Forest Notes, Spring 2020

New Beginnings: Following Nature’s Lead in a Time of Uncertainty

SPRING 2020

forestsociety.org

#StewardshipMatters

Get Outside.

Conserved lands support our quality of life in New Hampshire.

Whether you choose to find a quiet fishing spot or a well-known hiking destination, Forest Society reservations are places to enjoy a range of outdoor activities. Take a deep breath of clean air, watch for wildlife, enjoy the view.

Our Stewardship Matters fund supports current land stewardship projects on our forest reservations throughout the state.

Every contribution counts. You can make a difference!

Visit forestsociety.org/StewardshipMatters to learn more and donate today.

TOM HOWE (AMMONOOSUC RIVER, BETHLEHEM)

The Forest Society’s mission includes saving and caring for the special places where people can connect with the natural world.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: SPRING 2020, No. 301

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16 DEPARTMENTS 2 FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK Hopeful thinking

4 THE WOODPILE

(THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT) JERRY MONKMAN/ECOPHOTOGRAPHY, GEOFF JONES, ZACH PEARO

The loss of a legend | Mission accomplished

7 IN THE FIELD

8

Guidelines for healthy forest recreation

14 THE FOREST CLASSROOM A mother’s quest to teach through tough times

FEATURE 8 Walking in Thoreau’s Footsteps Take a step back in time and relive American philosopher, poet, and environmental scientist Henry David Thoreau’s visits to one of his favorite mountains, Mount Monadnock.

16 ON OUR LAND Hi-tech meets easement stewardship

18 STAFF SPOTLIGHT Following her calling

20 NATURE’S VIEW Renewing our faith in nature amid a pandemic

22 STAYING CONNECTED Forest Society staff adapt to working from home

24 PUBLIC POLICY UPDATE Taking Earth Day to heart

26 CONSERVATION SUCCESS STORY A dream fulfilled in Sandwich

28 PROJECT IN PROGRESS New Beginnings:

Sustaining the places that sustain us

Following Nature’s Lead in a Time of Uncertainty

On our cover: SPRING 2020

forestsociety.org

A fern frond unfurls in a process called circinate vernation.

Photo: Jerry Monkman/Ecophotography.

29 MANY FACES OF CONSERVATION Nick Norris and friends

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 Bill Crangle, Plymouth Peter Fauver, North Conway Don Floyd, Concord Allyson Hicks, Concord Jason Hicks, Meredith Drew Kellner, Brookline Andy Lietz, Rye Nancy Martland, Sugar Hill Karen Moran, Webster Michael Morison, Peterborough Lorin Rydstrom, Hollis Tom Wagner, Campton Janet Zeller, Concord

STAFF EXECUTIVE Jack Savage, president Maria Stewart, executive assistant

FINANCE/ADMINISTRATION Tony Cheek, finance director Michelle Morse, human resources director Tina Ripley, administrative assistant Harriette Yazzie-Whitcomb, receptionist

MEMBERSHIP/DEVELOPMENT Linda Dammann, development associate Maria Finnegan, manager of individual giving Diane Forbes, senior director for development Susanne Kibler-Hacker, senior philanthropy advisor Allan Krygeris, senior technology specialist Sara Krzyzaniak, data processor Margaret Liszka, membership director Ann McCoy, development manager Meredith Reed O’Donnell, foundation relations manager Anne Truslow, vice president for development Brook Vigliotta, data processor

COMMUNICATIONS/OUTREACH PROGRAMS David Anderson, senior director of education Anna Berry, digital outreach manager Andy Crowley, land steward program coordinator Carrie Deegan, community engagement and volunteers director Ryan Smith, communications manager

POLICY/RESERVATION STEWARDSHIP Will Abbott, vice president of policy/reservation stewardship Frank Allen, building and grounds Nik Berube, building and grounds Rita Carroll, tree farm administrator Rebecca Darman, policy/reservation stewardship coordinator Steven Junkin, field forester Matt Leahy, policy manager Nigel Manley, director of north country properties Nathan Maser, christmas tree farm steward Carl Murphy, conservation center building manager Gabe Roxby, field forester Matt Scaccia, recreation manager Amanda St. Jean, office manager Wendy Weisiger, managing forester

LAND PROTECTION Abraham Ames, senior easement steward Connie Colton, land protection and stewardship coordinator Naomi Houle, easement stewardship manager Brian Hotz, vice president of land conservation Tom Howe, senior director of land conservation Emily Landry, easement steward Zach Pearo, easement steward Stacie Powers, easement steward

Hopeful Thinking

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s I sit in my hastily assembled home office, continuing the work of the Forest Society during the statewide stay-at-home order, I find myself engaging in hopeful thinking.

We’ve watched as thousands of similarly “homebound” people have taken to the woods for exercise, fresh air, and a restoration of spirit. Such has long been the case for many of our members—it’s part of what inspires you to support the forest conservation work we do.

A few of our more popular reservations were the destination for too many. Our Mount Major Reservation in Alton became the poster child for a phenomenon that the state’s most popular hiking spots experienced, with hundreds of cars overflowing the designated parking area.

We work so hard to welcome people to the woods, the last thing we want to do is turn them away. Especially during a time when cost-free access to trails is needed more than ever when so many are out of work and missing a paycheck. And yet, in places like Mount Major, there were too many at once given the threat of COVID-19.

Our response was to educate and to remind the individuals who grew into a crowd that we and our conservation partners have thousands of acres open for walking with plenty of room for all. Hike local, we urged. I was buoyed when we observed that people responded and crowding eased.

My hopeful thinking is that as we recover from the COVID-19 outbreak, we come away with a broader, deeper appreciation of the benefits of having open space in every community. Of the benefits of a simple walk in the woods, with family and the family dog. Of the clean air that forests provide.

I am hopeful that this surge in forest visitation will be more than a momentary response to being cooped up in a house involuntarily for weeks. I am hopeful that when we emerge from this remarkable period, it is with an understanding that stewardship of trails is not only important, but it is the responsibility of every user.

I am hopeful that the thousands who turned to the woods in their time of need remember the value of those visits, and speak out in favor of keeping forests as forests for decades to come.

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) FOREST SOCIETY FILES, EMILY LORD, RYAN SMITH, ELLEN KENNY

Icing on the Tree Studying ice storms in New Hampshire forestsociety.org/ice-storms

Our (Out)doors are Open Check out our stay local survival guide forestsociety.org/go-outside

Finding Peace in Nature Lessons from the Something Wild podcast forestsociety.org/finding-peace

This spring, photographer Ellen Kenny spied a large flock of cedar waxwings tearing apart crabapples at the Forest Society’s Merrimack River Outdoor Education & Conservation Area.

Tag #forestsociety on Instagram for a chance to be featured in a future issue of Forest Notes.

CONNECT WITH US! facebook.com/ForestSociety

@ForestSociety

@Forest_Society

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 2020 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:

Cosponsor

Underwriter

Member

Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 3

THE WOODPILE—NEWS NOT SO NEATLY STACKED

Left: Paul and Mary Louise Hancock attend an event at Grafton Pond.

Right: Paul (third from left) poses with colleagues at the dedication of the Paul O. Bofinger Conservation Area in Dummer.

The Loss of a Legend

By Will Abbott and Dave Anderson

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n March, the conservation world lost a remarkable visionary in Paul Bofinger.

A former Forest Society president/ forester of 35 years, Bofinger was a valued mentor who helped shape a myriad of careers in land conservation, natural science, education, policy, forestry, and philanthropy. His leadership as a conservation visionary resulted in the creation of new tools and tactics, including the advent and early use of deed restrictions and conservation easements in New Hampshire. “The impact of Paul’s conservation legacy is huge,” says Will Abbott, vice president of policy and reservation stewardship at the Forest Society. “It’s difficult to compress it, but in my view, four of his many career accomplishments stand out: the campaign for Current Use; the saving of Franconia Notch; the partnership between the Trust for NH Lands and the Land Conservation Investment Program; and the work at The Northern Forest Lands Council.”

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Campaigning for Current Use Early in his Forest Society career, Bofinger helped lead the statewide effort to enact an amendment to the New Hampshire Constitution to enable current use taxation, which taxed land at its “productive capacity.” In other words, land is taxed as a woodlot, open space, or a farm—not as a potential site for houses. Because the taxes are consistent with the land use, it is easier for landowners to keep their open space undeveloped. The 1968 ballot referendum was approved by New Hampshire voters, creating the most significant land conservation initiative in the State’s history.

