USDA Forest
Service
Northeastern Area
Durham Field Office
271 Mast Road
Durham, NH 03824
(v) (603) 868-7600
(f) (603) 868-7604
(tdd) (603) 868-7603
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Northeastern Area Forest Legacy FY2003
First Quarter Update
Actions
- The National Forest Legacy Program meeting of Federal and State Program
Managers was held October 2002 in Austin, Texas. Topics covered included
project selection, guideline revision, and the recent House Surveys
and Investigations report.
- Linda DePaul (Wisconsin) represented the States and Pam Bush (Maryland)
represented the “disinterested third party” for the NA project prioritization
process in October 2002. The Forest Service’s Deirdre Raimo called
the group together to evaluate 88 projects from the Northeastern Area.
An imposing Northeastern-Area list of projects was forwarded to the
Washington Office.
- The Northeastern Area States successfully used the Forest Legacy Information
system to submit the FY2004 proposed projects by December 13, 2002.
The web based reporting system allowed for an efficient transfer of
project information between the States and the Forest Service.
- A supply of carryover funds helped restore the core funding for Forest
Legacy Program Administration to each State. The administrative funds
had been borrowed this past summer to help pay fire fighting costs.
- A group of Forest Service and State officials have reconvened to revise
the Forest Legacy Implementation Guidelines. They expect to have Revised
Forest Legacy guidelines this year.
FLP First Quarter Accomplishments Exceed Previous Two Years
The Northeastern Area (NA) has seen more land protected through
the Forest Legacy Program during the first three months of FY 2003 (ending
December 31, 2002) than all accomplishments in NA in FY 2001 and FY2002.
In the previous two fiscal years, 41,252 acres of important forestland
were protected NA-wide; in the first three months of FY2003 48,249 acres
of forest land have been protected under the Forest Legacy Program. Larger
projects and the culmination of work begun, as appropriations rose a few
years ago, are the reason behind the jump in acres protected this quarter.
Anticipated closings during this fiscal year point to a banner year.
Wisconsin Completes First Project
Wisconsin closed the first two phases of the Tomahawk Northwoods
project for 35,337 total acres on November 20, and November 27, 2002.
These accomplishments in the northern part of the State are the first
Wisconsin properties to be protected from development by the Forest Legacy
Program. The two conservation easements purchased from the Tomahawk Timberlands
LLC valued at $13,260,000, used $5,000,000 from the Forest Legacy Program
and will be held by the State of Wisconsin. Forest management will continue
on the property. The Wisconsin Forest Stewardship Coordinating Committee
has proposed a third phase of the project of an additional 35,000 acres
for funding in FY2003.
Minnesota Completes Four Tracts to Close-out Its First Phase
of Big Woods Project
Minnesota protected five tracts on December 20, December 24,
and December 27, 2002 totaling 381 acres in the Rice County Forest Legacy
Area where a larger effort to protect and restore the Minnesota Big Woods
is occurring. The value of the five conservation easements amounted to
$1,161,000 of which $799,000 Forest Legacy funds was paid to five different
landowners; the extra funds came from landowner donations and the State
of Minnesota.
Illinois Ventures into New Forest Legacy Area
Illinois helped link 4,500 acres of forest land along the Rock River,
a northern Illinois Forest Legacy Area, by purchasing a conservation easement
on 93 acres. On October 8, 2002, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources
purchased a conservation easement from Irene Wescott to keep the natural
forest cover on the bluffs along the Rock River between two State Parks
and a State Forest. The $365,000 conservation easement was acquired using
$273,000 in Forest Legacy Program funds. The forest land will be managed
under a Forest Stewardship plan approved by the Illinois State Forester.
Indiana Protects Uncommon Fens
Completion of the 163-acre Rattlesnake Creek conservation easement
on December 30, 2002, marked the first project in the Northwest Moraine
Forest Legacy Area. The easement is valued at $145,000 but used only $122,500
in Forest Legacy funds paid to landowner Nicholas Timm. The Rattlesnake
Creek parcel is located in the headwaters of Lake Michigan, an important
regional drinking water supply. It has a diversity of habitat types including
uncommon fens and has a high potential to support endangered species.
It adjoins a Nature Conservancy preserve.
Vermont Helps Protect More Portions of a Wildlife Corridor
An effort to connect the two units of the Green Mountain National
Forest with a conserved corridor for wildlife was supplemented with 664
acres on December 23, 2002. The first phase of the Mt. Holly Wildlife
Corridor Forest Legacy project, a 391-acre tract was protected with a
conservation easement. Forest Legacy funds in the amount of $303,000
were paid to the Ninevah Foundation. The cost share for the project was
the purchase of a 273-acre tract nearby that used no Federal funds. Other
corridor Forest Legacy tracts include the 2,086-acre Wilderness Corporation
Tract and the 560-acre Snow Tract.
Maine Adds onto a Beloved Park
Maine completed two parts of the Mt Blue State Park / Tumbledown
Mountain (MBSP/TM) Forest Legacy Project on December 9, 2002: a 3,778-acre
fee acquisition and a 7,833-acre conservation easement. The $3,300,000
project used $2,141,000 from the Forest Legacy Program. The goal for the
area is to conserve over 30,000 acres of forest land. The MBSP/TM Project
lies in western Maine and has long been valued for its scenic landscapes,
recreational and natural resources and productive managed forests.
New Jersey Protects Heavily Forested Land
New Jersey acquired the Highland Greenway project in January
2002 but the paperwork was completed in December 2002. The project consists
of a 257-acre fee acquisition from Newton White and Janet Neigel valued
at $859,000 of which $600,000 Forest Legacy Program funds were reimbursed
to the State in December. The land is heavily forested land in the heart
of the New Jersey Highlands and will be open to the public. The property
is an important component in protecting the upper reaches of the Passaic
River watershed, an important drinking water supply for millions of people
in northern New Jersey. Protection of this property extended a continuous
greenway of over 1,500 acres.
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