ACT's Executive Director Search Begins

Click the image to view the full job description announcement.

The Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust invites applications for the position of Executive Director, seeking candidates who bring a passion for the land and natural resources, an understanding of conservation as a tool for both environmental sustainability and community vitality, and the skills and experience to lead this successful, growing organization. The Executive Director will provide vision and strategic internal and external leadership, with significant emphasis on cultivating relationships with landowners, partners, donors, and funders. Working internally in a culture of shared leadership and collaborative teamwork, the Executive Director will be managing multiple projects, financial resources, fundraising, and grant-writing.  

Applicants should have a degree and experience in conservation or a related field, and five years of demonstrated success in organizational leadership and management. 

Click here to view the full job announcement.

Please email a cover letter and resume to [email protected].  Review of resumes will begin in mid-June, 2020.

The New Normal = Posting Recorded Zoom Presentations

Missed the Northern Harrier Presentation? Watch the Recording!

Yesterday evening (May 13, 2020) 68 patient folks came together for ACT’s very first attempt at hosting an online event co-sponsored by the Ammonoosuc Chapter of NH Audubon. We are happy to report that things went pretty well with only a few technical glitches. All things we can learn from and improve for the next one!

Although getting the event itself off the ground was pretty exciting, we’re delighted to be able to bring the recording to you, another first for the organization. We hope to continue bringing these types of events to you and as we add recorded presentations to the roster we’ll be sure to create an archive where you’ll be able to find previous recordings, until then, we’ll be posting them here, on our blog which is also searchable.

Enormous thanks to both Chris Martin for the outstanding presentation and Dave Govatski for his openness to collaborating and his stellar co-hosting skills. 

We hope you enjoy the presentation. If you have a question that isn’t covered or you’d like to share some feedback, we’d love to hear from you. Please send Gal an email with your thoughts.

Thank you for watching and we look forward to doing more of this kind of programming, so please keep an eye out for future events.

Supreme Court Buries NoPass

A sign on proposed path through Sugar Hill

This appears to be the final blow to the ill begotten project, a 192-mile high voltage transmission line through the heart of the North Country on its way to consumers in Massachusetts and Connecticut.  

ACT was an early intervenor against the project when it was announced nearly nine years ago. We joined the Appalachian Mountain Club and Conservation Law Foundation in defending the state’s permit denial at the Supreme Court.

Eversource has 10 days after the decision to file for reconsideration. We’ve been amazed that the project continued over all this time, given the intense opposition, the dubious finances, the old-school technology, the change in energy markets, and the other new energy projects in New England that have little opposition. So it may be that Eversource stands up for yet another round, but we’re pretty confident that we’ve seen the last of this project.

You can read the full Supreme Court decision here and the Union Leader’s coverage here. 

Photos:

1. A sign on proposed path through Sugar Hill.

2. NoPass Rally, September 2012 in Easton (3).

3. Room of orange at another public hearing, September 2013 at the Mt View in Whitefield.

4. On Earth Day 2017, opponents made a ring around the State Capitol in Concord. Shown are ACT members and NoPass activists Carl Martland, Doug Evelyn, and Executive Director Rebecca Brown. (2)

5. Rebecca Brown speaking at a hearing in Whitefield, March 2011. Photo credit: Paul Hayes, Caledonian Record.

Good for Fish, Bats, and People: Land Conserved in Sugar Hill

We are proud to announce the conservation of two properties that will help protect clean water and wildlife habitat forever.

Carl and Nancy Martland have conserved two parcels of land bordered by Pearl Lake Road and Hadley Road in Sugar Hill.

On the south side of Pearl Lake Road, the 16.6-acre Creamery Pond parcel protects the Salmon Hole Brook, a cold water stream that supports wild brook trout, and flows into the Ammonoosuc River in Lisbon. The land is mostly floodplain with sedge meadow, alder swamp, and the brook, and has some surrounding upland forest.

On the north side of the road, Salmon Hole Brook continues, and the approximately 41-acre Whipple Pasture parcel contains floodplain, wetlands, and an upland forest that is home to black bear, all kinds of songbirds, grouse, woodcock, and deer, among other creatures.

Together, the two parcels protect nearly a ¾ mile of stream frontage. Built into the conservation agreement between the Martlands and ACT is special protection for the land along the Salmon Hole Brook.

“We helped create ACT, have been involved ever since, and we are thrilled to see it develop into the premier land trust in our region,” said Carl Martland. “We’re pleased that we can contribute these easements on Whipple Pasture and Creamery Pond in Sugar Hill.  We’re especially pleased to be able to protect one of the special features of our land – Salmon Hole Brook, which provides breeding habitat for native brook trout. This habitat is disappearing, and riparian protection vital to the continued health of this population.”

“The location of this new easement near to other ACT properties improves and enhances the overall conservation effects that ACT is able to achieve,” said Nancy Martland.  “We encourage other landowners to work with ACT as we have, to protect the rural character and native species of our wonderful area. Thanks to ACT and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation for its support in making this possible.”