Bofinger helped lead the charge. A week before the 1968 vote, it became clear the vote would be close. Bofinger leafletted cars all over Concord with a handbill asking voters to support the constitutional amendment. Concord voters adopted the amendment by a slim margin, leading Bofinger to conclude his leafletting was

a worthwhile investment of time. Today, more than half of the state’s landscape is enrolled in current use. The character of New Hampshire would be very different had the vote gone the other way.

A Parkway Runs Through It Under Bofinger’s leadership, the Forest Society worked with the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Conservation Law Foundation, and other conservation organizations and citizen groups to limit the size of Interstate 93 as it travels through Franconia Notch State Park.

The Forest Society was the leader in establishing the Franconia Notch State Park in 1928 and it operated The Flume until the State created the State Park Agency in 1948. Bofinger created the White Mountain Environment Committee and engaged numerous groups to join and to lead the advocacy efforts on behalf of the establishment of a Franconia Notch

Parkway that conserved the experience and ecology of the notch.

After the opponents of the four-lane highway won a substantial victory in federal court and passed a key amendment to the federal highway act, highway planners became convinced that a two-lane parkway could meet future public transportation needs. Bofinger remained vigilant throughout the design and construction process, which was expanded to include major improvements to the notch’s state park facilities. Thanks to his vision and determination, and those who joined the fight, the scenic experience of Franconia Notch was preserved for future generations.

Joining Forces Bofinger took a well-earned sabbatical in the mid-1980s, during which he spent time in Europe visiting with conservationists and foresters. He came back with the novel idea for New Hampshire to create a new public–private partnership to leverage a one-time, large public investment in the conservation of important lands and landscapes. The Forest Society created a separate nonprofit organization called the Trust for New Hampshire Lands (TNHL) to work with the new six-year-old state agency called the Land Conservation Investment Program (LCIP). TNHL would provide the planning and staffing capacity to seek out landowners to apply for competitive grants to be awarded by LCIP.

And LCIP would provide infrastructure for the state to use when deciding what projects to fund and then execute these transactions with TNHL staff. LCIP also provided state stewardship of the resulting assets. In all, more than 360 transactions were completed, including new acquisitions of land for the public use and new acquisitions of conservation easements to be publicly held to protect exceptional conservation values of statewide significance. A feature of this unique partnership is that grants were made to municipalities for the permanent conservation of lands that New Hampshire towns themselves deemed important locally. These investments would never have happened without Bofinger’s political leadership and perseverance.

The Northern Forest Lands Council By the 1980s, paper companies began to sell large blocks of forestland and close older, less profitable paper mills. Bofinger was concerned about the future of company-owned forestland, and he helped convince the U.S. Forest Service to study options for the future protection of these lands as working forests under some form

of private ownership.

The Forest Service asked the governors of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine to each appoint three people from their respective states to serve on a working study committee.

Bofinger was one of New Hampshire’s representatives.

The committee led to the creation of the Northern Forest Lands Council, which identified strategies and public policies that would conserve the northern forests in these four states. Ultimately, the states succeeded in finding new ways to keep these lands largely intact, including an effort in New Hampshire to place a conservation easement on 161,400 acres of the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters, a privately owned working forest in three northern New Hampshire towns. One lasting contribution of the Northern Forest Lands Council was the creation of the Concord-based Northern Forest Center, which works to promote and develop the working forest economies in the region. Bofinger was a founding board member.

Online: Read more about Paul Bofinger’s life and legacy at forestsociety.org/ enduring-legacy.

FOND MEMORIES

GEOFF JONES (X4)

Will Abbott remembers how Paul often affectionately referred to the Forest Society as “The Mother Society” as a reminder that what’s best for New Hampshire as a whole is usually the best course of action for the organization to pursue.

Senior Director of Education Dave Anderson recalls Paul's more colorful phrasing: “Paul had a knack for colloquialism, possibly inventing new ones. He would not hesitate to fire off missives, which were recorded on bright yellow memos titled ‘From the Desk of Paul Bofinger.’ While trained and licensed as a New Hampshire forester, Paul’s legacy seems less about managing trees and more about successfully building coalitions of individuals and groups to

accomplish broad land conservation and policy initiatives. Paul was effective in politics and conservation finance. His persuasion skills remain legendary. Paul was a pioneer, an architect, and mastermind for the boldest New Hampshire land conservation milestones of the past century."

Forest Society President Jack Savage says, “It was an honor to know Paul, and I appreciated hearing his perspective early on when I was editor of Forest Notes. His legacy of accomplishment in the twentieth century sets a high standard for the Forest Society going forward through the twenty-first century.”

Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 5

THE WOODPILE—NEWS NOT SO NEATLY STACKED

From left: Dick Widhu and his son Colin (pictured) explore Brundage Forest’s Mud Pond; Dick visits Moose Mountains Reservation in 2019.

Nashua’s Dick Widhu Visits All 185 Forest Society Reservations

By Ryan Smith On October 5, 2019, Dick Widhu, 77, and his son Colin, 35, drove to Stratford, N.H., on a mission unlike any other.

Resting on the eastern banks of the Connecticut River in the Upper Valley, Stratford is a quaint, pastoral town. The duo came to Stratford to visit a Forest Society reservation that doesn’t have a parking lot, concessions, or even a map— just a name: Richardson Forest. Without any official trails or public access points, the 14-acre reservation is hard to locate save for some sporadic signage on the property boundary. “We only found the reservation by recognizing where two branches of the Bissell Brook converge, as shown on the GPS,” said Dick. Finding remote Forest Society reservations is part of the game for Dick, who has been on a quest for the last two years to visit all 185 Forest Society reservations dotted across the state. He’s visited popular reservations such as Creek Farm in Portsmouth, High Five in Deering, Mount Major in Alton, 6 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2020

and also more inconspicuous ones, like Richardson, that are free of trails and tourists.

After exploring the property, Dick and Colin got in their car and drove north to visit the Forest Society’s Brundage Forest in Pittsburg—the last property on Dick’s list. They parked at the reservation’s sign and hiked a gravel road for a while until they decided to bushwhack to Mud Pond. “[Visiting Brundage] was a memorable highlight of my quest, especially because my son wanted to join me for the finish,” said Dick. The Nashua native is the first person to visit every Forest Society reservation, but what’s even more remarkable is the resume that he’ll add this accomplishment to. Dick has hiked New Hampshire’s 48 4,000-foot mountains, New England’s 100 highest mountains, and just to make things interesting, he has visited the highest point in every town in New Hampshire— that’s 250 total for those who are

counting—among many other feats. This spring, Dick signed up to become a volunteer land steward at the Forest Society’s Heald Tract in the towns of Wilton, Temple, Greenville, and Mason.

Dick says he’s going to enjoy returning to one of his favorite properties as a volunteer to help maintain the nearly 1,500 acres of forests, lakes, and streams.

When asked if he planned to start another hiking list anytime soon, Dick chuckled and said, “I’d like to focus more on the woods than lists these days. I want to be more observant and develop a greater appreciation for the natural world.” We couldn’t agree more.

Ryan Smith is the communications manager and Forest Notes editor for the Forest Society.

Learn More: Visit forestsociety.org/reservationguide to plan your next trip to a Forest Society reservation.

IN THE FIELD

Walking the Talk: Guidelines for Healthy Forest Recreation The Forest Society advises hikers to seek out local conservation lands rather than the most popular reservations, such as Mount Major and Monadnock, in order to maintain distancing protocols.

Governor Chris Sununu even issued a “Home Hike Challenge,” emphasizing that Granite Staters should hike close to home and off the beaten path. For more, visit forestsociety.org/find-local-hike.

Let the Forest Society bring the outdoors to your fingertips via its live Facebook broadcasts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Visit facebook.com/forestsociety for details or visit forestsociety.org/ our-outdoors-are-open for other online educational activities and events.

Please follow the guidelines at right if you are planning a hike.

Can you transform a house into a forest? Yes! With Assets to Acres Your Gift of Developed Real Estate Can Help Protect New Hampshire’s Special Places

(OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM LEFT) DICK WIDHU, EMILY LORD

Most people know that the Forest Society accepts donations of conservation land and conservation easements. But did you know that the Forest Society also accepts gifts of other real estate?

Donations of houses, cottages, house lots and even woodlots that can be sold by the Forest Society generate funds that will be used to purchase important conservation lands and provide for the stewardship of our forest reservations and conservation easements.

For more information on converting your “asset” into conserved “acres,” contact Anne Truslow by calling 603-224-9945 or emailing atruslow@forestsociety.org, or visit

Ellen Kennelly donated this summer house in Dublin surrounded by 49 protected acres to the “Assets to Acres” program.

forestsociety.org/A2A Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 7

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I doubt if in the landscape there can be anything finer than a distant mountain-range.

