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Conservation Commission

Conservation and More

              by Bruce B. Beckley

Issue #83, May, 2000
Diversity In Common Places

Joe English Brook moved under us without a ripple. Only a solitary Canada goose, head down in the stream and rump upended, moved. It was three weeks ago when the oak leaves were the size of a mouse's ears that a dozen of us stood on the bridge above the cider mill listening and watching for birdlife. And life there was at 5:30 AM.

Listening was key. With the trained ears of former ACC commissioner Bill Goodwell, little peeps in the bushes or treetops became the vectors that focused our eyes on an elusive ounce of feathers. We moved up the road to Peabody Mill and the beaver pond in Joe English where we heard and saw more species. By breakfast time, 52 species had been identified from crows to Louisiana water thrush -- and a passel of warblers.

Walking back to our cars, eyes turned to the ground where fringed polygala was just beginning to blossom amid starflowers and dwarf ginseng. Truly, the ACC properties are providing a mixed menu of habitats for plants, birdlife and folks who enjoy them whether they can name them now or have yet to learn the names.

Keeping Common Species Common

When we walk or look out the window over the last sips of morning coffee the first things our eyes spot are the common birds or flowers. These are our "first name" friends in the natural world. Even, or perhaps especially, these friends need their habitats understood and protected. This is the thrust of the NH Fish & Game Department's program called Keeping Common Species Common.

John Kanter, coordinator for the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife program, writes this program will provide the leadership and stewardship that aims to protect critical habitats and to prevent long-term decline of wildlife species that are vital to New Hampshire.

In wetlands where the common species include the painted turtle and tree sparrow among thousands of others, studies have demonstrated that we must look well beyond the wetland boundary to protect its wildlife habitat value. To make this happen, the Nongame Program is leading an effort to map wetlands and their critical upland connections so towns like Amherst can plan for their protection.

Bobolinks, milk snakes and monarch butterflies find their homes in fields and shrublands. These areas have undergone long-term and dramatic declines throughout the state. The Nongame program is coordinating an effort to identify the best examples of field and shrubland habitats in the state and to work with land managers to protect them. (This is a real problem in Amherst where even though former farms are now protected from development there isn't a mechanism in place to keep these lands open and cleared of autumn olive and forest pioneer species.)

Forests are depended upon by common species such as scarlet tanagers, flying squirrels and the red bat. New Hampshire, one of the most heavily forested states, is loosing 20,000 acres of land each year to development. As more land becomes more and more fragmented, the forest's ability to support wildlife is jeopardized. NH F&G is helping communities identify their largest blocks of forest and develop strategies to protect their habitat value.

Other states fund their nongame programs through special taxes. In NH, the Legislature challenges the F&G Department to raise $50,000 in matching funds. Support of the nongame program by us individuals makes it possible for the department to work with its conservation partners to monitor wildlife populations, conduct research and offer educational programs to sustain the state's wildlife and their habitats. I plan to contribute and suggest you do likewise by sending a donation before June 30 to the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program, 2 Hazen Drive Concord, NH 03301. Visit www.wildlife.state.nh.us.

Again, what do the spotted salamander, scarlet tanager and painted turtle have in common? An incredible opportunity to remain common.

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