LYME CONSERVATION COMMISSION
October 6, 2003
MINUTES
PRESENT: Lyme Conservation Commission: Lee Larson, Ben Hudson, Dick Jones, Joan Goldburgh, and Laura McDaniel, and members of the public: Judy Barker.
1. The meeting convened at 7:35 PM.
2. The minutes of the September 8th meeting were approved as submitted.
3. Old Business:
a. Lee and Ben said that the present water level of Post Pond is very high (for this time of the year), and after a discussion, the Commission decided to make a field trip to the beaver dams on Thursday morning to lower the “first” dam to the silt level and possibly lower the height of the “second” dam several inches.
b. Lee then briefly discussed the proposed plans for the study of the entire Chaffee area and said that the NRCS has not yet been able to work on the statement of work.
c. Lee, Ben and Dick reported that 3 Commission members and 8 volunteers installed approximately 60 feet of puncheons in the Big Rock and 90 feet in the Chaffee areas on September 13th.
d. After a brief discussion it was decided to put off the boundary line painting for the new part of the Town Forest until after the next meeting (tentatively the weekend of November 8th-9th).
3. Wetlands:
a. Lee reported that he and Dick had visited the Knights’ River Road proposed garage site on September 29th. They concluded that its construction on an existing driveway did not have additional adverse conservation impacts and Lee provided an appropriate memorandum to the Zoning Administrator.
b. A site visit to the Newtons’ proposed construction site on Pinnacle Road was scheduled for November 9th.
c. Lee gave a brief update on the continuing saga of the Tensens’ Smith Mountain Road project’s ‘after-the-fact’ wetlands permit application.
4. New Business:
a. The Commission’s 2004 budget request was discussed, and the following was moved by Dick; seconded by Ben and unanimously approved:
Conservation Commission Dues $ 200
Postage and Supplies 150
Education 100
Monitoring Fund 200
Environmental Monitoring 150
Maintenance and Management of Conservation Areas 750
Total: $ 1,550
b. Lee reported on discussions with the UVLT on rerouting a section of the Lower Grant Brook Trail to avoid a step section with erosion damage. The Commission agreed to the proposed rerouting, but felt that it could not participate in the project before this coming spring.
c. The DRAFT revision of the Chaffee Refuge’s management plan was discussed. Dick agreed to make the proposed changes to be presented at the next meeting for approval. (See attachment.)
d. Lee led a brief discussion on farms and will respond to Vital Communities’ request for a list of Lyme farms.
e. Lee will submit an article on safe walking in the woods during to hunting season for the next Lyme Church News.
5. The meeting adjourned at 8:22 in order to watch the Red Sox beat the Orland A’s.
R. G. Jones
Recorder pro tem
ROBERT G. CHAFFEE WILDLIFE RESERVE
LYME, N.H.
MANAGEMENT PLAN 2003
I. GOALS and OBJECTIVES:
The primary objectives in the establishment of the Chaffee Wildlife Sanctuary were, and continue to be, to:
· provide an area permanently set aside for the preservation and encouragement of native flora and fauna,
· serve as an educational resource for the local schools and the general public, and
· serve as protected open space important for the aesthetics and quality of life in the community of Lyme.
The goal of this plan is to provide guidelines for the management of the sanctuary to attain the above objectives. Clearly the first two objectives are in conflict since the first implies that access should be limited and the second implies that access needs to be provided. To reconcile these conflicting objectives, general public access to the sanctuary is controlled using a system of nature trails which provide an invitation to visit parts of the sanctuary while discouraging easy access to the remainder. To maintain and enhance the sanctuary as a viable habitat for native wildlife, a program of habitat management is pursued.
To realize the objectives for which the sanctuary was established the Sanctuary must be actively managed. Although the 1988 Management Plan called for the establishment of a Chaffee Sanctuary Management Committee, in practice the Conservation Commission serves this role.
II. VISITOR MANAGEMENT:
To attain the goal of making the sanctuary an educational and community resource, a nature trail and public access has been established. The trail is laid out to provide access to as many of the different habitats contained within the sanctuary as reasonable, but with care taken to have a minimum detrimental impact on the flora and fauna. A puncheon-type boardwalk has been built along the wettest part of the trail to make access more pleasant and to protect against erosion and soil compaction. These puncheons will be maintained and extended as the need arises and as resources permit. The trail is brushed out at least annually to keep it open.