They are a constant elevating influence.�

Monadnock through the Eyes and Mind of Thoreau

JERRY MONKMAN/ECOPHOTOGRAPHY

——

by Matt Scaccia

Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 9

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Between 1844 and 1860, literary icon Henry David Thoreau visited Mount Monadnock on four separate occasions to explore its wild and isolated wonders and to offer perspective and observations about a place that is appreciated by many. For centuries, Monadnock has served as an inspirational setting, including for Thoreau, who regarded the mountain as one of his most favored over the course of his life.

Few authors in the realm of American environmental literature are regarded as influential as Thoreau, who is considered one of the forebears of the contemporary environmental movement in the United States. Living most of his life in Concord, Mass., he became a leading contributor to the emerging philosophy of Transcendentalism, which also had its roots in Greater Boston. According to Roderick Frasier Nash, “the core of Transcendentalism was the belief that a correspondence or parallelism existed between the higher realm of spiritual truth and the lower one of material objects. For this reason natural objects assumed importance because, if rightly seen, they reflected universal spiritual truths.”1 Acting upon this philosophy, Thoreau sought experiences across the natural landscapes of New England where he grew—not only as a writer and scholar—but also as a botanist and naturalist. His recollections of these excursions are memorialized in some of his most well-known works, including A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849), The Maine Woods (1864), and his seminal work, Walden (1854). Although Thoreau doesn’t mention Monadnock in Walden, the mountain is clearly visible from the cliff on the other side of the lake from his shack.2

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more than 4,500 acres, including the majority of its upper slopes.

Today, Monadnock is cooperatively managed by the Forest Society and New Hampshire State Parks and is climbed by more visitors annually than any other mountain in the country.

Thoreau’s Observations, Thoughts, and Travels Thoreau’s four visits in 1844, 1852, 1858, and 1860 took place during a relatively transitional phase in the natural and human history of the mountain. Sheep pasturing was commonplace at lower elevations, as it was throughout New England, and the mountain had the treeless, bald summit it does today, though

As much as Thoreau himself stood out as a distinctive individual, Monadnock also “stands alone” as one of New England’s most striking and individual mountains.

Significance of Monadnock As much as Thoreau himself stood out as a distinctive individual, Monadnock also “stands alone” as one of New England’s most striking and individual mountains. Designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1987, the 3,165-foot mountain serves as the visual and cultural centerpiece of southwestern New Hampshire and, over the generations, has drawn the interest of a great variety of notable writers, painters, and other artists. “The more recent cultural history from the time of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau are as significant as Monadnock’s physical geography and geological interest,” says Dave Anderson, Forest Society senior director of education.

The value of its natural and cultural landscape was not overlooked by the Forest Society, which began acquiring and conserving portions of the mountain in 1915 and now owns 10 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2020

conflicting hypotheses have been given to account for why this was the case. In 1852, a man from Peterborough, N.H., told Thoreau that local lore surmised that “Monadnock used to be covered with forest, that fires ran through it and killed the turf; then the trees were blown down, and their roots turned up and formed a dense and impenetrable thicket in which the wolves abounded. They came down at night, killed sheep, etc., and returned to their dens, whither they could not be pursued, before morning; till finally they set fire to this thicket, and it made the greatest fire they had ever had in the county, and drove out all the wolves.”3 According to Patrick Hummel, a former park manager of Monadnock State Park, it is likely the mountain already had a mostly bald summit before the two major fires that are credited with clearing the top occurred in 1800 and 1820. Indeed, bare rock on the summit and a measurable treeline had been observed by surveyor James Winthrop in 1780. Additionally, a written account of the first recorded ascent by Samuel Willard in 1725 described the mountain in terms where the mountain might not have been fully tree covered. Hummel also wonders about the need for settlers to have deliberately set fires on Monadnock as a response to the threat of wolves. “The 1820 fire is often credited as the ‘wolf fire’ on Monadnock, but by 1820, nearly every wolf in the entire region had already been killed,” Hummel says. “The hunt for the last wolf is documented and it was actually killed

(THIS PAGE, FROM TOP) JERRY MONKMAN/ECOPHOTOGRAPHY, FOREST SOCIETY FILES

A pair of hikers take in the dramatic views from Monadnock’s open summit.

near the mountain after a nine-day track and hunt by locals that same year. So, if wolves were already decimated, was there a need to set fire to the mountain to drive them out?” Additionally he suggests that setting the mountain on fire would only disperse any potentially remaining wolves at that time and would not solve the perceived issue. Given what is known today, it can be reasoned that Thoreau was probably unintentionally misled by this local account he heard of wolves and fires on Monadnock.

Thoreau visited Monadnock at a time when it was still relatively isolated and not as accessible as it is today. Currently, there are more than 40 miles of trails on the mountain, most of which were established since Thoreau’s last visit. In addition, the mountain is now actively managed as a state park, which was not the case when he visited. Established rules and guidelines now encourage visitors to practice low-impact hiking principles, which, under current park rules, Thoreau did not follow. During

Thoreau’s explorations, he collected and removed plant specimens, hiked off designated trails, and even camped and built a fire near the summit of the mountain.

Thoreau wrote relatively less in his journals about his first visit in 1842, only writing a few lines about that experience, but subsequently wrote more about his following visits. In each of these instances, he was known to have spent either one or two days on the mountain. His 1860 trip, however, lasted nearly a week and he wrote extensively about this adventure in his journal, carefully cataloging the flora, fauna, birds, and geology of the mountain. It is worth noting, based on his journal entries for each of these four trips, that he appeared to be mainly documenting his thoughts and observations for himself. His entries are generally absent of philosophical musings and focus more on his pure enjoyment of the mountain.

ALL IN THE NAME: THOREAUINSPIRED LOCATIONS IN MONADNOCK RESERVATION Thoreau’s Bog: Thoreau visited this high-mountain feature and described its characteristics in his journal entry from June 3, 1858.

Though the bog is named after Thoreau, visitation is not encouraged due to the fragile nature of this site.

Thoreau Trail: This short quarter-mile trail on Monadnock’s south side is found north of the Halfway House Site and is an offshoot from the Point Surprise Trail.

Thoreau’s Seat: This impressive boulder is located at the easterly end of the Thoreau Trail. It is not believed that Thoreau actually sat in this particular location, but it was named in honor of him by Scott Smith, the creator of many trails surrounding the Halfway House Site.

Thoreau’s Seat.

Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 11

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During his visit in June 1858, he camped for two nights near the summit with his friend, Harrison Blake. As they made their approach by train en route to the Troy Railroad Depot, Thoreau described the mountain in profound terms: Its sublime gray mass—that antique, brownish-gray, Ararat color. Probably these crests of the earth are for the most part of one color in all lands, that gray color of antiquity, which nature loves; color of unpainted wood, weather-stain, time-stain; not glaring nor gaudy; the color of all roofs, the color of things that endure, and the color that wears well; color of Egyptian ruins, of mummies and all antiquity; baked in the sun, done

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Upon descending the mountain, he noted that “it is remarkable how, as you are leaving a mountain and looking back at it from time to time, it gradually gathers up its slopes and spurs to itself into a regular whole, and makes a new and total impression. The lofty beaked promontory which, when you were on the summit, appeared so far off and almost equal to it, seen now against the latter, scarcely deepens the tinge of bluish, misty gray on its side.”7 While many of his natural observations from his first three visits also apply to his final visit in August 1860, it was during this last visit that Thoreau had his most immersive experience on Monadnock over a six-day period. On this trip, Thoreau and Ellery Channing, a friend from Concord, approached the mountain on foot by way of Perkins Pond from the southwest. Thoreau reused the same campsite that he and Blake had used two years earlier for some of these nights. His primitive campsite consisted of “spruce boughs, made a thick bed and walls on two sides…putting several poles transversely across…two rafters (and) covered them with a thick roof of spruce twigs, like shingles.”8 His campsite was just hidden enough to be invisible to the average visitor to the summit.

On this visit, he encountered quite a few day hikers:

They who simply climb to the peak of Monadnock have seen but little of the mountain. I came not to look off from it, but to look at it. brown. Methought I saw the same color with which Ararat and Caucasus and all earth’s brows are stained, which was mixed in antiquity and receives a new coat every century; not scarlet, like the crest of the bragging cock, but that hard, enduring gray; a terrene sky-color; solidified air with a tinge of earth.4

Upon setting up their campsite, Thoreau found a small nest with three eggs, which belonged to a dark-eyed junco, the most common bird found on that part of the mountain, according to his observations. A more unsettling find on the summit were the inscriptions made by past visitors, including “one, who was probably a blacksmith, had sculptured the emblems of his craft, an anvil and hammer, beneath his name. Apparently, a part of the regular outfit of mountain-climbers is a hammer and cold-chisel.

