05/24/11 by admin | Stewardship News | 1 Comment »
UVLT would like to thank the enthusiastic volunteers that helped to make Monday’s garlic mustard pulling successful. 9 people joined UVLT staff to pull garlic mustard on 5/23: Robbie, Sam, Put, Ellen, Jon, Laura, Mike, Kara and Charlotte. Thanks to those who came out! If you weren’t able to make it this time, don’t worry! We saved a patch for you. We’ll post information about the next Garlic Mustard Pulling Party when it becomes available.
UVLT staff & volunteers with bags full of the pesky invasive plant, garlic mustard.
05/19/11 by admin | Stewardship News, UVLT Events | 3 Comments »
WHEN: Monday May 23, 2011 – 4:00 pm until around 6 or so (please come for any or all of that time!)
WHERE: UVLT offices at 19 Buck Road, Hanover – forces will depart from here and intersect the enemy encroaching into the Mink Brook preserve…
WHY: Garlic mustard is a terrible invader of roadsides and forest floors, and the infestation at Buck Road is one of the most entrenched in Hanover. Garlic mustard displaces all other native species, kills beneficial fungi in the soil that trees rely on for effective growth, is distasteful to native herbivores, so it takes over quickly and completely if not controlled! Come help with this effort and you will quickly learn how to ID the plant and find it in other places (this is one of the best ways to stay on top of the threat and prevent small start-up colonies from ever getting established)! This particular invasive plant is still in fairly isolated spots in our area, so active management can and will make a difference.
THE ENEMY!
YOU! And as many recruits as you can find to join UVLT staff for an all-out war (for an afternoon, outdoors in the sun, which will even be fun)! We would love to hit this population of garlic mustard hard so that its control is more manageable down the road (on-going efforts will have to be made to future sprouts from setting seed, but NOW is the time to take out a lot of it!)
UVLT's Sara Cavin getting ready to devour THE ENEMY!
A few other details: Wear clothes appropriate for working outside – bring water bottles especially if it is warm (we hope!). This plant is pretty straightforward to hand-pull, so you can bring gloves if you’d like, but it isn’t really necessary if you don’t mind getting a bit dirty (who minds getting dirty?).
Added Bonus: Everyone who shows up to help out will be entered into a PRIZE drawing to be held at the party’s conclusion!
05/18/11 by admin | UVLT Events | 1 Comment »
I’d driven from Thetford to Meriden in case anyone wanted to go on the hike I was to lead last Sunday. My wife, Ann and I waited at the French’s Ledges Trail (Northern) on Colby Road for a few minutes after one. No one came.
We started up the trail in a light pitter-pat of rain. Like everyone else, we like sunny days but a little rain doesn’t deter us. There are some advantages on rainy days; we got to test our rain gear and it worked well, we saw no one else, it was pleasantly cool for hiking, and we focused on close up views and were rewarded.
We saw at least 18 varieties of wild flowers that we could identify – some past peak, others just right and some yet to come. To name a few, we saw red and painted trilliums, marsh marigolds, toothwort, foamflower, sharp lobed hepatica, trout lilies, Indian cucumber root, wild oats, false Solomon’s seal, rose twisted stalk, and star flowers as well as more common bluets, violets, wild sarsaparilla, wild lily-of-the-valley, partridge berry and strawberries. I’m sure we missed some if only because we were trying to avoid stepping on red spotted newts that were out in force.
The view from the top was of quiet country visible between low lying clouds and softened by the slightly obscuring rain – a scene for an artist. The hike turned out to be a bright spot on a rainy, cloudy day and we knew that as a bonus the exercise was good for our minds, bodies and dispositions. Not bad for a rainy day. Try it; you might like it. I hope to see you on our hike in June.
Roger Hanlon, UVLT Trustee and Sunday Stroll Leader
05/16/11 by admin | Stewardship News | No Comments »
Student volunteers from the Oliverian School in Pike, NH helped the UVLT manage invasive species and monitor their properties during the week of 5/9/11. The opportunity was gained through Oliverian’s “Electives Week” program where the students take a break from regular classes to explore new interests. These students earned academic credit under the school’s stewardship requirement and very much enjoyed the full week’s worth of sunny weather and working outside.
From left: John Gillies, WIlliam Cochran, Ellie Bosies, Robbie Menegay, Jesse Cabrera
05/02/11 by admin | Stewardship News | No Comments »
We had a full house for our Volunteer Monitor Training on Saturday, April 30th. Twelve eager volunteers learned about UVLT’s mission and stewardship in particular. With 40,000 acres protected by UVLT across the Upper Valley and an obligation to monitor each easement yearly, we count on our dedicated volunteers to ensure we meet that commitment. The day was split about evenly between indoor and outdoor time.