“A priority in our work is protecting water quality,” said ACT Executive Director Rebecca Brown. “Wild brook trout only live and breed where the water is clean and cold, and so are a good indicator of stream health. With New Hampshire Fish & Game and Trout Unlimited we’ve identified streams in our area that are important for protection. Salmon Hole Brook is a high priority. What’s good for trout is good for people. We all need clean water.”

In addition to protecting water and riparian habitat along streams, the Martland land is an important place for bats. The property is less than 10 miles from three known bat hibernacula (hibernation spots).  All three hibernacula are known to support species, including the federally threatened northern long-eared bat, that forage in riparian areas that have nearby roosting habitat (live and dead trees with cavities, crevices, and/or flaking bark).  The Martland properties both contain this type of habitat.

ACT is involved with a special project aimed at understanding bats’ use of the landscape and how landowners might manage forests and open areas to support bats’ needs.

For more information on land protection for the benefit of people, communities, and wildlife, please contact ACT at (603) 823-7777, or visit www.aconservationtrust.org.

Winter Weasel: Now You See Me, Now You Don't!

By Brendan J. Whittaker

On a recent late afternoon (before this week’s snow!), I was yarding some harvested trees from our farm woodlands here in far northeastern Vermont.  My tractor path led across one of our frozen icy crop fields, snowless and colored mud-brown, so unusual here in late winter.

Suddenly a flash of bright white caught my eye. “Weasel!” Gorgeous in its winter fur, it headed across the field quite purposefully, as though he/she knew exactly where it was headed and intended to arrive there, my presence not mattering. 

Winter weasels are usually a quick flash of white, and I always feel lucky to see them. More likely to see their tracks than the furtive animal itself. Sometimes I’ll catch one slipping behind our warm kitchen chimney when one chooses to overwinter in our house. "Now you see me...flash!...now you don't!"  After, we're apt to say, "Did I really just see what I think I did?" Then we reflect with gratitude on the harvest of house mice our winter guest must be reaping. But this outdoor sighting was a good one, perhaps a minute and a half, the best weasel view I've ever had, as I sat motionless on the idling tractor. 

The animal, with no great haste, half-circled me to my east, vivid against the brown, frozen open space. Its coat was brilliant spotless white, intensified by the rays of the setting sun. The white fur was broken in just two places:  its coal black eye, which it kept locked on me as it progressed. The other was the black tip of its tail, a distinctive mark on both of our weasel species here in New England. The weasel tipped its tail jauntily as it went along, and gave me one last flaunt before it disappeared into brush at the end of the field.

In New England we have two weasel species: the long-tailed (which I saw from my tractor), (Mustela freneta) and the short-tailed, usually called the ermine (Mustela erminea cicognanii) when it assumes its winter coat. At our northern latitude, both species turn white in winter. More southerly weasels – called “stoats” in Europe, may stay more brown coated.

Ermine fur has been prized in former times as a mark of status and honor, adorning the robes of judges, royalty, and popes.

Weasels are ferocious hunters. Homeowners who keep chickens in this area may know this all too well. When weasels attack a flock, not content with one or two, they will quickly slaughter all they can find in the poultry pen or chicken house, as we learned many years ago. Their long slim bodies can slither through amazingly tiny entrances in what the chicken keeper may think is a totally weasel-proof pen. A colleague, who is a professional Wildlife Biologist told me recently that he thought his own hen flock was weasel-proofed, until, finding all the birds dead one morning, searched and searched for the mustelid's entry place. He finally located it: the small bored hole through which the electric wire for the henhouse heat lamp. He described the hole as barely big enough to squeeze the wire through, but Mr or Ms. weasel had been successful in getting in! 

Some of us who have lived in the North Country for a long time will remember the WMTW-TV weather report from the summit of Mt. Washington. Marty Engstrom was a long time weather reporter up there, rather famous for his humorous grimace he'd sign off following his professional, rather dry weatherman 's forecast. 

Marty and the other crew had a cat there on summit, which we'd view occasionally during the telecast. They also referred to what we thought was an imaginary pet named "Herman the Ermine."  Night after winter night, Herman might be mentioned, his activities described, but he was never seen. They obviously were making the whole story up....Until!  One memorable night, there was Herman! On a table in front of Marty, undeniably winter white, black tail and nose, showing off for the TV. camera. A real-deal weasel-ermine, with his weatherman hosts,  in their warm winter habitat at 6,288-feet in elevation. It's many years ago now, but I think I recall that Herman the Ermine gave us all his own weasel- grimace, just like Marty's as they signed off for the night.

Brendan Whittaker is an ACT Advisor, and a member (past chair) of the Lands Committee. He is a professional forester, and served as Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources in Vermont. He lives in Brunswick, Vermont. 