Certainly, you could not hire a stone-cutter to do so much engraving for less than several thousand dollars. But no Old Mortality will ever be caught renewing these epitaphs. It reminds what kinds of steeps do climb the false pretenders to fame, whose chief exploit is the carriage of the tools with which to inscribe their names. For speaking epitaphs they are, and the mere name is a sufficient revelation of the character.”5 That night, Thoreau woke at 1 a.m. to watch the moon and to listen to nighthawks and then woke again at 3 a.m. to watch the sunrise. As he explored the summit the following day, he remarked that “it is a very unique walk, and would be almost equally interesting to take though it were not elevated above the surrounding valleys. It often reminded me of my walks on the beach, and suggested how much both depend for their sublimity on solitude and dreariness. In both cases we feel the presence of some vast, titanic power.”6

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One noon, when I was on the top, I counted forty men, women, and children—around me, and more were constantly arriving while others were going.

Certainly more than one hundred ascended in a day.

When you got within thirty rods you saw them seated in a row along the gray parapets, like the inhabitants of a castle on a gala-day; and when you behold Monadnock’s blue summit fifty miles off in the horizon, you may imagine it covered with men, women, and children in dresses of all colors, like an observatory on a muster-field. They appeared to be chiefly mechanics and farmers’ boys and girls from the neighboring towns. The young men sat in rows with their legs dangling over the precipice, squinting through spy-glasses and shouting and hallooing to each new party that issued from the woods below.

Some were playing cards; others were trying to see their house or their neighbor’s. Children were running about and playing as usual. Indeed, this peak in pleasant weather is the most trivial place in New England.

There are probably more arrivals daily than at any of the White Mountain houses. Several were busily engraving their names on the rocks with cold-chisels, whose incessant clink you heard, and they had but little leisure to look off.9

While on the summit, Thoreau seemed more interested in the geology of the peak itself than the surrounding viewshed: They who simply climb to the peak of Monadnock have seen but little of the mountain. I came not to look off from it, but to look at it. The view of the pinnacle itself from the plateau below surpasses any view you get from the summit. It is indispensable to see the top itself and the sierra of its outline from one side.

The great charm is not to look off from a height but to walk over this novel and wonderful rocky surface…it is remarkable what haste the visitors make to get to the top of the mountain and then look away from it.10 After being long since forgotten, the location of his campsite was rediscovered by Herbert W. Gleason, an early Thoreau scholar, in 191811 using the descriptions of the site written by Thoreau in his journals. At the time, several remnants of the shelter and stones placed there were still in place and it was possible for Gleason to lie down and see the same overlook as Thoreau had.

In his journal, Thoreau had begun to plan for the needed provisions for a fifth visit to Monadnock, though he never ended up making the trip. He died less than two years later in 1862 at the age of 44.

Part of Thoreau’s overall intention of writing about his various experiences in nature was to demonstrate to others the value of living with a reverence for the natural world. This guiding purpose throughout his life was certainly grounded in his Transcendentalist philosophy. In the decades following his visits, the need to protect the mountain from the contemporary problems of careless logging and other forms of possible development became clear to many people. His appreciation for the wild splendor of Monadnock was not unique to him as groups such as the Forest Society endeavored to protect the mountain for purposes of renewal and inspiration and for countless future visitors. Today, Monadnock continues to serve as a place that provides an opportunity for self-discovery, a sense of awe, and a call to explore.

The Forest Society, in partnership with New Hampshire State Parks, continues to play an active role in stewarding Mount Monadnock for a variety of conservation, recreational, and public benefits. Each summer, the Forest Society hosts Monadnock Trails Week (pictured above), which tackles multi-day trail improvement projects with the support of many volunteers. Sustainable timber harvesting also continues to be a key strategy for managing portions of the reservation while another 2,783 acres have been designated as ecological reserve areas.

Before You Go: + In response to COVID-19, New Hampshire State Parks will be using its online day use reservation system at Monadnock State Park and suspending all cash transactions where feasible.

Visitors are encouraged to use the self-pay stations and the online reservation system. Visit nhstateparks.org/visit/stateparks/monadnock-state-park for park fees and visitor information. + Pets are not permitted in the park. Please note that this law includes all trails and areas on Mount Monadnock that are within Monadnock State Park boundaries.

Matt Scaccia is the recreation manager for the Forest Society.

Reference List 1. Nash, Roderick Frasier. Wilderness and the American Mind. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001. 85.

2. Brandon, Craig. Monadnock: More than a Mountain. Keene, NH: Surry Cottage Books, 2007. 224.

3. Thoreau, Henry David. The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, no. 5 (September 1852): 345–346 4. Thoreau, Henry David. The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, no. 10, chapter 11 (June 1858): 452–453 5. Ibid., 459.

6. Ibid., 473.

7. Ibid., 477–478.

8. Ibid., 455.

EMILY LORD

9. Thoreau, Henry David. The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, no. 14, chapter 1 (August 1860): 36–37.

10. Ibid., 39–40.

11. Chamberlain, Allen. Annals of the Grand Monadnock. Concord, NH: Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, 1936. 74.

Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 13

THE FOREST CLASSROOM

Spring Marches On

By Anna Berry

M

y favorite season was cancelled.

Well, not really. It’s been a bountiful sugaring season in New Hampshire, and there’s still work going on as sap is boiled down to syrup. But the state’s annual March Maple Weekend was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. It was a reasonable response amid a devastating month for humanity.

It is interesting, however, how life always finds a way—even in the darkness—and maybe that’s why we set our human lives to nature’s clock.

Growing up in Alaska, March did not mean the start of mud season. It was practically mid-winter and only a little warmer than the time around the winter solstice when temperatures bottomed out at 40 below zero for weeks at a time. March (my birth month) meant watching dogsled races on the frozen banks by the river and the annual ice carving festival.

My dad would make elaborate sledding trails through the woods in front of my house for my birthday parties and it was assumed that you’d bring your snowsuit to spend the afternoon careening down the hill. I never understood what the March 21 equinox signified because there were few signs of spring until the end of April.

In New Hampshire, as I’ve learned since moving here 15 years ago, March unfolds as a different story. What Alaskans call break-up season, New Englanders call mud season. I look forward to the purple crocuses popping up out of the snow—or, in some years, from underneath brittle leaves—just as I complete another year around the sun.

I’ve learned to love my adopted state as my own and one of my favorite signs of the changing seasons is the annual Maple Weekend, when visitors are invited into steamy sugarhouses to share the lore of a centuries-old tradition. To be honest, 14 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2020

I didn’t grow up with real maple syrup as a staple on the table. But we did dabble in boiling down birch sap and we’d make a rosehip syrup in the fall that was a welcome addition to sourdough pancakes come January.

Now that I’m raising New Hampshire– born children, I’m trying to instill my love of the outdoors in them, including an affinity for all things maple. Each year, our family drives into the countryside to visit a friend’s sugarhouse. We eat our weight in maple cotton candy and experiment with pulling maple candy from fresh snow. We’ve also taken a very muddy tractor ride to The Maple Museum at The Rocks in Bethlehem, one of the Forest Society’s reservations.

From top: Close to home, 4-year-old Evan Berry experimented with hugging a tree to create calm feelings; purple crocuses emerging from fresh snow are a sure sign of spring in New Hampshire.

Consulting Foresters This year, we’re planning to spend the spring closer to home to protect ourselves from coronavirus and help save the lives of those we don’t know, too. My 4-and-ahalf-year-old twins aren’t old enough to understand what’s going on or why their childcare center is closed. With the world in upheaval, I’ve found that children light the way.

They remind me to notice the wild world outside—even if it’s only as far as our backyard. And, as we try to keep some aspects of our lives consistent, for their sake and ours, our connection to the outdoors is nonnegotiable.

Last weekend, we tried an easy experiment outside and hugged a tree. It sounds silly but science says that literally putting your arms around a tree—any tree—

increases your levels of oxytocin, which can instill a sense of calm. It’s also a pretty easy ask for kids to try.

First, we measured how far our arms could go around a tree. Then, we took a photo of the tree bark to upload into iNaturalist, an app that allows you to photograph wildlife and wild species you observe and quickly crowdsource identification if you provide your location.

