M o o s e M o u n t a i n s R e gi o n a l G r e e n wa y s
Volume 14 Issue 1
Winter 2015
G REENWAY G AZETTE
Mission
To identify and conserve important natural
resource areas,
including water
resources, farm and
forest lands, wildlife
habitat, recreational
areas, cultural and
scenic areas.
To educate others
about these efforts.
MMRG’s 1st Easement!
ington and New Durham serving as Executory Interest (backup) holders.
Last November 12, a roomful of enthusiastic supporters celebrated as Rodney and
Judy Thompson of Farmington donated a
conservation easement on their 203-acre
property along Meaderboro Road in Farmington and New Durham. This conservation agreement assures that the natural and
historic resources of the land will be preserved in perpetuity. The easement was
gifted to MMRG, with the Towns of Farm-
MMRG Board Chair, Nancy SpencerSmith, noted that this easement is a milestone accomplishment for MMRG and
signals that MMRG is now a full-fledged
land trust. As holder of this easement –
MMRG’s first – MMRG takes responsibility for ensuring that the Thompson
property remains undivided and undeveloped into the future.
(Continued on page 2)
To join together
protected lands
to form greenways.
Contact Us
By mail:
Moose Mountains
Regional Greenways
PO Box 191
Union, NH 03887
By phone:
(603) 473-2020
By email:
[email protected]
Online:
www.mmrg.info
Staff
Executive
Director:
Virginia Long
(603) 473-2020
Director of Land
Conservation:
Keith Fletcher
(603) 817-8260
Education
Coordinator:
Kari Lygren
(603) 978-7125
Standing, left to right: Bruce Rich -MMRG Board member, Dottie Bean -Farmington resident, Virginia Long MMRG Executive Director, Cyndi Paulin -MMRG Board member, Keith Fletcher -MMRG Director of Land
Conservation, Dave Connolly -Farmington CC Chair, Cynthia Wyatt -MMRG Vice Chair. Seated, left to right:
Nancy Spencer Smith -MMRG Chair, Rodney and Judy Thompson -landowners and easement donors. Not
shown: Richard Ballou, Resta Detwiler and Jacquelin Bissell -Farmington CC, Bill Malay -New Durham CC.
April 2015 Annual Meeting
Luncheon with Peter Alden
World-renowned naturalist, lecturer, ecotourism guide and author Peter Alden will
be the guest speaker at MMRG’s 2015
Annual Meeting on the afternoon of Sunday, April 12. This community celebration
of MMRG will also feature a silent auction,
buffet luncheon, live music, award presentations, and a brief business meeting.
Born and raised in Concord, Massachusetts
Naturalist Peter Alden.
(Article Continued on page 6)
The Promise of Forever
When a new conservation easement is announced, most
land trusts (including MMRG) will issue a press release
that says something along the lines of: “This land will
now be protected forever…”
‘Forever’! That’s a very big promise to make, and even
scaled down to the time frame of human civilization, it
presents some very practical problems to any organization aiming for ‘perpetuity.’ It also explains why conservation easements are never inexpensive to accomplish.
A conservation
easement is a complex permanent legal
agreement
that
prohibits development or subdivision
of a parcel of land
and may have other
restrictions to protect the land’s natural resources. The easement goes with the property deed
and is passed to all future owners. For a conservation
easement to remain valid and enforceable ‘forever’ three
things are required: there must be an organization responsible for the easement (the easement ‘holder’); there
must be annual monitoring and reporting to ensure the
terms of the easement are honored; and there must be
legal enforcement when necessary.
The easement holder, usually a land trust such as
MMRG, is named in the easement document and accepts
responsibility when it signs the document. Many easements also specify back-up holders – often a town, or
another land trust – that will step in if the organization
holding the easement dissolves. This is a very rare
event among the 1,700 U.S. land trusts, but every easement or organization should have a back-up plan.
Annual monitoring means someone goes out and walks
the land to observe its condition. Even if volunteers do
the monitoring, there are administrative costs as well as
staff time for staying in touch with landowners. In order
to ensure that the financial resources will be always be
available to pay these stewardship costs, funds are deposited into a dedicated ‘easement stewardship account’
when an easement is finalized. Ideally, only the interest
or investment income need be used to pay for monitoring
and other stewardship costs. This works well and is now
considered an essential practice for all land trusts. For
the Thompson easement, MMRG raised more than
$17,000 for this stewardship account, to provide income
for monitoring well into the future.
