Lyme Conservation Commission
Minutes of the 1 December 2003 Meeting
1. The meeting came to order at 7:35 PM. Joan Goldburgh Ben Hudson, Dick Jones, Lee Larson and Laura McDaniel attended the entire meeting and Adair Mulligan attended parts of the meeting.
2. The following items were discussed and/or actions taken regarding the Chaffee Wildlife Sanctuary:
a. Ben reported that the water level in Post Pond was very high; Clay brook was “roaring”, and there was additional beaver activity in Clay Brook between the two old beaver dams.
b. Lee and Ben discussed the WHIP program (Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program) and its applicability to the sanctuary. NRCS personnel have visited the site and believed that it would qualify for the program. Lee is following up on applying for the program and, through it, grant support for habitat maintenance.
c. Ben discussed the application for a “Moose Plate” grant to help pay for the Phase I (survey) of the planned study of the Trout Brook / Post Pond / Clay Brook area. After a discussion of items to include in the application, it was agreed to request a $4,000 grant and to “match” it with $1,000 from the Conservation Fund to pay for the survey work.
d. The “November Draft” of the sanctuary management plan was unanimously approved with minor corrections. (See attachment.)
3. The following additional items were discussed and/or actions taken:
a. Lee reported that he and Ben had completed the boundary line painting in the new part of the Town Forest. Dick has “wheeled” the Western Forest trail, but took the wrong turn and did not measure the Waterfall Trail. He agreed to make appropriate trail signs to be put out this coming spring.
b. The following wetlands cases were discussed:
i. Stam pond – brief discussion of the DES site visit;
ii. Stout driveway – site visit scheduled for Friday 12/5 at 8:00 AM; and
iii. Crossroads Academy – commission believed that the current site plan did not include sufficient detail to comment on the proposal. Lee will request that the Zoning Administrator obtain information on the excavated areas of the former gravel pit, building footprints, drainage plan, wetland buffers and topographic data before the Commission conducts a site visit.
c. Lee briefly discussed DES’s new procedures for simple wetland projects’ permits. Of concern was the short time frame (10 days with Conservation Commission signature and 25 days without) for qualifying projects.
d. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance’s proposal to seek a grant for trail work in Lyme was discussed and supported. Several trail improvement projects were identified as possible candidates for the program.
e. Lee asked for any ideas for the Commission’s annual report; Ben reported a discussion with a member of the Bradford Conservation Commission, and Lee asked for ideas for the next “Conservation Corner” in the Church News.
4. The meeting adjourned at 8:50 PM.
R. G. Jones
Recorder
Attachment: Robert G. Chaffee Wildlife Sanctuary Management Plan
ROBERT G. CHAFFEE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
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 successional 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; birds include mallard, black, and wood ducks, various species of wading birds, woodcock and numerous songbirds; fish species known to the pond and presumably 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 successional 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. Woody vegetation along stream banks is encouraged to provide a riparian buffer for habitat and to help control 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, grey 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
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