We also looked for signs of spring, emerging buds on branches and green stems poking up from thawing earth, and listened for birds and animals who might be returning to the woods. No matter what happens in our lives, spring marches on.

Anna Berry is the digital outreach manager for the Forest Society.

NATURE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Today, it’s easier than ever to grow your connections to the natural world. The Forest Society and many other local nonprofits are offering a myriad of digital and virtual educational resources for all ages.

Here are a few that might be of interest: Our (Out)doors are Open* The Forest Society is offering a number of educational resources on its website and social media pages. Visit our Facebook page each week for live presentations or check out our website for local hikes. facebook.com/ForestSociety; forestsociety.org/find-local-hike Digital Classrooms The New Hampshire Agriculture in the Classroom organization runs a special program that brings classes of students to farms. They also provide online curriculum to schools and families, from maple recipes for preschoolers to a lesson on sap value calculation for middle schoolers. agclassroom.org/NH/ The Nature Conservancy opened Nature Lab, a hub for youth curriculum on exploring and understanding nature. nature.org

ANNA BERRY (X2)

Wildlife cameras Peep in on live video of a peregrine falcon nest on top of a high-rise building in Manchester, via the NH Audubon, or watch other animal broadcasts from around the country. nhaudubon.org *As of press time, our forest reservations were open. We encourage hikers to stay local and visit a lower-trafficked reservation to follow social distancing recommendations. Up-to-date information is available at forestsociety.org/reservation-guide.

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

The following are paid advertisers.

Calhoun & Corwin Forestry, LLC Realize what you value the most in your forest.

Serving individual, municipal, state, non-government, and industry forest owners.

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

Meadowsend Consulting Company Jeremy Turner NHLPF #318 — Central/Southern NH Email: jgturner@mtlforests.com Ryan Kilborn NHLPF #442 — Northern NH Email: rkilborn@mtlforests.com A division of Meadowsend Timberlands Ltd. Comprehensive forest and wildlife management, serving the conscientious New Hampshire landowner.

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P.O. Box 966, New London, NH 03257 603-526-8686 www.mtlforests.com

FORECO: Forest Resource Consultants Complete forest management services Offering three licensed foresters, licensed land surveyor

P.O. Box 597, Rumney, NH 03266 • 603-786-9544 P.O. Box 161, Contoocook, NH 03229 • 603-746-4846 Email: office@forecollc.com

F&W Forestry Services Inc. Comprehensive forestry management and land brokerage services.

79 River Street, Suite 301 Montpelier, VT 05602 • 802-233-8644 x 23

Martin Forestry Consulting, LLC Offering complete forest management services including timber sales, cruises, and appraisals and wildlife habitat management.

P.O. Box 89, New Hampton, NH 03256 • 603-744-9484 Email: martinforestry@gmail.com

Licensed foresters should address inquiries about advertising to Diane Forbes by calling 603-224-9945 or emailing dforbes@forestsociety.org.

Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 15

ON OUR LAND

The Evolution of Technology and its Impact on Stewardship

By Zach Pearo

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he Forest Society’s Easement Stewardship Department monitors nearly 800 conservation easements covering approximately 130,000 privately and publicly owned acres across New Hampshire. The department’s monitoring system is constantly evolving as stewards identify and develop new technologies that save the Forest Society time and money and support other internal conservation efforts.

In the early 2000s, the stewardship department consisted of 2 to 3 stewards who monitored fewer than 150 properties each year. Before visiting an easement, stewards would tediously sift through data, some improperly stored, in physical folders and on the computer. This process hampered the number of visits a steward could perform in a year. To increase efficiency in 2003, the department moved its records to a Microsoft Access platform database called Conservation Connections. By 2017, the Forest Society realized its data management capabilities were no longer sufficient, and as a result, it moved its database to LOCATE (Land Organization Conservation Activity Tracking Entity), an app made for land trusts and owned by cloud-based software company Salesforce.

The app stores past monitoring reports, landowner information, property comments and directions, and it is accessible from anywhere there is cell service. The app allows stewards more time to understand each property’s unique restrictions and accurately interpret a property’s deed.

It also provides information for stewards to answer any questions landowners might have, including topics about forestry, building structures, and alternative energy.

Having a clear understanding of the property also improves safety when stewards 16 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2020

A Forest Society volunteer learns how to use a sighting compass to accurately follow a conservation easement boundary. travel alone into an often secluded, rugged landscape. “LOCATE allows staff to have all the information they might possibly need to know about a property at their fingertips. With our old database, stewards had to wait until they got back to a computer to access contact information, directions, and other valuable property data that could have saved them lots of time if they could access it remotely,” says Easement Stewardship Manager Naomi Houle.

Other technological advances have improved stewards’ ability to track and report property boundaries while in the field. In the early 2000s, stewards would follow property boundaries by using a compass and survey map: old technology in a digital world. Over the years, the Forest Society stewards switched to handheld GPS units, which could store boundary information and reduce the amount of map and compass work. Since 2016, the

Forest Society has equipped all easement stewards with smartphones that contain third-party apps, such as GAIA GPS and Locus Map Pro, which record the track taken during a property visit. At the start of each monitoring season, stewards upload the most current property boundaries (for all 750-plus properties) to the apps and download satellite imagery and topographic maps onto their phones, so if cell service is lost, stewards can still accurately see where they are. Stewards always carry a compass and survey map in case the technology fails. “The amount of time these simple applications save for the stewards is incredible. Imagine if they were still coming back to the office and hand-drawing their tracks on a printed out map?” Houle says. “The apps also improve the stewards’ safety in the field. Having these resources in their pockets ensures they’re educated about the property’s terrain and even

Left: The Forest Society’s Easement Stewardship Department: (from left) Abraham Ames, Connie Colton, Emily Landry, Naomi Houle, Stacie Powers, and Zach Pearo.

EMILY LORD (X3)

Right: Volunteers learn to use navigational equipment during the 2019 Volunteer Easement Monitoring Program training event.

helps them know where to park their cars prior to a visit.” These apps give stewards the flexibility to continuously scan the property and hike in and around the interior without fear of getting lost. This workflow has dramatically increased the number of properties the department monitors every year.

Stewards are also responsible for collecting property data in the field, including photos, access points, survey markers, and locations of violations.

During property visits 15–20 years ago, stewards would photograph issues, such as dump locations within the easement, and document the collected data on paper.

If this data happened to be improperly filed, it might be hard to find and, as a result, a steward might record the same data year after year. Within the last few years, the stewardship department has developed its own custom data collection system with an app called Survey123 created by Esri. Stewards can identify a feature in the field, collect its GPS coordinates, take a photo, and automatically upload that information to the app’s shared database. Survey123 easily shares the information with other Esri apps, such as ArcGIS Pro (a desktop mapping application), allowing the stewardship

staff to quickly access the data when needed across multiple applications.

The department also monitors properties from the sky. In the 90s and early 2000s, stewards would take aerial photos of properties from a plane flown by a Forest Society volunteer pilot. After the pilot retired, the department began working with companies that could use a list of properties to plan flight routes and photograph the properties without a steward onboard. By comparing photos taken year to year, stewards are able to identify new property structures as well as observe any changes in tree cover due to forestry activities. In order to capture clear imagery, the photographs must be taken during a limited window in the spring and the fall when there is no snow on the ground or leaves on the trees. This method has yielded inconsistent image capture over the years and has forced easement stewardship staff to consider satellite imagery, a potentially more reliable alternative.

Historically, this satellite imagery has been costly, but an emerging company has found a way to make it affordable for

nonprofit organizations. “We’re looking forward to working with this new company and are optimistic that our imagery woes will be no longer,” Houle says.

Advances in smartphone technology and aerial monitoring enabled the department to monitor 420 properties in 2019— the most visits on record in a single monitoring season. Stewards also captured more property data than in previous years.

Technology has not only made it possible for the stewardship staff to monitor more properties, it has also made it easier to identify and solve problems at a much faster rate than before. As technology continues to evolve, Houle and her team of easement stewards are excited to see what’s next: “The improvements made this past year alone by the stewardship team were beyond what we could have imagined possible just a year or two ago. We are all looking forward to the further efficiencies technology can bring to our department.”

Zach Pearo is a conservation easement steward for the Forest Society.

Online: For more information about the Forest Society’s Conservation Easement Stewardship Department, visit forestsociety.org/easement-stewardship.

Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 17

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

Following Her Calling

By Ryan Smith

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fishing, hiking, skiing, ATVing, and climbing trees. Being surrounded by all this wilderness built my base of love and appreciation for the outdoors at a young age.