Legal enforcement is rarely required but can easily cost
$40,000 or more, which could fiscally ruin an organization that is not prepared. Conservation easement legal
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A child fascinated by nature. Photo courtesy of Kate Wilcox..
defense insurance is now available through an entity
created by The Land Trust Alliance, the national service
organization for land trusts. MMRG has built the cost of
purchasing such insurance into the aforementioned stewardship fund. This insurance helps land trusts keep the
promise of ‘forever’ and helps them stay fiscally strong
when defending an easement. In addition to easement
insurance, the Land Trust Alliance recommends that
every land trust set aside a special fund to help with legal
defense. At MMRG, our policy is to place $3,000 into
this fund for every new easement.
MMRG also keeps the promise of perpetuity through our
educational outreach program, where we work to educate
and inspire people about our natural world. We believe
that the best way to protect something forever is to make
sure that future generations treasure it and are motivated
to preserve it. If the love we have of the natural world
persists through many generations, then the futures of
both nature and humankind will be more secure.
Thanks to Keith Fletcher for the content of this article.
Moose Mountains Reservation Addition
An effort to raise $361,000 to protect a 150-acre parcel
of excellent wildlife habitat and scenic woodlands in
Middleton is now past the halfway mark, thanks to a
recent $112,500 award by the state's Land & Community Heritage Investment Program. The Society for the
Protection of NH Forests (Forest Society), in partnership
with MMRG, is raising the funds in order to keep the
land undeveloped and open for recreation, wildlife habitat and forest management. Once purchased, the property will become part of the Forest Society’s 2,325-acre
Moose Mountains Reservation, which was first protected in 2008 through the efforts of the Forest Society,
MMRG and other conservation partners. With the adjacent Ellis R. Hatch Jr. Wildlife Management Area
owned by NH Fish and Game, the total contiguous conserved landscape will be more than 3,900 acres. See
MMRG’s summer 2014 Greenway Gazette at
www.mmrg.info for a full length article on the project.
Greenway Gazette
Conservation Commissions Mixer
MMRG‘s annual ‘CC Mixer’ was held at the Brookfield
Town House this year, with thanks to the Brookfield Conservation Commission for the venue and refreshments.
MMRG appreciates the volunteer Conservation Commissioners and the hard work they do in each of their towns!
Rodger Krussman, NH and VT State Director at the Trust
for Public Land (TPL), discussed a recent TPL study on
the economic benefits to New Hampshire of investing in
open space, natural areas, working lands, water and parks.
Download the report at www.tpl.org/nh-roi-report. Nic
Coates, Executive Director of the NH Association of
Conservation Commissions (NHACC), spoke about upcoming bills in the NH statehouse that may impact CCs.
Emily Lord, NHACC Program Manager, talked about the
new educational Field Training Series provided to CCs.
The next training, “The Emerald Ash Borer and Community Planning”, will be on Jan. 30 in Concord. For details
and more about the NHACC, see www.nhacc.org.
erty of Rodney and Judy Thompson, which was recently
placed under conservation easement so hikers are now
assured that this part of the viewscape will remain forever
undeveloped (see front page article) . The group then descended to a small pond and up another slope to Blue Job
Mountain where they could climb the fire tower to view
Mt Washington and other notable peaks.
Best Ever! 12th Annual WWW Festival
Well over 600 people attended the 12th annual Woods,
Water & Wildlife Festival, presented by MMRG and
Branch Hill Farm/the Carl Siemon Family Charitable
Trust on August 9 in Milton Mills. In addition were 60+
volunteers who made the day run smoothly and another
30+ presenters who offered fun and educational events.
Activities included guided nature walks, a nature’s playground in the woods, a horse logging demonstration, displays of rescued wild animals, kids’ fishing, birdhouse
building, and hayrides to the Salmon Falls River.
