2010 Annual Report

Nort he a st Wil der ness T rust 2010 A N N UA L R E P O R T

VISION With every new acre conserved last year, we made real the vision of an intact landscape, whole and healthy, with freedom and habitat for all members of the land community.

A W i l d S u c c e ss a note from the President of the Board

I

n December, when the Northeast Wilderness Trust closed on the Piscataquis Preserve acquisition, I was struck again by how this organization blends its modest resources with boundless enthusiasm for wildlife to leverage tremendous conservation outcomes. Since its founding in 2002, the Wilderness Trust has helped many private landowners preserve wild places they love, and has developed complex conservation projects in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York.

These efforts in total exceed 8,500 acres where natural processes direct the ebb and flow of life, and resident creatures, from black bears to blackburnian warblers, need not fear the bulldozers of tomorrow.

The Piscataquis Preserve, which adds some 1,200 acres and three miles of river frontage to the Trust’s existing Alder Stream Preserve, contributes to this legacy of success. It’s also a milestone—and not just because of the rare stand of American chestnuts there—in an ongoing aggregation of

Piscataquis Preserve ©Jim Northup

conservation land in central Maine that now surpasses 20,000 acres. That effort, and the Wilderness Trust’s ongoing work to conserve the Split Rock Wildway in the eastern Adirondacks, were the heart of our land protection work in 2010, and exciting additions to both campaigns are already underway.

With every new acre we conserved last year, and every conserved acre safeguarded by our stewardship, we made real the vision of an intact landscape, whole and healthy, with freedom and habitat for all members of the land community.

With gratitude for your interest in our work to protect wild places and creatures, I’m pleased to share this retrospective of recent Northeast Wilderness Trust accomplishments. Along with the board and staff of the Trust, I welcome your continued support and participation in efforts to secure forever-wild habitat across the region.

Tom Butler

1

VALUES Our new Wild Carbon program is a direct extension of our mission and aims to mitigate and allow for adaptation to climate change.

W i l d Ca r b o n a note from the Executive Director

A

nnual reports typically describe dollars raised and projects completed, and this one is no different. Such benchmarks are useful for measuring organizational effectiveness, but they are only partial indicators of real success—the suite of values that accrue to nature and people when wilderness areas are protected. Beauty, wholeness, health, ecological integrity, and wildness are not easily quantified but they are of course the ultimate values resulting from the Northeast Wilderness Trust’s work.

The Trust’s recognition of its values compelled us to begin development of a program last year to address what may be the most pressing issue of our time—climate change. Our new Wild Carbon program, which involves the sequestration of carbon by wild forests, is a direct extension of our mission and aims to mitigate and allow for adaptation to climate change.

The Wild Carbon program will enable property owners who conserve their lands as forever wild to take credit for the carbon sequestered and to sell those carbon credits for cash. This is a true win-win-win situation. The land is conserved, protecting habitat for wildlife that must adapt to the effects of climate change.

Ancient white pine ©George Wuerthner

Future release of carbon by logging or other human actions is prohibited, guaranteeing that the land will continue to sequester carbon and slow the rate of climate change. And, the land provides revenues once the carbon credits are qualified and sold.

In early 2010, the Trust began qualifying carbon credits on two of its properties in Maine—Howland Research Forest and Alder Stream Preserve. We determined that conservation of these two properties resulted in the sequestration of 35,000 metric tons of carbon and will continue to sequester 2,000 tons of carbon per year. (Prices paid for carbon credits are about $10 per metric ton now and are expected to increase over time.) We hope to sell some of these credits in 2011, begin new Wild Carbon projects on lands owned by the Trust, and work with other landowners to develop Wild Carbon projects on their lands.

We hope this extraordinary confluence of values will fuel greatly increased interest in wildland conservation across the region in coming years.

Jim Northup

3

ACTION Since 2002, we've conserved 8,500 acres of wilderness for nature & people.

