On September 23rd ten intrepid hikers came out for our first Walkabout on our newly acquired parcel. Our latest trail follows the Mascoma River to the NW corner of the property. We hope to lead a snowshoe hike across the property once snow starts to fall. Hope to see you there.
Thanks to all of you for making our purchase of the “Rubinstein” parcel in Canaan NH possible. This parcel of approximately 46 acres connects the Mascoma and Herman L Webster Wildlife Management areas, and includes significant wetlands as well as valuable river frontage on the Mascoma River. We hope to develop a system of trails on the property over the next year. Stay tuned for pictures soon! Thanks again!!
Just a quick note that we hope to have the bridge completed by month end. Stay tuned for further announcements. As of 7/1/18 the bridge is now open!
NOTICE
In 2016 the Mascoma Watershed
Conservation Council
initiated a fund raising campaign
aimed at purchasing
the Bird- In- Hand Farm in
Canaan NH. Unfortunately
that fund raising campaign
was unsuccessful. In 2017 a
letter was sent to all donors
offering to return their contribution.
For any donors
who did not receive this letter
or who have not yet responded
to it, please be advised
that you may request
that your contribution be returned
by writing to Mascoma
Watershed Conservation
Council, PO Box 704, Enfield
NH 03748. All contributions
for which a request for return
has not been received by
June 30, 2018 will be transferred
to the General Operating
Fund of Mascoma Watershed
Conservation Council
for use in our ongoing conservation
and education activities.
Donald Lacey, Treasurer
The Switch Road access to BPNA is temporarily closed while we have the decking over the Mascoma River replaced. The deck will be replaced with locally harvested and milled Hemlock, and it will be spaced to allow water drainage. The hope is to have the project completed over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned for further announcements.
This installment of the monthly Walkabout series had our intrepid adventurers in search of Cole Pond. Judging by the pictures I would say they made it. What’s with the crazy pattern on the Maple? Please join us for the next round on October 15th!
Three members of the MWCC and one volunteer met on Sunday August 20th, 2017 for a trail maintenance and invasive species removal party. Len attacked the Scotch Pine population that is invading the sand pit area, while Alice, Elizabeth, and I focused on opening up the trails around the Switch Road access. The three of us later joined Len to help with the cleanup of his project and noted that he had cut down easily 25+ trees. While this was the bulk of the trees, sadly there are still more that need a visit from a chainsaw. That said the property looks much better. In addition to this work the MWCC is getting bids for the replacement of the hemlock on the bridge off Switch Road, as it is rotting apart. We hope to have someone contracted to complete the replacement by year end. Stay tuned for further developments.
In addition, as a follow up to the previous post. The Stephen Long presentation was a complete success! Over 50 people attended his wonderful presentation, and he did manage to sell most of the books he had brought with him. Thanks Stephen for the great job!
Please join the Canaan Conservation Commission and MWCC in welcoming Stephen to the Canaan Meetinghouse.
Join us for a presentation from Stephen Long, author of Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transformed New England. Long is the founder and former editor of Northern Woodlands magazine and author of More Than a Woodlot: Getting the Most from Your Family Forest. For more than twenty-five years he has been writing about the forests and people of New England while exploring his own woods in Corinth, VT.
We are very excited to have Stephen join us! More information on Stephen can be found at http://stephenlong.net/. The presentation is free, however donations will be accepted to defray the cost. We look forward to seeing friends there.
The latest installment of our monthly walkabout series had board members Len and Alice leading a wander through Bear Pond via the Switch Road entrance. Folks who came out to join us were able to sight the Black-Throated Blue Warbler, Olive Sided Flycatcher, Northern Flicker, and Ruby Crowned Kinglet among others. We also identified the song of the Nashville Warbler, Veery, Wood Thrush, and several others with the help of Len’s keen ear. Len also led the crew to see abandoned nests of both a Canada Warbler and Roughed Grouse. We hope you can join us for our next adventure!
The Watershed Walkabout series occurs the second Sunday of every month from 2-4 pm. Some of the places we have visited in 2017 include the Colette Trail in Enfield, the Harris Brook Scenic Area in Enfield, the Northern Rail Trail, as well as several trips to BPNA, via various entrances.
We have withdrawn our offer to purchase the Bird in hand farm due to our inability to raise the appropriate funding by the 28th of October. Thanks to all who supported us in this endeavor. If you would like your contributions returned to you, please email me at the address below, & we will send you a check in return. Sorry we couldn’t pull this together, but we were encouraged by the support shown to us during this process. Once again, thanks for supporting the work of the MWCC!
Our next walkabout will be Sunday October 9th from 2-4pm. Please join members of the MWCC as well as environmental consultant and wetlands specialist Mike Fogarty for an exploration of the Summit Ledge (Gorge) section of the Northern Rail Trail. Meet at the Tower House (23 NH Rt 118) in Canaan. Park along High Street or in the lot on the opposite side of the green. We will carpool from there. Hope you can make it.