MMRG Education Coordinator Kari Lygren facilitated a
round table of Commissioners from MMRG’s 7 service
towns. Several reported recently completed land conservation projects: Union Meadows in Wakefield, the
Thompson Easement in Farmington/New Durham, the
Nute Easement in Milton, and Whiteface Mountain in
Wolfeboro. Brookfield also is working to protect a large
parcel with wetlands and New Durham has an ongoing
effort to add 40 acres to Cooper Cedar Woods. The Farmington CC also reported success using security cameras to
eliminate dumping on town lands. The Wolfeboro CC
sponsored an invasive species workshop with Cooperative
Extension that was well attended and brought it visibility .
Blue Job Mountain Hike
On a gorgeous late September Saturday, MMRG Director
Art Slocum and Active Outdoor Adults member Faye
Lowrey led a group of 30 hikers on the annual MMRG
Fall Foliage Hike. The hike started near the Farmington
Reservoir on Sheepboro Rd and followed old woods
roads to the Canney Family Cemetery below Little Blue
Job Mountain. Art pointed out evidence of early farming
activities and talked about the origins of old cellar holes
and well sites to be seen along the way. The hikers then
summited Little Blue Job and enjoyed 360 degree vistas
from the rocky top. The view included the 203-acre prop-
Dan Coons of Ilex Wetland Consultants shows children the tiny bugs
that live in the clear water of the Branch River. Photo by Kate Wilcox.
Said MMRG Executive Director Virginia Long, “I love
that so many families come back to the festival every
year! And I’m thrilled each time I meet a family who has
come for the first time, discovers what a fantastic event it
is and plans to come again.” First-time festival volunteer,
Karen Santoro-Nason was equally enthusiastic, saying, “I
can't wait to tell people about it; I will certainly spread the
word, this is a great event that you put on. I am so glad I
could help out and plan on being there next year.”
MMRG Education Coordinator Kari Lygren added, “The
day wouldn’t happen without the dedicated work of so
many volunteer helpers like Karen and we can’t thank
them enough for all their hard work! We also rely on the
willingness of many volunteer presenters to come share
their enthusiasm and knowledge.”
Hikers enjoy the view from atop Little Blue Job mountain.
4
Thanks to all who came, presented, helped or donated!
Greenway Gazette
Thank You to All Our 2014 Business, Organization, and Town Donors!
Leadership Donors: ($5,000 or more)
The Siemon Company
Town of Farmington
Town of New Durham
Moose Donors: ($1,000-$4,999)
Milton Business & Industry Alliance
Wakefield Family Care/ Huggins Hospital
Black Bear Donors: ($500-$999)
Devonshire Realty (in memory of
Forrest N. Krutter)
D.F. Richard Energy
EOS Research
Liberty Mutual Insurance
MapleStone Farm
Moose Mountain Recreation
New England Furniture
Norman Vetter Foundations
Proulx Oil & Propane
Tumbledown Farms & Café
Coyote Donors: ($250-$499)
Bradley's Hardware
Charlie Moreno Consulting Forester
Coyote Creek Outfitters
Dave Hutchins Builders
Donald F. Whittum Law Office
Eastern Materials
Evergreen Valley Snowmobile Club
Forest Pump & Filter
Frank Massin Agency
Garwoods Restaurant & Pub
Index Packaging
J&S Tech Electric
Jay Fortune Custom Carpentry
Lake Forest Resort
Land Bank of Wolfeboro & Tuftonboro
Law Office of L. Bradley Helfer
Long Meadow Construction
Mal Blodget, CPA
McKenzie's Farm
Mi-Te-Jo Campground
Music Mill
Northern Exposure Real Estate
Patrick Stevens Contracting
Profile Bank
Ransmeier & Spellman
Royle Timber Harvesting
Wentworth Hunt
Red Fox Donors: ($100-$249)
B&B Fabricating
Avellani Restaurant Enterprises
Blue Seal Feeds
DiPrizio GMC Trucks
Farmington Fish & Game Club
Hoofbeats Veterinary Service
Jenesis Gardens & Design
Lilac Printing & Graphic Design
M&M Boat Storage
Maxfield Real Estate
Meredith Village Savings Bank
Milton Hardware
MRP Machine
Norway Plains
Pioneer Mechanical
Sunshine Acres Campground
Taylor Rental Farmington
Town of Brookfield
Town of Middleton
Town of Milton
Town of Wakefield
Town of Wofeboro
Wakefield Inn & Restaurant
Winnipesaukee Chocolates
Wolfeboro Oil Company
Redtailed Hawk Donors: ($50-$99)
Hourihane Cormier & Associates
Jim Smith Horseshoeing
Spider Web Gardens
Chickadee Donors: ($25-$49)
Hersom Logging
Thank You to all Individuals who Donated in 2014; MMRG Relies on Your Support!