Greater Alder Stream/Piscataquis Watershed*

MontrĂŠal

CANADA

Piscataquis Preserve

Northern Greens Initiative

Babysitter Swamp

Bangor

Augusta

Brookfield Headwaters

Split Rock Wildway*

Anderson-Wells Homestead Preserve

Central New Hampshire Forestlands*

Northeast Wilderness Trust preserves and project areas

Concord

2010 projects

Dykema Property Albany

Howland Research Forest

Existing wilderness and similar conservation lands

Wapack Wilderness Boston

*

multiple conserved properties

2010 H I G H l I G H T S a The Northeast Wilderness Trust raised $1.94 million to

purchase the Piscataquis Preserve in central Maine. These 1,200 acres along the Piscataquis River contain mature American chestnut trees, expansive wetlands, and Atlantic salmon habitat.

a Our Split Rock Wildway effort, which aims to create a habitat linkage from the Adirondacks to Lake Champlain, was advanced by the purchase of the 80-acre Brookfield Headwaters property in Essex, New York. a We accepted the donation of a forever-wild easement on 37

acres of old forest and wetlands in Sandwich, New Hampshire.

a The Northeast Wilderness Trust’s Stewardship Fund

surpassed the $1 million mark. The fund helps pay for the ongoing cost of monitoring, restoring, and protecting our conservation lands.

a Using Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, we assessed the suitability of lands in Vermont’s Northern Green Mountains for forever-wild conservation.

a A new website was developed in 2010, and launched in April of 2011. Visit www.newildernesstrust.org to see beautiful images of the places we protect, learn more about our programs and projects, and find out how to get involved.

a We welcomed two dedicated conservationists to the Trust’s

board of directors. Marc Lapin is a well-known Vermont ecologist who teaches in the Environmental Studies Program at Middlebury College. Jim Dumont is an attorney and an adjunct faculty member at Vermont Law School.

a The launch of our Wild Carbon program showed

tremendous potential for helping landowners earn revenues from the sale of carbon credits while conserving land as forever wild, protecting wildlife habitat, and slowing the rate of climate change.

a The Trust moved its main office from Boston to Bristol,

Vermont, and bolstered its staff. The new location is more geographically central to the Trust’s work, has a stunning view of the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness, and costs less to operate.

5

M ai n e

Piscataquis Preserve (Atkinson, Maine) 1,200 acres

a

mixed forest, wetlands, and riparian habitat

With three miles of frontage on the Piscataquis River, crucial habitat for rare and endangered species, and a one-of-a kind grove of American chestnuts, the Northeast Wilderness Trust’s successful acquisition of the Piscataquis Preserve in December 2010 established an enduring wild legacy for Maine and the nation.

The stand of chestnuts in the Piscataquis Preserve is thought to be the largest grove of wild, reproducing American chestnuts in existence, anywhere. The Trust’s acquisition ensures that these trees will remain a seedbed of recovery—and a vital scientific resource for researchers with the American Chestnut Foundation.

The preserve includes 245 acres of “high value habitat” wetlands and is located in an area identified by the State of Maine as providing critically important habitat conditions.

Because of the national importance of these wetlands for migratory waterfowl, the Trust was able to secure a $1 million federal NAWCA (North American Wetlands Conservation Act) grant to help pay for the land’s conservation.

Adjacent to the 1,500-acre Alder Stream property that the Trust has owned since 2006, the Piscataquis Preserve extends the contiguous riverfront protection to roughly six miles and fills a critical piece in the 20,000-acre matrix of already conserved lands. This block of conserved wildland, timberland, and farmland acts as a vital habitat linkage for many wideranging mammals such as bear, marten, ermine, fisher, and possibly even the federally endangered Canada lynx.

The successful acquisition of the 1,200-acre Piscataquis

Preserve, combined with the 8,230 additional acres conserved to satisfy the “match” requirements of the federal grant, mark the completion of Phase I in the greater Piscataquis conservation campaign. During the 18-month Phase I campaign, the Trust raised a total of $1.94 million for the project. Contributions ranged from a $10 individual donation to the $1 million federal grant. Many foundations and scores of individuals from across the nation supported the project.

Piscataquis Preserve Phase II A second $1 million North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant was received in early 2011 to assist with the acquisition of a key property nearby—Piscataquis Preserve Phase II. Acquiring this 2,200-acre property, the last big hole in the doughnut of conserved lands in the area, will require the Trust to raise about $1 million in additional funds.

Completion of this next phase will conserve several hundred more acres of nationally important wetlands, completely protect lands along the Levenseller Brook, and conserve another 3,800 acres of match lands.