Protect the EPA

By Sharon Francis

I write to urge all who care about our health and environment to urge Washington lawmakers to oppose the administration’s proposed 25 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency budget. 

The Trump Administration seems to believe that environmental protection is an enemy to be vanquished.  Their proposed cuts are deep and mortal. Slated for total removal are Radon testing and control, beach water quality testing, diesel emissions reduction, and multipurpose grants to states.  The water quality improvement grants for some of our country’s most valuable fishing, shipping, and recreation areas would also be gone: these include Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, and the Great Lakes.

Grants from EPA to states like New Hampshire for drinking water, air quality, water pollution control, lead detection, nonpoint source pollution, toxic substances compliance are slated for 30 percent cuts. Most of us have heard that the administration favors the point of view that climate changes cannot be blamed on carbon dioxide emissions, so rather than invest in research from which they might gain improved information, they propose to cut climate research by over 70 percent.

Overall, the administration proposes to cut EPA funding by $2 billion.  What is at stake?  Most of EPA’s actions in behalf of water quality, air quality, and toxic substance control are investments in public health.  At a time when the nation is deciding how much it wants to invest in health treatment, we would be well advised to continue our investments in avoiding health problems.  Keeping contamination out of our air, water, and soil is a major way to do that.  Furthermore, clean, attractive rivers, lakes, seashores, hills, and valleys are economic assets.  They attract investments, whether from tourists or from families who wish to enjoy nature nearby.

Thousands of students have gone on field trips, studied the ways of water, taken college courses in the many pathways to a prosperous society and a healthy environment at the same time, and are pursuing careers in the technologies of saving energy and safeguarding life on our planet.  We owe it to them, as well as to ourselves, to retain a strong, well-funded EPA.

I am now retired, but have worked in the environmental field for over 50 years.  I love my country, and do not want to see it make a foolish, unnecessary mistake. 

ACT member Sharon Francis lives in Charlestown., NH.  She has devoted her career to conservation and the environment, and is a a recipient of the EPA Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Red-wings are Back!

Red-winged blackbirds are back!

I heard a male’s exuberant “conk-a-ree!” song this morning. The males are usually the first arrival of spring. They’ve been making their way up the river valleys (the Connecticut River valley is a major migration path) and then to higher elevation areas like where I live. 

We have a pond nearby where blackbirds nest, and they are frequent visitors to my feeder.

Photo by Minette Layne/Flicker

The males are unmistakable with glossy black bodies and red and chevron with yellow trim on their shoulders. Females can be mistaken for song sparrows or female red-breasted grosbeaks, as all three are streaked brown and off-white. 

Walk near a pond or marsh in mid summer, and you’re almost certain to see these blackbirds. The males are very territorial, singing from cattails or nearby trees. Approach their nests, and you might get dive bombed! Last summer a particularly fierce male considered the entire pond his territory, and he let all the neighborhood dogs and people know it.

Notice above I wrote “nests.” Male red-wings are polygnous, meaning they have multiple mates. One bird may have several nesting females in his territory – especially dominant males can have up to 15 mates (!). However, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, those ladies are not monogamous either. One-quarter to one-half of nestlings turn out to have been sired by a bird other than the territorial male.

This time of year, I think those first red-wings appreciate the backyard feder, where they like mixed seeds or sunflower seed, especially seeds on the ground. And I like watching the strut about, occasionally stretching their wings like a body builder and showing off this flashy chevrons. A few weeks from now we can all look forward to the females arriving.

Meanwhile, some of our winter birds are still here. Look for flocks of Bohemian waxwings congregated in medium to tall trees, with their distinctive high pitched whistling. Soon, they’ll head back north to their breeding grounds. 

Boys & Girls Club Partnership

Kids need time outdoors to explore, play, imagine, and engage all of their senses. When a child's curiosity is sparked, learning comes naturally. This year we have partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of the North Country to use ACT's protected lands as an outdoor classroom to connect young people with nature.

Children from the Boys & Girls Club have hiked to the ledges at Cooley-Jericho to enjoy the views; discovered signs of moose, bear, and coyotes on the trails; learned about monarch butterflies and milkweed at Whipple Field; explored beaver ponds; and studied water quality on the Gale River. 

The Littleton Courier recently published a wonderful front-page article about our Stream Safari program.  Click here to read the article, and check out our Facebook page for photos!

You can help support our programs for local kids by donating to ACT today!

In Memory of Harry Reid

Harry Reid of Sugar Hill, NH was one of the small group of friends and neighbors who created ACT. He was an incorporator of the Trust, one of the five people who legally created the organization in the year 2000.

Harry loved the White Mountains and knew the Franconia Notch area as few do. As a boy he hunted and fished and explored, and as an adult (after coming home from a 20-year career in the U.S. Army) he was the manager of Franconia Notch State Park, including the Cannon Mt. ski area. 

Harry believed in the power of people working together, and the importance of protecting the land we love.