MMRG commissioners mull conservation strategy

Keith Fletcher, MMRG director of Land Conservation, talks about acreage increases at Moose Mountain Reservation at a recent meeting in Farmington. (Courtesy photo)

FARMINGTON, N.H. - Conservation Commissioners from Moose Mountains Regional Greenways' (MMRG) seven town service area (Brookfield, Farmington, Middleton, Milton, New Durham, Wakefield and Wolfeboro) played 'Stump the Chump' in a round table session with Nik Coates of the N.H. Association of Conservation Commissioners on Dec. 3 at the American Legion Hall in Farmington.

The session took place during the 3^rd annual 'CC Mixer', co-sponsored by MMRG and the Farmington Conservation Commission, which also featured presentations of several new resource maps for CCs to use in their conservation planning.

During refreshment breaks, the Legion Hall was abuzz with close to 40 people conversing, as they engaged in the networking and information sharing that this event was designed to facilitate.

MMRG Board Chair Jack Savage welcomed the group and asked for their input as MMRG embarks on a major conservation planning effort this coming year. The goal is to develop a comprehensive conservation vision for our region, funded in part by a newly-awarded Moose Plate grant. As part of the process, MMRG will look at the conservation needs of the Cocheco River watershed and conduct an inventory of our region's recreational resources to include as a mapping layer. Keith Fletcher, MMRG director of Land Conservation, followed with thanks to the Commissioners for their dedicated work as volunteers. He also announced that with MMRG's assistance, 150 acres were recently added to the Forest Society's 2,300-acre Moose Mountains Reservation in Middleton and Brookfield, permanently protecting more working forest, wildlife habitat, scenic viewscape and trails for recreation.

Pierce Laskey-Rigrod, representing the Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative (SFWC), brought maps of the Salmon Falls watershed showing locations of important drinking water resources and adjacent land areas that are critical to protect in order to maintain clean drinking water. He emphasized that the most effective means to protect water quality is through permanent land conservation accomplished by a land trust, such as MMRG, working with landowners or towns. For more on the SFWC, see prepestuaries.org/initiatives/salmon-falls-watershed-collaborative/.

Amanda Stone of UNH Cooperative Extension presented the newly updated state Wildlife Action Plan, which seeks to restore rare and threatened wildlife species and their habitats, so that no new species get added to the list of endangered species, which are then more costly to help recover. For example, the Eastern Meadowlark, a bird with a black 'V' decorating its bright yellow breast, is declining in numbers because it needs 25 acres or more of open hay fields to breed and raise its young. In NH, this type of habitat quickly returns to shrub and forest unless maintained by mowing, so active management is required if we want to continue to hear the high sweet call of the Meadowlark in our state.

Stone brought maps showing locations of grassland (hay field) habitat and 17 other types of wildlife habitat land cover in NH. A second set of maps showed habitats by ranking; higher scores are given to rare plant and animal species, to large areas or those close to other highly ranked areas, and to areas impacted least by development or human presence. All seven of the towns served by MMRG have areas of highest ranked habitat in the state. To see or download the maps and the new Wildlife Action Plan, go to takingactionforwildlife.org/.

After giving a legislative update on bills related to conservation, Coates led the round table session, inviting Commissioners to share their recent successes or challenges or to stump him with a question they'd like answered. He emerged un-stumped, answering all questions and giving advice to Commissioners dealing with a variety of challenges. News and successes of the CCs included near completion of a Natural Resource Inventory (Wakefield), trail creation on the recently-