Leadership Donors: ($5,000 or more)
Carl and Beth Ann Siemon
Mary Ruth Siemon
Nancy Spencer Smith
Sylvia Thayer & Philip Zaeder
Rodney & Judy Thompson
Cynthia Wyatt
Katharine Wyatt
Moose Donors: ($1,000-$4,999)
Dottie Bean
Gene Hays
Dulcie & Thomas Lavender
Jonathan & Anne Nute
Bruce & Jennifer Rich
Brian & Laura Wyatt
Black Bear Donors: ($500-$999)
Marty Conant & David Levin
Jane Cooper Fall
Don & Gail Holm
Virginia Long & Steve Panish
Mikel O'Brien
Charles & Ann Robbins
Charles Salmans & Robin Wakeman
Christopher Sherrill (in memory of
his wife Shirley)
Beverly Siemon
Coyote Donors: ($250-$499)
Art & Lynne Slocum
Cyndi & Mark Paulin
Lauren Nelson
Ron & Paula Gehl
Barbara & Cyrus Sweet
Red Fox Donors: ($100-$249)
Phil and Carolyn Auger
Cynthia Belowski
Marjorie & Warren Berg
Shaun and Ellen Berry
Janice and Joseph Brejwo
Sharon and Dave Buttrick
Robert Cole
Cynthia Copeland
Mary Current
Cassandra Curtis
Richard DesRoches
Lorraine Drake & Brad Helfer
Mark Fagan & Patricia Wentworth
Kay and Carl Fernald
Gary Getchel & Mariko Yamasaki
Bradford Gile
Ron Goodgame
Gary Gould
Jack Healey
William Hohenberger
John Hraba
Sheldon and Priscilla Jones
Dorothy Kimball Kraft
Martin Lee
Deborah Libby & Boyen Thompson
Carol and Bill O'Connell
Gordon & Carolyn Page
Jill and George Paul
Barbara Pomroy
Darayl Remick
Susan & Peter Rogers
Jeanne Rosadina
Richard & Lorraine Sager
Linda & John Schier
Schuyler Scribner
Buzz and Robyn Shiely
CK & Jennifer Siemon
Pam & John Siemon
Bernard Sinkonis
Dave Thayer
Bill and Terry Sammis
Randall Zielinski
Redtailed Hawk Donors: ($50-$99)
Paul and Barbara Berry
Anna Boudreau
Charles Bridges
David Chase
Don Cichon & Sandy Ho
Nicole Csiszer
Paul & Edith DesMarais
Jamie Dolce
Norman Dudziak & Damaris Rohsenow
Barry Elliott
Keith Fletcher
Frank & Pam Frazier
Priscilla & George Frothingham
Bob & Sally Gilbert
Molly Green and Armando Yagues
John & Persis Hildebrandt
Paige & Chris Holman
Nancy & James Insley
Emmanuel Krasner
Susan & Peter Lohse
John and Joan Lygren
John & Donna Lynn
Thomas Magoon
Bill and Jean Malay
Geraldine Moore & Cynthia Towle
Andy Moysenko
Roger & Linda Murray
Thomas and Sandra Mynczywor
Jeff and Nancy Perkins
Jan & Carole Poignant
Gregg & Mary Poston
Curtis and Stephanie Richard
John and Judy Russell
Jon and Joanie Samuelson
Sandra Simonsen
Dianne Smith
Mallory Stephens
Johanna & Dennis Vienneau
Kate Weaver
Stephen & Nancy Weckbacher
Pam Wiggin
Inger and Bob Woerheide
Peter & Jean Wons
Janet Wyatt
Chickadee Donors: ($25-$49)
Barbara Bald
Richard Ballou
Mary & Robert Barnum
Ingrid and Thomas Barry
Jane Batchelder
Rick Boulanger
Ernest and Susan Brown
Sherry Bryant
Sonya and Robert Cahill
Joyce and Dan Cappiello
Patti & Steven Chappell
Michael Chaput
Gail Chase
Katherine Chasse
Anthony and Joann Coskie
Lawrence and Nancy Craaybeek
Karen Damtoft
Richard & Pauline Davenport
Frankie Dinneen
Kallie and Jersey Drew (gift membership)
Alan and Joyce Frizzell
Bob Garnett
Mary Beth Giffune
Ronald & Carolyn Hanson
Jennifer Hobler
Carrie and Derek Hurn
Jim and Carol Matthew
Kevin McEneaney
Kim McStay
Anne Melvin
Rodney & Mary Lou Monnat
Danielle Nalesnik
James and Carol Nupp
David Owen
Laurel & Stephen Reading
Charles Riopel
Edward & Martha Roundy
Karen Santoro-Nason
Michael and Deborah Schneider
Deborah Shigo
Steve and Janice Sundell
Whitney and Kirk Swenson
Ruth Whipple
Jane Wingate
Thank You to the Foundations and Trusts that Support our Land Conservation and Outreach Work!
