Wilkins-Campbell Workday

Sometimes we have some non-standard workdays here in the Reservation Stewardship department of the Forest Society.  Mostly our land stewards expect that we may call on them for help with trail maintenance, view clearing, or even the occasional trash clean up.  This summer we've had an on-going project at the Wilkins-Campbell Forest in Deering to restore the site of a former summer camp to natural conditions.  That means buildings, electric, docks, foundations, everything must go... it's quite a process, and we've had incredible help from our land steward at Wilkins-Campbell, Bob Macentee, in facilitating the whole ordeal.  We also had a land steward workday, probably the first of several  before we're through, to help sort through all of the items on site and "deconstruct" things like the latrines and bunk beds and cabinets.

Wendy and Alex going through a storage shed

 Everything that can possibly be re-used or recycled is being sent to those higher purposes- we've made several runs to goodwill, metal recycling, and found homes for a lot of usable items.  When all is said and done, hopefully all that will be left are a couple of picnic tables by the side of Deering Reservoir.  It's a beautiful spot to walk in and have lunch by the water, and we hope it will get a lot of appropriate use from people in surrounding communities.  But we've still got a lot of work to do to get to that point...

Lunch for the work crew, beside Deering Reservoir

Silver Mountain Waterbar Workday

Photo by S. Lichty

Earlier this month, a group of land stewards, staff, and other volunteers met at the Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest in Lempster to build some waterbars on the trail up Silver Mountain.  This trail receives a good amount of local use, not surprising given the amazing 360-degree mountain views that are found at the summit! Land Steward Sue Lichty has been concerned about erosion on the steepest sections of trail for quite awhile, so it was time to put together a work crew to do something about it.  

Land Steward Bart Hunter (R) and his daughter Skyler (L) start up a saw (photo by S. Lichty)

Digging a trench for a waterbar (photo: S. Lichty)

Steward Ruth Ward (L) and Jim Beard (R) prepare to make a waterbar (photo: S. Lichty)

Intern Alex Metzger setting rocks (photo: S.Lichty)

The crew built four waterbars on the steepest section of trail, some rock and some timber. Hopefully these will help direct water off of the trail and prevent future erosion.  The group also had time for a hike to the top of Silver Mountain (can't be missed when you're that close!) to enjoy the view.

Silver Mountain work crew (photo: S.Lichty)

At the top (photo: S.Lichty)

Payoff at the summit (photo: S.Lichty)

While this crew was installing waterbars, a separate, smaller crew, consisting of SPNHF staff Wendy Weisiger and Allan Krygeris, and land steward Stefan Pouliot, were on a different mission at Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest. They were wandering around the woods looking for an old cemetery.  Sue had sent a photo back in late winter, showing the cemetery covered in downed trees and debris, so this crew was going to liberate it from this sylvan mess.  The only problem was they didn't exactly know where it was, and there are no roads or trails that go there.  So, after wandering around for a very long time (made longer thanks to erroneous GPS coordinates I found online and sent to Wendy) they finally found the Spaulding Family cemetery and were able to clean up the area.  Before and after pics posted below!  Nice work everyone.

The Spaulding Cemetery before (photo: S.Lichty)

After cleaning out the downed wood (photo: S. Pouliot)

Dragonflies at the Heald Tract

Last August, during a workday at the Heald Tract, we hiked through a beaver-flooded road that was just humming with the frenetic activity of dozens of dragonflies.  I knew then that I would have to return to lead a dragonfly walk at the Heald Tract.  Last week, I got my wish.  The Heald Tract did not disappoint, either.  Twenty two people joined me for a brief talk about dragonfly biology and conservation in NH, and then we headed into the swamp with nets swinging.  Skimmers, a large and varied family of dragonflies, ruled the day- we caught and examined many Spangled Skimmers, Slaty Skimmers, Widow skimmers, and Twelve-Spotted Skimmers.  Also netted were many bluets (damselflies), meadowhawks, and a single Canada Darner.  It was fun to see many of the adults just as enthusiastic as the kids, swinging nets with abandon and overtopping their rubber boots to reach dragons further out over the pond.  Because they rarely pause near enough for us to get a really close look, people are always fascinated to examine dragonflies up close in the hand.  The patterns and colors on their bodies and wings are often stunning, and it's also fun to let them go by setting them down gently on a finger.  Sometimes, they pause awhile on an outstretched finger, which is pretty magical if you're 5 years old....or 75!

A male meadowhawk takes a rest on someone's hand

This is the shed "skin" of a dragonfly nymph as it emerges from the water and morphs into an adult winged dragon!