at rsmith@forestsociety.org.

Spring 2021 FOREST NOTES | 23

PROJECT IN PROGRESS

Left: An intermittent steam flowing into a cattail marsh: some of the many natural features on the Champlin Forest Addition. Right: The Champlin Forest Addition will make it possible to create a loop trail for hikers to enjoy.

A Conservation Opportunity in the Lilac City

ilacs arrived in New Hampshire along with European settlers in 1750, and in 1919, Helen Hussey Champlin of Rochester was active in the successful campaign to name the purple lilac the New Hampshire state flower, despite it being a nonnative plant. Whether Mrs. Champlin also coined Rochester as the Lilac City in the 1930s is of some debate, but the city is known for its eruption of fragrant spring blooms. The Champlin Family further made its mark in Rochester over the course of the twentieth century as business leaders and philanthropists. In 1941, William Hilton Champlin, Jr. married Virginia Spaulding, daughter of the Governor, and they lived for many years on a 500-acre farm and forest in the middle of Rochester. Ultimately, they divided the land and gifted much of it to charities, including 185 acres that became the Forest Society’s William H. Champlin, Jr. Forest and an adjacent portion that was donated to the Homemakers Health Services Program. Now, the Forest Society has the opportunity to re-unite part of the original 24 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021

Champlin property by purchasing 122 acres from Easterseals New Hampshire, which acquired the Homemakers Health Services Program land in 2018. This addition to the 185-acre Champlin Forest includes the height of land on Gonic Hill and offers the opportunity to create new loop trails accessible from the existing Champlin Forest trailhead located on Rochester Hill Road (Route 108), not far from the population center of Rochester. Easterseals had contemplated selling the land for its development potential, with access from Tebbetts Road and adjacent to the existing residential area of Champlin Ridge Road. If the Forest Society is successful, this land will instead remain a wildlife haven, expand to a 307-acre recreation area near the city’s commercial district, and continue to provide local trails to the 30,000 residents of Rochester, as well as nearby Somersworth and Dover. The Champlin Forest includes a restored

wetland and wet meadow created by the breach of former dams in the early 2000s. The 122-acre addition will protect additional wetlands and sustainably managed upland forest that serve as an important buffer to Clark Brook. The property also features early successional (young forest) habitat, which together with the wetlands provide rich wildlife habitat and thus excellent wildlife viewing opportunities. The Forest Society has an agreement to purchase the land from Easterseals, but to do so we must raise $455,000 from a variety of sources over the coming year. While we hope to secure most of these funds through state grant programs and local conservation funds, we know we must raise at least $30,000 from private sources. By contributing now, you can demonstrate support for this project that will help us secure grant funding this year. Please join us in expanding this treasured forest in the Lilac City!

Online: For more information on the Forest Society’s ongoing land conservation projects, visit forestsociety.org/currentprojects.

William H. Champlin, Jr. Forest Champlin Forest Addition

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YES, I WANT TO HELP ADD 122 ACRES IN ROCHESTER TO THE CHAMPLIN FOREST! Name: Address:

Town/City:

Telephone:

Email:

State:

Zip:

Enclosed is my tax-deductible contribution of $_____________ VISA

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

LEAH HART (X2)

Please mail the completed form to: Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests 54 Portsmouth Street, Concord, NH 03301 Or donate online at forestsociety.org/champlin2021. For more information, call Anne Truslow at 603-224-9945 or email atruslow@forestsociety.org.

Thank you for your help! 4104T192/CHA213FN

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

Janet and Eric Peirce Claremont, N.H. Members since 1992

“I

MEMBERS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE! Janet and Eric Peirce are among the 10,000 members who help the Forest Society protect more than a million acres in New Hampshire. To join them, use the envelope in this issue or call Margaret Liszka at 603-224-9945.

love the forests and mountains, but I grew up in the Chicago suburbs! I learned to love camping, hiking, and nature from my Depression-era parents. Our early conservation lessons included reuse, make do, recycle, compost, and take care of nature. While attending the University of New Hampshire, I enjoyed trips with the outing club and was introduced to the state’s natural beauty. My heart sings when I look out from some big or small summit to view God’s beautiful creation. It is important to my husband and I to preserve that natural beauty for all to benefit, which is why we are members of the Forest Society. “As teachers, we taught our daughters and students to love and respect the outdoors on the many excursions and field trips we led throughout New Hampshire. Now, as empty nesters and retired, we have more time for our own adventures. Recently, we participated in the 5 Hikes Challenge, completing five wonderful hikes on Forest Society reservations in September and October. “Silver Mountain in Lempster was our favorite. It was a glorious September day with temperatures in the 70s. At the summit, wow! The trail description was true: the 360-degree view is incredible, especially considering the less than a mile hike to the top. We could see Mount Monadnock to the south, and mounts Sunapee and Kearsarge among others to the northwest. It was a perfect hike up Silver Mountain because of the enjoyable trail and the lovely view on a clear, sunny, warm day. Thank you, Forest Society, for conserving the land for present and future generations to enjoy.”

Forest Notes, Spring 2021

Articles inside