Adelard A Roy & Valdea Lea Roy Foundation
An Anonymous Trust
An Anonymous Foundation (gift directed by Lawrence Labrie)
An Anonymous Family Charitable Foundation
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Carl Siemon Family Charitable Trust
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation (Annalee Davis Thorndike Fund)
Norcross Wildlife Foundation
Greenway Gazette
The Scoop on Invasive Plants!
At a free workshop co-sponsored by the Farmington
Conservation Commission, MMRG presented Doug
Cygan of the NH Department of Agriculture discussing
“Invasive Upland Plant Species of New Hampshire.”
Doug had a wealth of information to share. The state of
NH has banned 27 invasive upland plant species, meaning
it is illegal to collect, transplant, propagate or sell these
plants because they quickly overrun natural landscapes
and out-compete native plants, with detrimental environmental and economic consequences. Many other nonnative plants are common in NH but do not spread so
aggressively and are not banned, one example being
periwinkle.
Invasive
plants
tend to develop
leaves earlier than
do native plants,
allowing
invasives to dominate
in the competition
for
sunlight.
Invasives’ leaves
also
tend
to
persist longer in
autumn.
These
tendencies have
the benefit of
making invasives
stand out in the
landscape in early
spring and late
fall,
aiding
identification. For
example, look for
the asparagus–
Japanese knotweed shoots starting to leaf out.
like shoots of
Japanese knotweed sprouting along bare roadsides and
stream banks in April and watch in late autumn for fiery
red or rose-pink burning bush along forest edges, when
other shrubs have already lost their leaves.
One of the most damaging impacts of Japanese knotweed
is due to the fact that its roots don’t hold soil as well as
native wetland plants, so knotweed-infested stream banks
tend to become de-stabilized and erode. Eradication of
knotweed along streams is tricky; the work needs to begin
upstream and continue downstream in successive years.
This way, if any roots floating downstream become
established, they can be found and removed in following
years. In dry areas, cut knotweed stems can be killed with
an application of ‘Roundup’ (do not use in wet areas -- it
degrades water quality) or by smothering under a tarp; see
instructions at http://agriculture.nh.gov/publicationsforms/documents/japanese-knotweed-control.pdf.
6
Biological
control
methods can work to
contain some invasives.
NH has had success
using leaf-eating beetles
that destroy invasive
purple loosestrife at sites
where the beetles are
introduced, allowing the
native wetland species to
recover over a period of
five years or so.
Like many invasives, burning bush
was first planted for its attractiveness in the landscape, but has now
escaped into the forests.
For the complete list of
NH prohibited species, photos, their characteristics and
control measures, see http://agriculture.nh.gov/divisions/
plant-industry/invasive-plants.htm.
Thanks to Cyndi Paulin for her input to this article.
(Peter Alden at Annual Meeting, Continued from page 1)
where he “walked with the ghost of Thoreau,” Peter
developed a love of nature and bird watching as a youngster. He is principal author of the regional Audubon Field
Guide series, including the popular New England guide.