The Chaffee Reserve has excellent potential to serve as an educational resource for the local community, area schools, and the general public. Our native wildlife community is inherently interesting to young and old alike; recognizing, understanding, improving and protecting the various habitat components needed by wildlife can be equally fascinating and are the keys to a healthy and rich wildlife community. It is currently listed as a stop on the Connecticut River Birding Trail.
In keeping with the area’s status as a wildlife sanctuary the following activities are prohibited:
· hunting and trapping,
· wheeled vehicles except those needed by the disabled to provide them access,
· motorized vehicles except on the access driveway and parking area and those needed for maintenance of the area or emergency response activities,
· domestic animals (including but not limited to dogs, cats and horses) except seeing-eye dogs,
· fires,
· picnicking, and
· alcoholic beverages.
III. WILDLIFE HABITAT MANAGEMENT:
The tract is inherently excellent wildlife habitat due to the presence of two year-round streams, wetland soils, its proximity to Post Pond, the admixture of vegetation types in early success ional stages, edge ecotones, maintained meadow-land, marsh, and relative freedom from human intrusion. Empirical evidence and casual observations indicate a diverse wildlife community that utilizes the natural habitat: mammals include beaver, muskrat, otter, weasel, rabbit and small rodents; avians include mallard, black, and wood ducks, unidentified wading birds, woodcock and numerous songbirds; fish species known to the pond and assumably the brooks include smelt, rainbow and brook trout, yellow perch, small mouth bass, chain pickerel, horned pout and forage fish; and a variety of amphibians and reptiles.
In keeping with the goal of preserving and encouraging native flora and fauna some active management is carried out to maintain a diversity of wildlife habitats in the Sanctuary. The wooded section (which is wet) contains a wide variety of wetland shrubby growth. The continuing beaver activity assures success ional growth without human intervention. Large trees (primarily white pines) grow in the dry wooded area and no management is carried out here. The fields are mowed during the late summer or fall (after bird nesting is complete) on a biennial basis to assure that these areas stay open and provide continuing grasslands habitat. Wetland shrubs are left along stream banks to provide an additional type of habitat and to reduce erosion.
The lack of sufficient large defective trees limits utilization of the area by cavity nesting wildlife. Nesting boxes have been very successful in supplementing this key component in areas of otherwise suitable habitat for wood ducks, bluebirds, flycatchers, swallows, and owls. Specific species can be encouraged by the design of the nesting boxes. Wood duck boxes are present along Clay Brook and on the adjacent property, courtesy of an abutting landowner.
Stream bank erosion, especially along Trout Brook may be a problem. Tree revetment is the current method of choice to control this if it becomes extensive.
IV. SITE DESCRIPTION:
The tract is nearly level, lies at a mean elevation of 420 feet, and is underlain primary by two soil series: Peacham/Ossipee Complex and Dartmouth. The Peacham and Ossipee soils are wetland soils, very poorly drained silt-loams, deep with high organic content and a seasonal water table within 12 inches of the surface. Dartmouth soils are moderately well-drained silty loams and are rated as prime agricultural and forest soils due to their inherently high productivity.
Previous land use and present vegetation reflect the aforementioned soils on the tract. The Dartmouth soils underlie a 10± acre field, largely unimproved and kept open by biennial mowing. The wetland soils support early successional brush, shrubs and tree saplings along the brook courses. There is a 5± acre stand of alder and a 3± acre cattail marsh. Along the easterly edge of the marshland is a small bog.
Vegetational assessments have identified the following plant species on the tract: speckled alder, swamp grass, cattail, bur reed, bulrush, arrowhead, loosestrife, water lily, and floating duckweed. Also present are several berries of the genus Rubus, meadowsweet, sweetfern, aspen, American elm, white pine, prey and paper birch. A thorough scientific inventory of vegetation on the tract is not yet available, nor is a record of land-use history.
Promulgated: 1988
Revised: 2003
| 