What compelled you to study biology in college?

Easement stewards have an interesting, never-ending job. And when I say neverending, I’m not joking! It’s the easement stewards’ job to make sure the terms of a conservation easement on a property are being upheld—forever! To do this, we monitor every easement annually using aerial imagery and routine on-the-ground visits. We communicate with landowners and build relationships with them and other environmental organizations and we also provide resources and guidance to landowners who might need it.

I was always interested in the STEM fields and I love to be outside. When I was young, I considered studying mathematics in college to eventually become a high school teacher. During the summer before my senior year of high school, I took a 5-week master course in ecology at St. Paul’s School Advanced Studies Program. That experience really drove me to study Wildlife and Conservation Biology in college.

How did growing up in Berlin prepare you for working in the conservation sector?

Growing up in Berlin allowed me to build a connection to the outdoors because it is a part of the city’s life and history. Berlin is known as the “city that trees built,” meaning forestry was a big part of the economic growth of the city for a long time.

My great-grandfather was a logger in Berlin who used a hand saw and horses to harvest trees. There are hundreds of miles of dirt roads just outside the city, which are or once were used as logging roads.

I was constantly in the woods kayaking,

18 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2020

What does an easement steward do?

What’s your favorite part about your job?

My favorite part about my job is getting to experience people’s land and listening to owners tell stories. You can be walking in what you think is the middle of nowhere and you’ll come upon an old cemetery or cellar hole—some dating back to the 1700s. Rock walls span the forest, which is neat to think that someone built that at one point in history. Some landowners I’ve met have deeds dating back to before the Declaration of Independence was written.

What advice do you have for youth who are aspiring to work in conservation?

Get out there! Get involved with as many conservation organizations as you can, whether it’s visiting, volunteering, or interning. You can never have too many connections! Even if you don’t have a degree related to conservation, there’s most likely something for you. Conservation isn’t just about science or the outdoors,

Emily Landry and her late dog Sadie. it’s politics, development, business, IT, and communication. Use your skills to get involved with conservation organizations and projects you care about!

What easements would you recommend visiting?

Easements are privately owned, but some have public access rights. A top pick is The Bates #2 conservation easement in Sandwich. Chapman Sanctuary and Visny Woods owns and maintains the trails, which run adjacent to a brook and connect to more trails on other conservation land.

I also enjoy Muchyedo Banks in Canterbury. This conservation easement property contains many walking trails and unique natural features carved out by the Merrimack River.

For an interactive map of some of the working farms protected by Forest Society conservation easements, visit forestsociety .org/farmmap.

Learn More: Turn to page 16 to read more about the Forest Society’s Easement Stewardship Department.

SAM WHITMORE

ince July 2019, Emily Landry has worked for the Forest Society as a conservation easement steward. A native of Berlin, Landry spent her high school years exploring the North Country’s vast White Mountain National Forest and developing a love for the outdoors.

This passion led her to pursue a biology degree in college and many jobs in the conservation field after graduating. Even though her office is at the Forest Society’s Conservation Center in Concord, she’s quick to say that it’s in the outdoors where she does her best work. Forest Notes caught up with Landry to talk about everything from trees to trails.

The Forest Society thanks the following businesses for their generous support.

Summit Circle ($5,000 and up) BCM Environmental & Land Law, PLLC Event Builders, LLC Meredith Village Savings Bank Merrimack County Savings Bank Protect the Granite State, Inc. SBA Steel, LLC Whalen Public & Media Relations, LLC

Trustees’ Circle ($2,500 to $4,999) Asplundh Tree Expert Co. Northeast Delta Dental Placework The Secret Agency, LLC

President’s Circle ($1,000 to $2,499) Altus Engineering Chinburg Properties E & S Insurance Services, L.L.C. Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies, Inc. Gunstock Mountain Resort Lumbard & Kellner, LLC MegaFood New England Private Wealth Advisors, LLC Northland Forest Products, Inc. Rek’-Lis Brewing Company, LLC Roche Realty Group, Inc. Rockywold-Deephaven Camps, Inc. Schilling Beer Company Target Corporation United Natural Foods, Inc. W.S. Badger Company, Inc. Winnipesaukee Chocolates

Steward ($750 to $999) Bank of New Hampshire Peabody & Smith Realty, Inc.

Partner ($500 to $749) Arcomm Communications Corporation Brady Sullivan Properties, LLC Bronnenberg Logging & Trucking, LLC Capitol Craftsman, LLC Carlisle Wide Plank Floors, Inc. Colonial Woodworking, Inc. Devine, Millimet & Branch, P.A. Dodge Contracting Durgin and Crowell Lumber Co., Inc. EOS Research, Ltd. GMEC, Inc. Half Moon Enterprises

Partner (continued)

Matching Gift Companies (continued)

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Mallory Portraits Pine Springs R. M. Piper, Inc. Robblee Tree Services LLC Samyn-D’Elia Architects, P. A. SCM Associates, Inc. The Lyme Timber Company LP The Music Mill Urban Tree Service/A Tree Health Company, Inc. Winnipesaukee Aquatherm Service, LLC Zambon Brothers Logging

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. Chevron Human Energy Chroma Technology Corp.

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

Colleague ($250 to $499) Aesthetic Dental Center Ambit Engineering, Inc. Birch Hill Summer Camp, Inc. Blaktop, Inc. Cersosimo Lumber Co., Inc. Fuller's Sugarhouse, LLC Granite Investment Advisors, Inc. Great Brook Veterinary Clinic, LLC Innovative Natural Resource Solutions, LLC Kel-Log, Inc. Klüber Lubrication NA LP Kozikowski Properties, LLC Limington Lumber Company Meadowsend Timberlands Limited Mulligan Land & Timber New England Biolabs, Inc. New England Wood Pellet, Inc. North Woodlands, Inc. Parade Properties Polly’s Pancake Parlor, Inc. Sunset Park Campground The FloorWorks, Inc. Twin State Sand & Gravel Co., Inc. Whole Wealth Management, LLC

Matching Gift Companies AARP ADP Aetna Giving Campaign Allegro MicroSystems, LLC American Biltrite, Inc. American International Group Ameriprise Financial Employee Gift Matching Program Amica Companies Foundation Autodesk Foundation Automatic Data Processing, Inc. Bank of America The Boeing Company Bose Corporation CA, Inc. Matching Gifts Program

And many thanks to those businesses who give less than $250.

The Forest Society…Where Conservation and Business Meet For information on business memberships, please call Diane Forbes at 603-224-9945 or email dforbes@forestsociety.org.

NATURE’S VIEW

From left: A red-winged blackbird sings while a mink hunts for prey at the Merrimack River Outdoor Education Center in Concord.

“We are grateful when we are reminded by interior evidence of the permanence of universal laws; for our faith is but faintly remembered, indeed, is not a remembered assurance, but a use and enjoyment of knowledge. It is when we do not have to believe, but come into actual contact with Truth, and are related to her in the most direct and intimate way.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Springtime Symphony What spring’s sounds can teach us during uncertain times

By Dave Anderson

B

irdsongs and frog calls are Truth. No season has more annual milestones accompanied by a natural soundtrack than spring. It’s surprising how the first ring-around-the-wetland calls from newly-arrived redwing blackbirds or the first chilly peeps of the spring peepers can stop us in our tracks.

These iconic sounds of early spring might renew our faith in the timelessness of annual phonologic milestones. Warming temperatures and lengthening daylight hours trigger physiological changes that drive bird migrations, amphibian breeding, 20 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2020

insect hatching, wildflower blooming, and the unfurling of fern fronds. The raucous celebratory soundtrack of wildlife returning to specific habitats is reassuring after the monotone winter months.

A relatively new phenomenon is the flurry of social media posts reporting the first songs of spring spreading north and west from the Seacoast and southern New Hampshire to the Upper Valley and North Country. People are primarily visually oriented and natural sounds are more subtle than photos. But it’s fun to anticipate the next new arrivals based on these reports.

Say what?

It takes practice to focus on what we hear, and deciphering these springtime sounds draws on our memories. What is that familiar trill: a bird, a tree frog, a toad?

Sometimes I hear something that sounds familiar but I can’t immediately remember exactly what it is. Each year in May, I relearn some of the songs of breeding warblers arriving from their wintering grounds in Latin America.

One subtle bird song of late winter occurs at the end of February during the start of the maple sugaring season. Brown

(OPPOSITE PAGE) ELLEN KENNEY (X2); (THIS PAGE, FROM LEFT) DEBBIE BIGELOW, ELLEN KENNEY.