More recently, his interests have widened to include all
visible biodiversity, conservation issues, historical
changes in the landscape, climate change, and the invasive alien plant and animal crisis affecting us today. He
currently divides his time writing books and articles,
lecturing and leading expedition cruises with Road
Scholar throughout the world. For more information, see
Peter’s website, http://peteraldenwildlife.com.
At the Annual Meeting, Peter will speak and show fabulous photos on ‘Changes in Bird & Mammal Life Over
Time’, addressing regional trends here in inland New
England. Commented MMRG Board member Steve
Panish, “Peter is a highly entertaining and informative
speaker. I first heard him by chance during a trip to Nantucket Island four years ago and have suggested him for
our Annual Meeting ever since. He is not to be missed;
you can count on both learning a lot and laughing a lot!”
Adds Education Coordinator Kari Lygren, “Put the date
on your calendar and reserve a seat as soon as possible;
we expect tickets to go fast! Watch our website,
www.mmrg.info, for details in late January and look for
your invitation in early February.”
The Annual Meeting begins with a silent auction, which
serves as MMRG’s second most important fundraiser
and attracts a wider array of items every year. Last year’s
77 items included nature books, photos and artwork,
individual lessons and tours, hand-crafted items, gift
certificates, vacation rentals and more. To support
MMRG through an item donation, please call Executive
Director Virginia Long at 603-473-2020.
Greenway Gazette
Two Informative Forestry Workshops
MMRG and Branch Hill Farm/the Carl Siemon Family
Charitable Trust (BHF/CSFCT) teamed up to offer two
free outdoor forestry workshops in October, one aimed for
beginners and the other for natural resource professionals.
erosion from skid trails, using temporary crossings, and
providing landowners cost share dollars to develop a
forest management plan are the most popular practices.
Charlie focused on current and innovative forestry best
management practices and the economics of managing
woodlands that have been cut heavily over the past 100
years. One newly-supported NRCS practice he discussed
was tree marking, which will pay for a private forester to
mark the wood lot using a paint gun to mark either the
‘cut-trees’ or ‘leave trees’. The goal is to improve regeneration of desired crop trees in timber stands having lowgrade timber products, such as pulp and biomass material.
The beginners’ workshop was led by consulting forester
Dan Stepanauskas, who took participants on a tour of
some high quality BHF/CSFCT hardwood stands in
Wakefield that had been thoughtfully logged the previous
year. A group of a dozen timberland owners and forest
enthusiasts followed Dan along a
logging road through the colorful fall
The tour looked at a BHF culvert
woodland. Stopping numerous times,
area which had been blown out
Dan explained the considerations
during hurricane Irene and leaders
important to a well-thought-out
discussed ways to help fish and
timber harvest plan, including roles
small streams and rivers recover
played by soil, climate, and shade.
naturally. NRCS helped remove
For example, proper cutting allows
the culvert and the stream was
just the right amount of sunlight to
restored by removing fill from the
reach the remaining trees. Too much
brook, reducing the angle of the
sunlight, particularly in oak stands,
stream bank and seeding the area.
results in unwanted side limbs
Nels Liljedahl, NRCS District
developing on the trunk stems
Conservationist from Carroll and
whereas too little sunlight results in
Belknap
Counties,
provided
slower growth and longer harvest
insight
on
stream
restoration
intervals. Dan pointed out the various
techniques which involve adding
tree species present, their relative
wood to small streams. This
market values and likely uses. A
practice is beneficial to brook trout
relatively new demand for hardwood
and other fish by creating more
is in the construction of large timber
cover and deeper pools and by
mats used to protect the forest floor
Forestry Workshop Leaders: Dan Stepanauskas
catching
leaves and other organic
when moving heavy equipment to
(left) and Charlie Moreno (right).
matter that benefit the macroremote locations.
invertebrates (bugs) that fish eat. This technique can also
benefit water quality by reducing flow velocity, accreting
Dan also explained how cutting techniques and equipment
sediment, and reengaging floodplains although its impleselection are important and depend on the nature of the
mentation takes some care and expertise.
job. Equipment best suited for a specific job may range
from a team of one or more horses, to skidders, to enorDon Keirstead pointed out that recent climate change
mous feller-bunchers or cut-to-length forwarders. He
models predict that NH will continue to be impacted by
elaborated that the use of whole-tree chipping machinery
ever heavier rain and storm events. Removing undersized
is often counter-productive to the successful regeneration
culverts, reducing stream velocities and reengaging the
of desirable hardwood species, reduces soil nutrients, and
floodplain benefits not only wildlife but infrastructure in
is inappropriate for the thinning of hardwood stands.
