Nature Conservancy Prepares to Conduct Prescribed Burns in Ossipee Pine Barrens

Burns will restore globally rare habitat and reduce fuel levels.

Freedom, N.H., Aug. 31, 2006 — After more than three years of careful planning, The Nature Conservancy is preparing to conduct prescribed burns in September on part of its Ossipee Pine Barrens Preserve.

The prescribed burns will be conducted only when all safety parameters are met – during days when weather, wind and other conditions are just right – and will be confined to two areas totaling roughly 15 acres. The Conservancy will be looking for that mix of conditions between September 5 and 29. The areas slated, called burn units, have already been prepared mechanically for a combination of safety and ecological purposes. The burn units are on Conservancy-owned land in Madison and Freedom.

Learn more about restoring the Ossipee Pine Barrens

“The Ossipee Pine Barrens is a globally rare forest type that has had a relationship with fire that goes back thousands of years,” said Jeff Lougee, manager of The Nature Conservancy’s Mount Washington Valley Program. “The prescribed burns that we’ll conduct this fall will be the first of several over the coming years in an effort to restore and maintain this distinct habitat. Ultimately, this work benefits not only the habitat and its unique flora and fauna, but also families and businesses in the neighboring communities by reducing fuel loads that have built up here over the decades.”

The Nature Conservancy is a national leader in the practice of using fire as a management tool to restore ecosystems. Since 1961, the Conservancy has been at the forefront of planning and conducting prescribed burns to maintain biodiversity.

While the Conservancy is in the midst of an active land-protection campaign in the Ossipee Pine Barrens, it is simultaneously working to restore the habitat through a combination of mechanical means and carefully planned prescribed burns. The Conservancy’s goals are to:
• Maintain the pitch pine-scrub oak natural community;
• Enhance habitat for several bird species and rare moth and butterfly species; and
• Manage fuels to reduce the chance for wildfire.

The burns in the coming weeks are the culmination of years of scientific study and planning by numerous scientists, fire restoration ecologists and partners examining the Ossipee Pine Barrens’ wildlife, vegetation and fuel loads. In addition, Conservancy fire management planners have prepared a 106-page ecological management plan for the pine barrens, which includes a detailed analysis and plan for using fire as a tool to manage the habitat.

Based on that analysis, fire planners – with input from partners – have written detailed “prescriptions” for using fire at specific sites in the preserve. Each prescription dictates certain conditions as to when and how each burn is to be handled, including parameters for weather, manpower, equipment, smoke, safety and emergency contingencies. Burns will be conducted only when all parameters are met for each prescription.

The prescribed burns will be conducted by trained and qualified Conservancy staff and volunteers from the New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts chapters of The Nature Conservancy, as well as staff from other Conservancy units. Other partners that may participate include staff from the White Mountain National Forest, the N.H. Division of Forests and Lands, and local fire departments.

Both prescribed burns to be conducted this fall will be on The Nature Conservancy’s land near the West Branch River. One of about 5 acres is north of Ossipee Lake Road in Freedom; the other, a 10-acre area in Madison, is between the West Branch River and the Freedom town line. Both sites have already been treated mechanically to reduce fuel loads.

Precautions will be taken to limit smoke and to ensure that the prescribed burn stays within its prescribed boundaries. In addition, fire suppression vehicles will be available on-site during the burn. Each prescribed burn will likely be completed in one day.

A Landscape Linked to Fire

Once extending over 8,600 acres across a flat, sandy plain left by the retreating Ice Age, the pine barrens consist mainly of pitch pine and scrub oak. Due to its dry, sandy soils, fire has been common in the Ossipee Pine Barrens over the eons. Leaves, twigs and larger branches on the forest floor decay slowly under these conditions and become ready fuel set by lightning. Plants and animals in the pine barrens have adapted to live with fire. Pitch pine has very thick bark that protects the living tissue of the tree during a fire, and their seeds germinate best on soils exposed after fire. In the months after fire, scrub oak and blueberry produce vigorous new growth, which helps butterflies and moths.

About 2,500 acres of this rare ecosystem remain, and over the past 18 years, The Nature Conservancy has protected about half of that. In fact, the Conservancy now has options to purchase two tracts, including prime pine barrens habitat, near Cook’s Pond in Madison.

Due to improved fire suppression capabilities and changing land use patterns, fire has been virtually eliminated from the Ossipee Pine Barrens. The last fire in the area was in 1957 when about 3,000 acres burned through pitch pine-scrub oak and hardwood forests in Madison and Freedom. The lack of fire since then has enabled fire-intolerant species (like white pine and some hardwoods) to gain a foothold, while pitch pine and scrub oak have declined. At the same time, the lack of fire has led to an accumulation of leaf litter, dead branches and limbs, which has increased the possibility of a wildfire.

After extensive research into the area’s ecology and fuels, The Nature Conservancy last year launched its first phase of restoration by harvesting timber from part of its preserve in Tamworth. Another timber harvest in Madison cleared the 500-foot-wide buffer zone between its preserve near Route 41, protecting homes on East Shore Drive and mimicking the effects of fire.

For more information on protection and restoration of the Ossipee Pine Barrens, visit www.nature.org/newhampshire.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Since 1961 The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire has helped protect more than 265,000 acres of ecologically significant land in the state. The Conservancy owns and manages 28 preserves across New Hampshire. For more information, visit nature.org/newhampshire.