Creepers sing a breezy little musical song that I associate with the hollow plink of sap dripping into metal buckets when the sun first warms the woods. The connection of bird song to maple season endears the little nondescript Brown Creeper to me personally.

By late March, male redwing blackbirds have arrived and arrayed themselves around wetland edges to claim and defend the most promising nesting territories before females arrive. Males repeat a round of their territorial kon-ker-eeet chant. When you hear those first redwings, winter is doomed even if a new snowstorm is in the short-term weather forecast.

Another irrefutable avian aural harbinger of spring are woodcocks. Male woodcocks perform an elaborate aerial courtship flight that is celebrated in Aldo Leopold’s “Sky Dance” chapter in A Sand Country Almanac. The ringing nasal buzz or peent calls emanate from mossy spring seeps and speckled alder swales where woodcocks alight upon arrival. Every April, they seek thawing soil in the formerly snowbound landscape to probe for insects and earthworms. The evening courtship display of woodcocks is worth listening for near open, agricultural fields in early April. The performance lasts for only a month or two “before the curtain falls,” as Leopold wrote.

The wood frogs emerge with the first thawing rains in late March and early April when overnight temperatures consistently remain in the low 40s. Male wood frogs emerge and migrate to their natal vernal pools where they form a breeding chorus some describe as sounding like “quacking ducks.” Males call even in mid-day from vernal pools, but only for a couple of weeks in early spring. These frogs are the first to breed and lay eggs and are also the first to retire into the woods for the rest of the spring and summer.

The accompanying chorus of tiny, inch-long spring peepers begins with individual males peeping tentatively in the watery chill of freshwater wetlands. The

From left: Wood frogs mate in a vernal pool at The Rocks in Bethlehem; fiddleheads emerge in a forest bordering the Merrimack River.

resounding chorus soon becomes deafening, emphatic, and shrill for a couple of months. Roll down your car windows or open a bedroom window to enjoy this short-lived riotous soundtrack of springtime in New England. Remember, spring peepers and wood frogs are the best proxy for the timing of the silent migration of spotted salamanders moving from forest soil to vernal pools. Other amphibians follow: toads, pickerel frogs, leopard frogs, and gray tree frogs in May; green frogs and bull frogs in June and July. But it all begins with the first chilly frogs of April.

Few folks celebrate the hum of early swarms of hungry mosquitoes or the maddening buzz of a blackfly whirling inside your ear. Yet the annual springtime explosion of insect protein is the engine that compels migrating birds to northern breeding territories and feeds hordes of aquatic amphibian larvae in vernal pools

and freshwater wetlands. The general buzz of insects is not diagnostic to species but the whir of insect wings is indeed music to the ears of birds and frogs.

Perhaps the most subtle sounds of spring are the first light rattle of wind or the spatter of raindrops on tender leaves after the forest canopy unfurls from tightly coiled buds in a matter of days.

It is reassuring to find ourselves back in the waxing season of birds, frogs, and trees all simultaneously signaling a swelling springtime. The soundscapes of spring may be less about the sounds and more about renewing our connections to the forested landscape. There is perhaps something comforting in how these natural phenomena recur according to a calendar more ancient than our own busy schedules.

A life-long naturalist, Dave Anderson is senior director of education for the Forest Society.

Did You Know?

Phenology is the study of the timing of annual natural events. What sights and sounds have you seen and heard in your backyard? Share your observations on our Facebook page: facebook.com/forestsociety.

Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 21

STAYING CONNECTED

Stay-At-Home Selfies

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n April, Forest Society staff adjusted to working remotely during the state’s stay-at-home order. Creating functional work stations was first on their list in addition to carving out time to keep their four-legged friends entertained and well fed. Working from home has its perks, but as the days turned into weeks, staff members began to long for the interaction they have with colleagues at the Conservation Center in Concord. “I really miss our fantastic Forest Society community. It has been hard not being together to share our ideas face-to-face,” Manager of Individual Giving Maria Finnegan says. “Basically, I really miss everyone!”

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12. Executive Assistant Maria Stewart’s business partner, Nora 13. Senior Philanthropy Advisor Susanne Kibler-Hacker’s stand-up desk 14. Maria Finnegan, manager of individual giving, and her cat, Ms. Penelope 15. Jack Savage, president, and his dog, Mango 16. Andy Crowley, land steward program coordinator 17. Matt Leahy, public policy manager 18. Anna Berry, digital outreach manager, and her twin boys 19. Wendy Weisiger, managing forester 20. Emily Landry, easement steward 21. Ryan Smith, communications manager and Forest Notes editor, and his cat, Cleo 22. Easement Steward Zach Pearo’s assistant, Finnie 23. Abraham Ames, easement steward, and his cat, Dexter

21 Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 23

PUBLIC POLICY UPDATES

The Forest Society’s Washburn Family Forest in Clarksville features more than 2,000 acres of protected land.

Taking Earth Day to Heart

By Matt Leahy

A

pril 22 marked the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. The leaders behind that day, people like Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin and Congressman Pete McCloskey of California, were deeply troubled by the environmental degradation they were seeing. Their ultimate goal was to inspire and motivate the American people to advocate for healthy, sustainable environmental policies.

As the country commemorates this milestone, we should also capitalize on the energy behind it to push for an increased commitment to confronting the dominant environmental issue of today: human-caused climate change.

24 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2020

By any measure, the Earth Day founders met their fundamental objective to motivate greater activism in the American people. By the end of the 1970s, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, major amendments to the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. This list is even more remarkable considering that during the 1968 presidential race, environmental policy concerns were

largely overshadowed by the Vietnam War, civil rights, and criminal justice issues. Yet, less than ten years later, the heightened sense of duty citizens felt to steward the waters and lands of this country directly led to that rush of Congressional activity.

In 2020, the environmental issues may be different than they were in 1970 but they are no less acute. Yes, confronting the climate change crisis does feel overwhelming, especially when the long-term impacts are so stark. However, consider that the majority of Americans today want action taken. In fact, according to a November 2019 poll by the Pew Research Center, 67 percent of Americans feel the

federal government needs to do more to reduce the effects of climate change. Interestingly, that same poll showed equal numbers also feel the government needs to do more to protect water quality in lakes and rivers, protect air quality, and safeguard wild animals and their habitats.

The goal for Earth Day 2020 should channel the public’s desire for action into constructive actionable steps similar to what happened back in 1970. Some may ask if significantly increasing our nation’s commitment to mitigating climate change’s impacts while simultaneously strengthening the current policies regarding clean air and water are realistic expectations. It makes you wish one solution existed that could take care of all them at once.

You know what? Such a solution does exist. In fact, New Hampshire’s forests are becoming a not-so-secret weapon in the push to avoid or limit some of the worst effects of climate change. True, they are not the only solution; public policies

should continue to emphasize a transition away from fossil fuels and towards energy efficiency. But we already know forests provide economic opportunities for people, habitats for animals, and protection for drinking water resources.

What is becoming clearer is their carbon mitigation benefits. Simply stated, the forests sequester and store carbon, ultimately helping to reduce the impact of climate change.

However, forests are facing threats.

Invasive species and, most troubling, permanent forest conversion may impact their long-term health. Once a woodlot is converted to some other use, those carbon sequestration and storage benefits disappear—perhaps forever.

Certainly, some solutions to maintain our forested landscapes are already in place: the Land and Water Conservation Fund, for example, and the conservation programs in the federal Farm Bill. At the state level, the Land and Community

Heritage Investment Program and the Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust are two more tools available to forestland owners and conservationists.

But more action is needed. We need to develop incentives for private forestland owners, especially non-industrial, small private forestland owners, to keep their lands forested and sustainably managed.

Five decades after the first Earth Day, let’s make the drive to keep forests as forests the focal point of the next great environmental movement. If we can help forestland owners sustainably manage their woodlots, we will have set in place the next wave of ecologically sound environmental policies. In short, we will have honored the work of the first Earth Day leaders by ensuring we are stewarding the natural resources of this country into the next century.

Matt Leahy is the public policy manager for the Forest Society.

TOGETHER WE Explore

JERRY MONKMAN/ECOPHOTOGRAPHY

The perfect trail, a mighty challenge and a good story.

New Hampshire PBS has something just waiting for you to discover.

CELEBRATING 60 YEARS

Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 25

CONSERVATION SUCCESS STORY

A Dream Fulfilled: Protecting a Slice of Heaven in Sandwich

By Ryan Smith

W

hen Harry and Judy Howe first set foot on land that was for sale in Sandwich, N.H., during the spring of 1986, the couple knew they had found what they were looking for. The Howes spent the day with their real estate agent slogging through mushy snow, navigating the property’s extensive forestland and following its sometimes inconspicuous boundaries. “Eventually, we took a break next to a big yellow birch near the back of the property, and I turned to Judy and asked her what she thought about the land,” Harry reminisced. “Judy said she liked it, so we bought it, simply because she approved. The rest is history.”