the watershed. Local lake associations are also interested
in these practices, having noticed a reduction in water
Resource Conservationist Don Keirstead of the NH
clarity from increased sedimentation due to larger storm
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and
events and to development in local watersheds.
consulting forester Charlie Moreno jointly taught the
NRCS Conservation Field Day workshop for NRCS staff
Added Don, “NRCS staff greatly appreciated the opporand other natural resource professionals at Branch Hill
tunity to discuss and brainstorm several new conservation
Farm (BHF) in Milton Mills. As one of BHF’s foresters,
solutions at Branch Hill Farm. It was a perfect place to do
Charlie has been managing a low impact timber stand
this sort of workshop because of the progressive conservaimprovement using advanced silviculture techniques in
tion ethic that has always governed their majestic 3,000
these BHF forests. This workshop was an opportunity to
acre property in Milton Mills.”
give NRCS some visual examples of the outcomes of their
financial support for implementing such improvements.
Thanks to Bruce Rich, Dan Stepanauskas, Don Keirstead,
Helping NH landowners manage their woodlot is a major
and Charlie Moreno for their contributions to this article.
focus of NRCS in a state that is 85% forested. Reducing
7
Greenway Gazette
PO Box 191
Union, NH 03887
Working to conserve the special places of the Moose Mountains region.
MMRG Calendar of 2015 Events: SAVE THESE DATES!
Sunday, February 8; 10 am ‘Moose Mountain Runaround’
Moose Mountain Recreation, 107 Mountain Rd,
Brookfield
Snowshoe race to benefit MMRG! 3.1+/- mile scenic course;
walkers welcome. Prizes to winners; refreshments, discounted
tubing park admission and custom buffs to all racers and
volunteers. Suggested donation: $20 in advance or $25 day of
race. For more info, call race director Dan Coons :(603) 5208533. To pre-register: www.granitestatesnowshoeseries.org.
Volunteers needed; call Kari Lygren at (603) 978-7125.
A Thursday Evening in February TBA
Conservation Easement & Forestry Management Wkshp.
Venue in Wakefield TBA
MMRG Director of Land Conservation Keith Fletcher and
Wendy Scribner, UNHCE Natural Resources Field Specialist
in Forestry and Wildlife for Carroll County, will introduce the
basics of easements and best practices in forestry. Light
refreshments. Registration helpful.
A Weekday in Earth Week TBA
Earth Week Family Walk
Branch Hill Farm, Milton Mills
Kari Lygren will guide this walk through the woods with you
and your kids — a great way to celebrate Earth Week! Cosponsored with the NH Farm Museum.
Sunday, April 12; 12:30—4:30 pm
MMRG’S Annual Meeting/Luncheon/Silent Auction
Venue and Cost TBA
Guest presenter naturalist Peter Alden. See front page article.
Saturday, May 23, 10 am—2 pm
11th Annual Branch River Paddle, Milton Mills.
Bring your kayak or canoe for this scenic paddle. Program
with naturalists includes stops en route. Lunch and boat
transport provided. $15 donation suggested. Pre-register.
Spaces limited. Co-sponsored with Branch Hill Farm/CSFCT.
Saturday, August 8; 10 am—3 pm
13th Annual Woods, Water & Wildlife Festival!
Branch Hill Farm, 307 Applebee Rd, Milton Mills
This family-friendly celebration of the natural world features
fun and educational outdoor activities. $5/adult or $10/family.
FREE for kids 12 and under and MMRG members.
Volunteers needed; join the team!
Late August Date TBA
Stream Restoration Workshop
Branch Hill Farm Forest Venue
Consulting Forester Dan Stepanauskas and Natural Resources
Conservation Service staff will show ways to restore streams
for wildlife and water quality and give info on cost sharing.
FREE. Co-sponsored by Branch Hill Farm/CSFCT.
All Events: For more information, see www.mmrg.info. To pre-register and for directions, call Education Coordinator Kari Lygren at 603-9787125 or email [email protected]. Please do not bring pets to these events.