None The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire Press Releases Search All Press Releases Eric Aldrich 603-224-5853, ext. 26 E-mail: ealdrich@tnc.org

Nature Conservancy Prepares for Prescribed Burns in Ossipee Pine Barrens

Fire protection buffers are also being cleared in three places to further protect homes.

Madison, N.H. — May 31, 2007 — It will be a busy spring and summer as The Nature Conservancy works to restore the globally rare Ossipee Pine Barrens through timber management and carefully prescribed burns.
 
"The management that we conduct here will help restore and maintain this distinct habitat," said Jeff Lougee, Mount Washington Valley program manager for the Conservancy. "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 over the decades."
 

These buffers are along Route 41 in Madison and two portions of the preserve near the airport communities of Windsock Village and Soaring Heights in Ossipee.

The Conservancy will also conduct up to six prescribed burns in 6- to 14-acre burn units on the preserve, a total of 53 acres. The prescribed burns will be conducted sometime between June 1 and September 30 and only when all safety parameters are met -- during days when weather, wind and other conditions are just right. The burn units have already been harvested and cleared of much of the woody fuel that had built up over the decades.

The burns will be conducted with the help of partners, including state and federal agencies, local communities, and Nature Conservancy staff. Before any burn, the Conservancy will secure necessary permits from local fire departments and will review burn plans with them. Precautions will be taken to limit smoke and to ensure that the prescribed burn stays within its boundaries. In addition, fire suppression vehicles will be available on-site. Each prescribed burn will be completed in one day.

For almost 20 years, The Nature Conservancy has been protecting land in the pine barrens of Freedom, Madison, Tamworth, and Ossipee. These lands represent a globally rare forest type, New Hampshire’s last viable occurrence of a northern pitch pine/scrub oak pine barrens. The pine barrens are an important habitat for several bird species that are declining regionally, such as whip-poor-will, nighthawk, Eastern towhee, and brown thrasher; more than a dozen very rare moth and butterfly species are also found here. Accordingly, protecting and maintaining these pine barrens are among the goals of the state’s recently completed Wildlife Action Plan.

The Conservancy now owns 2,286 acres in the area and has plans to protect an additional 616 acres in a campaign involving the community, the state, and a federal Forest Legacy grant. The project is ranked as the No. 2 Forest Legacy proposal nationally, out of more than 80 total, and is included in the President's budget request to Congress.

While it’s critical to continue protecting what remains of the Ossipee Pine Barrens, land protection alone isn’t enough. Maintaining the pine barrens’ unique fire-dependent habitat will require active and careful management.

Plans to restore and maintain this special habitat have been taking shape for more than five years, starting with research into uncommon bird and insect species. Additional research has examined fuel that has been accumulating throughout the pine barrens over the past 50-plus years because of fire suppression. In some areas, fuel loads (the accumulation of woody debris and dense vegetation) have reached potentially hazardous levels, which could result in difficult-to-control wildfires. This research culminated with the completion of an ecological and fire management plan in 2005.

The Nature Conservancy is nationally recognized as a leader in protecting, restoring and managing important ecosystems like globally rare pine barrens. In the Ossipee Pine Barrens, the Conservancy's goals over the next few years are three-fold: 1) to protect maintain New Hampshire’s last intact pine barrens ecosystem, while 2) reducing the wildfire threat posed by the continued accumulation of hazardous fuels, and 3) to restore and rejuvenate degraded pine barrens habitat through selective timber management, prescribed fire, and other measures.

Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's Global Fire Initiative.
 
Funds to assist the Conservancy's ecological restoration of the Ossipee Pine Barrens have come in part from the U.S. Forest Service (Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry), and the U.S.D.A. Natural Resource Conservation Service's Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program.

###

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.