Here, Pete Helm (UVLT’s Vice President Stewardship) is describing the way we use map and compass to navigate around each protected property.
The second half of the day was spent putting those newly acquired skills to use in the field.
Here, a volunteer is sighting a bearing, and telling the others whether they are on the line or not.
It was a beautiful day, and the spring wildflowers were in bloom!
I want to thank all the volunteers for taking the time to come and see what we do. I look forward to working with them all in the future! We couldn’t do it without our great volunteers!
If you are interested in learning more about becoming a volunteer easement monitor, please contact Jason Berard at Jason.berard@uvlt.org or (603) 643-6626.
04/27/11 by admin | Conservation Advocacy, Other UVLT News | No Comments »
The New Hampshire State Senate Finance Committee discussed the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) on Friday, April 15. Their consensus decision after a very brief discussion was to stick with the House Budget for LCHIP. This provides LCHIP with $120,000 each year from the “dedicated” fund (recording fees) and allocates all the rest of the income from the recording fees to the General Fund. The $120,000 a year goes toward administrative costs; to augment the $200,000 that LCHIP gets from the Conservation License plate income.
The good news is that if this allocation passes the full Senate, LCHIP will be able to complete review of the 40 open projects and continue to assure proper stewardship of the resources that have already been protected with state investment through LCHIP. The bad news is that there will be no funds for grants for FY ’12 or ’13.
04/26/11 by admin | UVLT Events | No Comments »
Save the Date!
Upper Valley Land Trust
Celebration & Annual Meeting
Friday, June 3, 2011
Dartmouth Organic Farm, Route 10, Hanover, NH
We’ll offer a variety of activities this year preceding the Annual Meeting program.
You are welcome at any or all.
Mid-Afternoon Outdoor Activities: Hike, Farm Tour & River Road Bike Ride
(weather permitting)
Contact UVLT’s Sara Cavin to sign up for the pre-meeting bike ride, contact Nora to sign up for the Farm Tour led by farm manager, Scott Stokoe and let Amber know if you’re interested in the pre-meeting Walk to Dartmouth’s Brown Ash Swamp led by Donna Roberts Moody and John Moody.
Weather permitting, Jay Mead will bring mural-sized images from his book "A Little Farm Story" to UVLT's 2011 Annual Meeting.
5:30pm Social Time, Drinks – featuring Harpoon Beer, Displays, Silent Auction Benefit
Meet UVLT staff and Trustees, visit with old friends and new, pick up information about land conservation and upcoming events, bid on auction items.
6:00pm Casual Dinner including pizza made with local ingredients by NOFA VT, ham & cheese from the Taylor Brothers Farm & Garfield’s Smokehouse, bread from King Arthur Flour and more, all catered by Maple Street Catering
($20 per adult, $10 for children under 12, please call us or purchase online by May 25th)
7:00pm Annual Meeting Celebration
Learn of the year’s activities and plans for the future. Conservation Awards, Elections.
Closing with a Live Auction to benefit land conservation in the Upper Valley.
The Live Auction will feature a dinner with the Dartmouth Idols & Walt Cunningham, a dinner with Christopher Wren & his wife, paintings by Brian Walsh and Linda Roesch, a silkscreen by Ikko Tanaka, a UVLT Trustees’ Special Select Wine Cellar, and a trek into the woods with Ben Kilham!
We hope you can attend the event on June 3 in person, but if not we will accept reserve bids by phone at (603) 643-6626.
Online bidding for UVLT’s 2011 Annual Meeting Auction will be open from noon on Friday, May 20 through noon on Thursday, June 2!
This year’s auction includes more than 80 items donated by local people and businesses. Search the list of items online and peruse the wide variety of products and activities included there; such as guided hikes, special dinners, local food products, artwork by area artists, gift certificates to regional businesses and more!
The online auction is a new feature this year. We hope it will allow those who can’t make it to the meeting to participate in supporting local land conservation. And if you do plan to attend, this feature will allow you to preview both silent and live auction items in advance. If something catches your eye, don’t hesitate to pre-bid. Some of these things may go fast!
Feedback? Questions? Contact Nora at noradoyle-burr@uvlt.org or (603) 643-6626 ext.102.
04/26/11 by admin | Other UVLT News | No Comments »
On Monday, April 25, we had a great hike around Snow Mountain with teacher, writer, and ecologist Tom Wessels (Tom is the author of the well known Reading the Forested Landscape and his recent work entitled Forest Forensics is a wonderful field guide to interpreting past land uses).