Black bear ©Susan C. Morse | Paddling Alder Stream ©Jim Northup | Mixed hardwood forest, Maine ©Antonio Vizcaíno

7

New York: Adirondacks

Brookfield Headwaters (Essex, New York) 81 acres

a

hardwood forest, wetlands

The 81-acre Brookfield Headwaters tract is one of hundreds of small parcels spread across several towns in the Split Rock Wildway in northeastern New York. The property has an ecologically rich, older forest of beautiful hardwoods and pines, and a large interior wetland teeming with birds and wildlife.

Acquisition of Brookfield Headwaters enables the Northeast Wilderness Trust to stop unauthorized motorized use along an old, abandoned road and to establish a pedestrian trail in its place.

The parcel links conserved properties on three sides, including lands owned by the Wilderness Trust on the north (Rowe) and east (Boquet Flats and Northwest Boquet Mountain), and a parcel owned by the Eddy Foundation on the south.

The Split Rock Wildway is an ambitious effort to protect a wildlife movement corridor linking the Split Rock Wild Forest along the shores of Lake Champlain to blocks of public land in the high peaks of New York’s Adirondack Mountains. The goal of the wildway is habitat connectivity—making sure wild

creatures have room to roam. With the purchase of Brookfield Headwaters, the Northeast Wilderness Trust has protected seven parcels in the Split Rock Wildway.

The property was purchased in 2010 from Steve Patnode and his brothers. The former landowner was very pleased to learn that a sale to the Trust meant that the land wouldn’t be logged

and that he would continue to have access to the property.

“Working with the organization was very easy,” said Steve, “and I’m glad I can still walk the land and enjoy it.”

The Trust has raised $80,000 for the Brookfield Headwaters project, and needs to raise an additional $45,000 to pay for the land’s acquisition, restoration, and long-term stewardship.

Science-based Conservation Planning of the Wildway The Trust is currently engaged in a multipartner effort to develop and implement a strategic, science-based conservation action plan for the Split Rock Wildway. University of Vermont graduate students completed field work in 2010, gathering information about the wildway as a basis for the action plan. Another UVM graduate student will be gathering more detailed information in 2011 about the barriers and bottlenecks, especially around roadways, that were identified.

In addition, the Trust recruited a team of local citizens to begin a longterm, landscape-scale effort of monitoring wildlife presence and movement in the Split Rock Wildway. Working in partnership with Keeping Track, a nonprofit organization that teaches people to identify wildlife tracks and other signs and monitor wildlife in their communities, 14 hearty souls began a field-oriented, year-long training program that will be completed in 2011. Training for a second team will begin this December. Eventually we hope to have teams working throughout the wildway.

Moose ©Susan C. Morse | Split Rock Wildway ©Jim Friday | Keeping Track students ©Susan C. Morse

9

N e w H ampshi r e

Homestead Preserve (Sandwich, New Hampshire) 37 acres

a

old forest, wetlands

In March of 2010, David and CC White donated a forever-wild easement on a 37-acre tract to the Northeast Wilderness Trust.

Located in the White Mountain National Forest's Sandwich Range, the Homestead Preserve contains mature forest, with some areas unlogged for more than a century, and abundant wetlands.

The land supports excellent wildlife habitat, contains eight natural communities, and is surrounded by other remote and highquality forest land, including a New Hampshire Audubon Society wildlife sanctuary. Ownership of this property was transferred to the Lakes Region Conservation Trust late in 2010. The Wilderness Trust, the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, and the Whites will continue to work together to steward this land.

Partnering with other nonprofits and private landowners, the Wilderness Trust has completed several other land conservation projects in central New Hampshire. A long-term aim is to connect the Sandwich Range with the Ossipee Mountains, a range south of the White Mountains and northeast of Lake Winnipesaukee.

Conservation Donors: The Whites David and CC White both grew up in New Hampshire but left in their youth, only to be lured back by the state’s mountains in 1998. They purchased 118 largely cut-over acres with an aspiration to live closer to the land. For the Whites, that has “turned into a realization of the importance of a sense of place: that feeling that the place we live is special, and that the constant search for the ‘perfect’ place only ends when one chooses a place and decides, ‘This is It.’ Then comes the work of recognizing and embracing just what it is that makes it special.”

