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 Program
FY2003, Fourth Quarter Update
Forest
Legacy Features of Interest
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NJ Senator Lautenberg pins “government at its best” label
on the Forest Legacy Program while speaking on the
floor of the U.S. Senate during the full Senate vote, which passed
the Interior and Related Agency appropriations committee recommendation
on September 23, 2003. In October, the House and Senate conference
committee resolved a final appropriations bill that set Forest
Legacy Program funding at $71,934,000. This amount was separated
into new funding of $64,934,000 and prior year funds of $7,000,000.
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Committees, priorities, and FLIS, oh my! Forest
Stewardship Coordinators of the Northeastern Area report that
States held their Forest Legacy or Forest Stewardship Committee
meetings throughout the month of September to review applications
from landowners and prioritize projects for fiscal year 2005
funding consideration. The projects are then entered into the
Forest Legacy Information System (FLIS) and reviewed for the
national project prioritization that will occur in January 2004.
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Appraiser qualification quandary: The new Forest
Legacy Program (FLP) guidelines instituted on June 30, 2003,
include a set of qualifications for appraisers and review appraisers
who perform appraisal services for Forest Legacy projects. Unfortunately,
few appraisers have taken a course on the Uniform Appraisal Standards
for Federal Land Acquisitions, which is one of the qualifications
for both roles. In an effort to address this deficiency, the
Forest Service consulted with the Appraisal Institute to recommend
they conduct such a course. Information about a course planned
for January in Philadelphia and another session in March in the
South will be sent out to State Forest Legacy Coordinators once
the Appraisal Institute has finalized details.
Recently Completed FLP Projects
Reported
Forest Legacy accomplishments through the end of the 2003 fiscal
year amount to a banner year for the NA States. Twenty-three
tracts
in 9 States add up to the most land protected in one year in the
NA FLP’s 10-year history. A total of 65,984 acres were protected
from conversion to nonforest uses, amounting to nearly a third
of
all acres protected in NA States to date.
Largest
Project in Rhode Island Protected
The 471-acre
Canonchet Forest Legacy project in Rhode Island is over one-third
the size of Central Park and is the largest FLP project in the
Ocean
State. This project adds a link to a chain of protected lands—to
the east is the State of Rhode Island’s Rockville Management Area
and to the west is Connecticut’s Pachaug State Forest. Canonchet
is part of the Pawcatuck Borderlands site, where the Connecticut
and Rhode Island chapters of The Nature Conservancy have partnered
with government and nonprofit organizations to protect the region’s
forests and promote enduring ecological management. On June 10,
2003, the State of Rhode Island paid The Nature Conservancy $550,000
for the conservation easement, valued at $1,000,000.
Capital
Connection
Adjacent to
a 38-acre Audubon Society of Rhode Island property, the 72-acre
Coventry Greenway tract is part of a public regional bike path
and
recreational trail located on a reclaimed railroad line. The old
Hartford, Providence & Fishkill Railroad line, completed
in 1854, connected the two State capitals. Cyclists and other
recreationists
will be able to view wildlife as well as managed timber harvesting
as they pass the Coventry Greenway property, which hosts good
upland
wildlife habitat in a predominately oak forest. On August 25, 2003,
the State of Rhode Island acquired a conservation easement for
$296,000
from landowner Dennis Mahoney, who will continue to own and manage
the forested property.
Massachusetts
Town Watershed Lands Have Added Advantage of Private Forest Land
A 12-acre certified
Tree Farm abutting Hatfield Town Watershed lands has been protected,
adding to single block of over 600 protected acres of contiguous
forest land. Both public and private forest lands help ensure the
recharge of the town reservoir that provides drinking water for
over 60,000 people. The Forest Service paid $69,600 to landowner
Dennis Morin for a conservation easement to be monitored by the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management. The State
and nonprofit partners are providing $26,000 in acquisition activities
and in-kind services for the non-Federal cost-share.
Western
Massachusetts Property Protected
On September
8, 2003, a 14-acre tract in western Massachusetts was protected
from development with a conservation easement that was purchased
by the USDA Forest Service for $35,000. The Williams property
had
been in a state of uncertainty for a few years at the request of
the landowner, who suffered injuries in a car accident prior
to
the first scheduled closing. The tract is part of the Stockbridge–Yokum
Ridge Forest Legacy Area, providing scenery and open space benefits.
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