Amber Boland, UVLT’s Conservation Mapping and Field Specialist, organized the outing which got some of our volunteer land stewards out with some of UVLT’s staff to take in the spring weather (finally!) and learn a bit about the natural areas on this approximately 400 acre property. UVLT owns a ¾ interest in the land, and will likely become full owner, so we were eager to have Tom give us some insight into what the property holds for us and for the region!
More information gathering will certainly follow as we consider the future management options for this land. It is neat knowing what special sites can be found with a little exploring (see Notes from the Field below).
If you would like to take a trip to Snow Mountain and report back about what you see to help us learn even more about the property, please let us know by getting in touch with Stewardship staff Pete Helm or Jason Berard. If anything, it is a wonderful walk in the woods.
UVLT volunteers looking south from Snow Mountain ridge toward Mt. Ascutney.
Notes from the Field
From the lower elevations along Old Route 10, we hiked up the access road to the property’s only development – a cell tower. On our way up, the community types changed from younger early successional and fairly homogeneous forest to slightly more rich calcified soils introducing ash and other tree species. Above the steepest slopes, some clues from past agricultural uses, such as old stone wall remnants, also began to show. The tour continued off the main access road along an old logging road, past a very actively maintained beaver wetland and then past another large wetland that appeared to no longer be the beaver’s priority. The conifers rimming the older wetland showed the forest succession which often follows the beavers – since they remove most hardwood species around a wetland; it allows conifers to get an edge as the beaver move on, creating a pond with a distinct conifer line with stands of predominantly hardwoods further from the water.
We heard several birds along the route including chestnut sided warblers and chickadees, and saw some thrush nests, grouse droppings, turkey tracks, as well as significant sign of moose, bear, porcupine, and, of course, beaver.
Once we left the logging roads, we headed for the high point on the property, along the north-south stretching ridge, which offers great views this time of year (before leaf-out). The talus slopes on both sides gave everyone a good scramble. Tom noted the spruce dominated thin soils on the ridge itself, some evidence of tree recovery following the ’38 hurricane, and older stands with lots of mixed hardwood species once we began descending the eastern slope. Throughout the property we noted the gnarled tops of many of these older trees, suggesting the property experiences frequent ice storm damage (we had also noted this on our way up the road!). We all remarked on the abundance of trout lilies emerging in great numbers in lots of different areas throughout the property. Descending steeply from the ridge, through what became aptly termed “porcupine gorge” due to the number of denning sites we encountered, many vowed to try to come back to this part of the property to explore more!
Stewardship Coordinator, Jason Berard points out multiple beaver ponds.
We made our way to a really beautiful wetland complex with several terraced beaver ponds at varying levels, a great lookout rock and some huge and old trees standing watch. A wet meadow further downstream suggested the extent of the beavers’ work in years past, with their upstream movement likely following the need to replenish their food supply. Wrapping back around to the northwest and climbing a bit, we connected with another old logging road which led us past the cell tower for a return walk down the access road.
Happy Spring!
Sara Cavin, UVLT Conservation Project Manager
04/25/11 by admin | Conservation Advocacy | No Comments »
According to the April 12 Concord Monitor,
“Northern Pass is expected to ask the U.S. Department of Energy to take five alternative routes out of consideration for a project that would bring hydroelectricity through the state via 180 miles of power lines.”
This would include the alternative route that would have crossed through the Upper Valley. View the full article on the Concord Monitor’s website.
The scoping period for the Northern Pass Transmission Line Project Environmental Impact Statement has been reopened. The U.S. Department of Energy will now be accepting comments until June 14. Send your comments to Brian Mills, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE-20), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington DC 20585; via email to Brian.Mills@hq.doe.gov or via fax to (202) 586-8008.
Find more information about the project at http://northernpasseis.us/.
04/18/11 by admin | Other UVLT News | No Comments »
Afternoon hike up Signal Hill in Lebanon was a relatively quiet hike up to the summit, with many trees and limbs down and the vernal pools quiet. The return hike was a bit upbeat, with a pair of Hermit Thrushes exploring the vernal pool area, and a singing Winter Wren @ the ridge trail entrance into the woods. Along the north side of upper field we spotted FOY Yellow-rumped Warbler, and along side was a male Bluebird. At the hedgerow between the fields we spotted another male Bluebird and 2 – Northern Flickers. To finalize the trip we watched an American Kestrel above the lower field for quite some time, using an immature pine as a perch to work the field. I may have to make a quick lunchtime stop tomorrow to check things out.
A picture from Signal Hill that David Jorgensen took in Sept. '07
Signal Hill Conservation Area is a 217 acre parcel owned by the City of Lebanon, with conservation easement held by the Upper Valley Land Trust.
David Jorgensen
Storrs Hill Lebanon
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