For David and CC, embracing their special place has meant living simply, growing and preserving food, cutting wood for fuel, harvesting ice from Squam Lake for refrigeration, and unplugging from the electric grid.

In the beginning, the Whites accessed their homestead by driving through a deep, dark forest “with huge old pine trees, dense wetlands, and much evidence of animal activity and movement.” But they didn’t own that parcel and began to worry about the possibility of development or logging. When they were able to purchase the land in 2009, the Whites did so with the intention of protecting it with an easement, and then donating the land to a conservation organization. After learning of the Northeast Wilderness Trust through a neighbor and friend, they decided to donate a forever-wild easement to the organization. Recognizing the forest's ecological value, especially within a larger matrix of conserved land, the Trust accepted the transfer of the easement in March of 2010.

It’s important to preserve some land as forever wild because there’s not enough of it; things are way out of balance, and we need a mix of human development and wild places. Of course, many humans are fearful of anything wild, and consequently many wild things (places, animals, the wild places inside us, for example) have been eradicated. Human awareness of wild places is critical for the survival of the Earth. That doesn’t necessarily mean we have to totally understand that wild, nor do we all have to rush out and meditate, hike, camp, fish, and hunt in it, but we do need to be aware of it, and leave it be. —David and CC White

Hudsonian whiteface dragonfly ©Rick Van de Poll | Homestead Preserve ©Jim Northup | The Whites survey a wetland in the Homestead Preserve ©Jim Northup

11

fInAncIAl oVerVIeW

GrAnT SuPPorT

Revenue and Support

Aldemere foundation Alice Willard dorr foundation betterment fund burnham charitable Trust champlain Valley conservation Partnership conservation Alliance currents of change fund davis conservation fund elmina b. Sewall foundation enTrust fund fields Pond foundation Helen and William Mazer foundation leo Model foundation Morton kelly charitable Trust new York State land Trust Alliance open Space Institute/doris duke foundation orvis conservation Grant Program Pew charitable Trust Schow foundation STk foundation Sweet Water Trust Tarleton fund uS fish and Wildlife Service Wallace Genetic foundation

Federal Grant

$1,000,000

51%

Foundation Grants

$586,503

30%

Contributions

$249,301

13%

Donated Easement

$74,500

4%

Investment Income

$43,991

2%

$1,954,295

12 Expenditures Land Purchases

$1,245,000

76%

$221,537

14%

Management

$95,937

6%

Fundraising

$62,919

4%

Program Services

$1,625,393

northeast Wilderness Trust's independently audited ďŹ nancial statements and IrS form 990 are available upon request.

B o a r d O f Di r e c to r s

S ta f f

Tom Butler, Vermont—President Foundation for Deep Ecology

James Northup Executive Director

Spencer Phillips, PhD, Pennsylvania—Vice President The Wilderness Society

Jennifer Esser Development & Communications Coordinator

Merloyd Ludington, Massachusetts—Secretary Editor & Publisher David Berkowitz, Connecticut—Treasurer Private Investor Daryl J. Burtnett, New Hampshire New Hampshire Chapter of The Nature Conservancy Jim Dumont, Vermont Attorney Anne Faulkner, New Hampshire Conservation Landowner Carolyn Fine Friedman, Massachusetts The Fine Fund Virginia Harnden, New Hampshire Hampshire Country School

Rose Graves Conservation Director Brittany Graham Operations Manager

Northeast Wilderness Trust Conserving Forever-Wild Landscapes for Nature and People 21 Prince Lane, Suite 2 P.O. Box 405 Bristol, VT 05443 802.453.7880 info@newildernesstrust.org www.newildernesstrust.org www.facebook.com/newildernesstrust

Meredith Smith Director of Finance Janet Carlson Bookkeeper

Front cover image: Bobcat ©Susan C. Morse Back cover image: ©Jim Northup

Marc Lapin, PhD, Vermont Middlebury College Environmental Program

Like the cover image of the bobcat?

Contact us to request a poster.

Frank Robey, Maine Conservation Advocate

This report is printed on 100% post-consumer, processed chlorine-free stock.

Wilderness friends ©Anne Faulkner

W W W.NEWILDE RNESSTRUST.ORG