Over the next 14 years, the Howes, who lived full-time in Milton Mills, N.H., spent their weekends in Sandwich, clearing and improving the land from April to October.

In their free time, they explored the property’s 66 acres of forestland, wetlands, and more than 1,500 feet of frontage on Mill Brook, with some sections ponded by beavers and occupied by brook trout.

They’d see bear and moose foraging for food and birds and rodents nesting and building families. In 1995, the couple consulted with a forester to create a management plan on their property, which included forest thinning and general maintenance.

Harry and Judy, who’ve been married for 35 years, say the features on their land harken back to the woods they played in when they were kids. Harry grew up in Dover, N.H., where he’d roam endless fields of farmland on the Seacoast. Judy was raised in Reading, Mass., where she’d shoot archery with her father and brothers and go camping with her family. Their deep affection for nature is what brought 26 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2020

Harry Howe hikes a snowmobile trail that passes through his property.

them to Sandwich, and it’s ultimately the reason why they sold their house in Milton Mills and moved up to the White Mountains for good.

In 2000, the Howes bought a modular home for their property and permanently relocated to Sandwich that fall. It didn’t take them long afterwards to consider placing a conservation easement on their land.

“We loved the property, and we didn’t want to see it developed,” Harry says.

“I didn’t want to ever see it cut up into house lots. [When we bought the land], we didn’t know if an easement was possible, so it was part of our long-term plan.”

In 2014, Harry and Judy turned their plan into reality by reaching out to the Forest Society with a main goal of protecting their land forever while keeping the forests and wetlands open to all, especially

wildlife. “I wanted to make sure my property could help animals move back and forth into the White Mountains and the Sandwich Range,” Harry notes. The Howes’ land abuts and links three other conserved tracts within the “Whites to Ossipees Wildlife Corridor,” which the Forest Society and the towns of Sandwich and Tamworth had previously identified as a conservation priority. In addition to protecting wildlife habitat, their land contains more than 1,500 feet along Mill Brook, much of whose frontage has been protected by various conservation groups, including the Forest Society. Below ground, their land sits over part of an aquifer that neighbors draw drinking water from. “Although not big acreage, the Howes’ land is rich in its conservation features and associated benefits to the public. And so when Harry and

The Howes’ conserved land protects 1,500 feet of frontage on Mill Brook.

Both Harry and Judy agree that they get even greater joy from their land and the wildlife corridor that’s been protected now that the easement is in place. With their dream fulfilled, the Howes look forward to watching more animals roam freely through their property for years to come.

It was a project many years in the making, but now that it’s complete, Harry says that he “can sleep well.”

Ryan Smith is the communications manager and Forest Notes editor for the Forest Society.

Learn More Turn to page 16 for more on the Forest Society’s easement stewardship program.

TOM HOWE (X2)

Judy said they couldn’t make a full donation of a conservation easement, we were happy to roll up our sleeves and raise the funds we needed to conserve this worthy parcel,” says Tom Howe (no relation), senior director of land conservation for the Forest Society.

The bargain sale (part gift, part sale) was finalized in 2019 with many organizations and individuals contributing to the project. Donors included the Purves Fund of the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, the Wonalancet Preservation Association, the Ossipee Valley Snowmobile Club, proceeds from the sale of a building lot donated by longtime member Peter Ouellette, and 32 other households. The easement guarantees public pedestrian access to the entire property, plus snowmobiling access to an established trail maintained by the Ossipee Valley Snowmobile Club which runs through the southerly part of the property.

Spring 2020 FOREST NOTES | 27

PROJECT IN PROGRESS

Sustaining the Places that Sustain Us

H

ave you been for a walk in the woods recently? Have you stopped to enjoy a view or take a deep breath? Have you noticed that the birdsong is more symphonic every day?

Have you marveled that despite all the anxiety that surrounds us, the sap has run and the trees are budding, waking up with the hope of another heavenly New Hampshire summer ahead?

We have, too. The patterns of nature reassure us. And many of us have had a little more time, space, and awareness to notice.

The Forest Society’s reservations have seen a surge in visitation since early March, and while we’ve had to encourage people to “hike local” and be cautious in their adventures, we’re gratified that these places are providing solace and inspiration in a challenging time. Providing places for re-connection, stress relief, exercise, exploration, and quiet contemplation is central to the Forest Society’s mission.

We talk about “the privilege and the responsibility of stewarding more than 57,000 acres at 190 forest reservations in 100 towns across New Hampshire.” There are a lot of responsibilities: most immediately, providing safe, enjoyable, and enriching experiences for visitors to Forest Society reservations. But in addition, land management is not passive, no matter how quiet and self-possessed trees may seem.

We are managing invasive species so they don’t crowd out our native plants and animals. We are planting and nurturing seedling Christmas trees at The Rocks in Bethlehem. We are harvesting timber to create early successional habitat that supports woodcock, grouse, and cottontails. We are thinning regenerating saplings to give the pine and oak and maple room to grow taller, straighter and healthier. And we are improving woods roads and trails, so that we can also protect streams and wetlands or other important habitat features.

28 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2020

A woods road winds through the Tom Rush Forest in Deering.

The Forest Society also has perpetual responsibilities as the steward of nearly 800 conservation easements that protect nearly 130,000 acres.

Most of these lands remain owned by private individuals, organizations, or towns, and so each one is a partnership.

Together, we ensure that these lands remain part of an interconnected network of natural systems that form New Hampshire’s great outdoors— Nature is a resource that can help guide us in our mountain peaks, lakes and uncertain times. ponds, rushing streams, open fields, and panoramic views.

The responsibilities of stewardship are myriad, but the privileges are immense—and we all share them. Our members, supporters, donors, volunteers, advocates, and many visitors contribute to a vital human and natural network that is keeping a tradition of conservation in New Hampshire relevant in today’s changing world. And as we are seeing today, that day to day, year to year effort is completely worth it. When the world around us goes shaky, the big sugar maple in the field, the old stone walls, the rushing river, all give us a metaphorical nod to remind us that we are grounded in a world that keeps turning, generation after generation, despite the chaos of the day. We are privileged to help ensure that they are there to guide us.

Please join us by making a gift to support the Forest Society today—big or small.

Together we all make a difference.

Time for spring cleanup!

The fastest and most efficient way to communicate these days is via email. Please help us by providing or updating your email information.

Visit forestsociety.org/myemail or return the reply form below with your name, mailing address, and email address.

Thank You!

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YES, I WANT TO HELP PROTECT AND CARE FOR PLACES THAT SUSTAIN US. Name: Address:

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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/af.

For more information, call Anne Truslow at 603-224-9945 or email atruslow@forestsociety.org.

Thank you for your help!

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THE MANY FACES OF CONSERVATION

Nick Norris and friends Portsmouth, N.H. Cookies for Climate Fundraiser

PHOTO: RYAN SMITH

“M From left: Evan Campbell, Nick Norris, and Luke Scherr; (not pictured) Owen Ingwersen and Sam Rodgers

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Join us along with Nick, Evan, Luke, Sam, Owen, and thousands of other members and donors who are committed to protecting the mountains, forests, farmlands, and waters we cherish. To become a member, visit forestsociety.org/join-today or fill out and return the envelope in this issue.

y name is Nick Norris, and this winter, four of my friends and I initiated a fundraiser called Cookies for Climate. We raised $600 by baking 2,000 cookies and selling them to a total of 100 people. We are juniors at Portsmouth High School and we all see climate change and other environmental issues as urgent threats to our generation and the future of the Earth. Through our fundraiser, we wanted to raise and donate money to a local environmental protection organization so that we could make a difference in the fight against climate change.

“When we discussed which nonprofit would receive the money, we prioritized local organizations that demonstrated an ability to create real solutions. We were particularly drawn to the Forest Society’s emphasis on conservation, education, and advocacy. The Forest Society promotes a wide range of environmental solutions such as conserving forestland to filter air and water, protecting farms, and practicing sustainable forestry. The organization also leads field trips and offers volunteer opportunities to educate people about the environment, which was appealing to us. We also like that the Forest Society works with local, state, and federal government agencies to advocate the environmental concerns of the people.

“Thank you for accepting our donation, and we hope our efforts will have a lasting positive impact on the environment.”