WASHINGTON CONSERVATION COMMISSION

 

 

Minutes- January 27, 2004

 

 

1.0 Assembly: Time 7:00 p.m.

Present: Mike Andrews, Carol Andrews, Tom Taylor, Ann Delucia, Lynn Cook, Rich Cook, John Tweedy, Sandy Robinson, Peter France.

 

2.0 Approval of Minutes: approved as printed

 

3.0 Old Business:

3.1 Dredge and Fill Committee- no activity

3.2 Planning Board update- Changes to the Land Use Ordinance will go to ballot.

3.3 Exotic Plant Education- Lionel Chute is pursuing a grant for the Lake Host Program. There were several questions about the program: Will the money come directly to the Conservation Commission? Will the Conservation Commission be responsible for finding the people who are going to work at the boat launches? When does the program start? Tom Taylor suggested that we have a meeting of the lake associations if we get the grant.

3.4 Land Protection update: Mike gave an update on the Pillsbury-Sunapee Highlands Legacy Project. The appraisals are taking place now. If the appraisals come in higher than expected there will be lands dropped from the easement boundaries. The land in Washington (includes all parcels owned by New Forestry LLC) is the first priority for protection under this program, and is unlikely to be dropped. The Bradford Conservation Commission is involved in a fundraising effort for a 72 acre parcel which surrounds the Bradford Bog property owned by the town. The owners are asking $65,000. Project cost is $70-75,000. This property is on the Washington/Bradford town line. The Conservation Commission is using money from their Conservation Fund to pay for part of the property.

3.5 Should we put in a warrant article to have the Land Use Change Tax placed in the Conservation Fund? This week will be the last chance to get warrant articles in to the Selectmen. There was much discussion on this topic. The land use change tax has amounted to an average of $2,459 per year in the last 10 years. Sandy Robinson moved that we submit this warrant article to the Selectmen:

 

TO ALLOCATE THE LAND USE CHANGE TAX TO THE CONSERVATION FUND

 

TO SEE IF THE TOWN WILL VOTE TO DEPOSIT THE REVENUES COLLECTED PURSUANT TO RSA 79-A (THE LAND USE CHANGE TAX) IN THE CONSERVATION FUND IN ACCORDANCE WITH RSA 36-A:5 III AS AUTHORIZED BY RSA 79-A:25 II.

 

Second by Ann Delucia. Motion carried by unanimous vote. Mike to bring the warrant article in to the Selectmen’s meeting on Thursday. Half of the towns in NH direct money from the land use change tax to their conservation fund. This money could be used to help landowners who wish to voluntarily protect their land from being developed. The money could also be used to purchase trail easements for snowmobiling and hiking.

3.6 February 14^th the Ashuelot River Local Advisory Committee will sponsor a hike from the dam at Pillsbury to Lempster Mountain Road.

3.7 The NH Nature Conservancy, NH Natural Heritage, The Forest Society, The Monadnock Conservancy have formed a coalition to focus land protection efforts on the Ashuelot River. Landowner outreach in Washington can be accomplished through this group.

3.8 The federal Energy Bill will be coming back. It still contains a provision for immunity for the companies producing MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether-a fuel additive).

3.9 What’s happening in nature? New Hampshire’s seven sleepers are snoozing.

 

 

4.0 Natural Resource Inventory-

 

 

5.0 New Business- none

 

 

 

 

 

6.0 Correspondence: DES Environmental News

Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission- Building Local Conservation Leadership

NH Communities Growing Smarter: Protecting Our Open Spaces and Rural Character

NH Community Forestry Advisory Council- Farm and Forest Exposition is Feb. 6^th (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) and 7^th (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) at the Center of NH, 700 Elm Street in Manchester. www.nhfarmandforestexpo.org

                       

 

 

7.0   Adjournment: 8:15 p.m.                   

 

7.1 Next Meeting Date: Tuesday February 24^th at 7:00 at the Town Hall.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Carol K. Andrews

Secretary

 

New Hampshire's Seven Sleepers
Seven types of mammals dodge the depths of New Hampshire's winter by snoozing it away. Bats, woodchucks, chipmunks and jumping mice go into a deep sleep, or hibernation. For these animals, life nearly ceases; they are at death's door. Yet, somehow, an alarm clock built into their bodies awakens them at just the right time. Imagine if you could hit the snooze button for four more months! Not only do these animals get to sleep as long as the average teenager, they actually have a weight loss program that works -- the winter sleepers lose between 25 and 50 percent of their weight while sleeping. Rounding out the seven sleepers, bears, raccoons and striped skunks sleep during the cold months, but not as deeply as the true hibernators. Sometimes they snooze only during the coldest, snowiest parts of the winter. New Hampshire's seven wildlife sleepers are:

• Woodchucks are masters of winter sleep. By late September, when air temperatures drop into the 40s, woodchucks go into hibernation. The woodchuck's weight will drop by about half over the winter. Its heart rate plummets from 105 beats per minute to just 4, and body temperature drops from 104 degrees F to about 38.
• Bats are also true hibernators. By late August or September, five species of New Hampshire bats are headed for their winter dens. These are usually caves or mines, not necessarily in this state, but possibly as far as 200 miles away. The last days of summer were spent adding about 25 percent to their body weight in order to have enough fat to last the seven months in hibernation. Bats' heartbeat slows from 210 per minute to just 8. A bat's body temperature may drop from nearly 100 degrees F to 32. Shivering prevents their body temperature from dropping below freezing.
• Jumping mice, both woodland and meadow, occur across the state and, like bats and woodchucks, are true hibernators. They curl into a little ball and sleep for two or three weeks at a stretch, briefly awaken, then resume their torpor. Their body temperature hovers just above freezing.
• Chipmunks are winter wanderers between weeks-long periods of sleep. These little creatures take the time in late fall to store a cache of winter food which they eat during waking periods over the winter. Typically, chipmunks have excavated one or two chambers in their underground burrows and have filled them with hundreds of nuts. They, too, are true hibernators, as their body temperature drops from 96 to 106 degrees F to as low as 42-45 degrees F. Their heart rate slips from 60 per minute to 20. A mild winter day with little snow and an abundance of acorns will draw chipmunks out of the den for a winter scamper.
• Bears may double their weight in late fall in preparation for denning. Autumns with a lack of nuts and other foods, as we experienced in New Hampshire in 2003, can send some bears into their dens as early as September. During falls with an abundance of nuts, especially beechnuts or acorns, bears often will stay active into December. Bears usually build a den on top of the ground or under a blow-down or brush pile. Their winter sleep is not as deep as that of the true hibernators, as bears remain alert and can run away or defend themselves if disturbed. Their body temperature drops only about 10 degrees, from 100 degrees F to 90. Respiration drops more significantly, from about 40 to 8-10 breaths a minute. Unlike chipmunks, bears do not eat or drink or even relieve themselves during the 5-6 months of denning. Yet adult female bears give birth to two or three cubs in January about every other year. They are able to nurse the cubs and care for them during the coldest of months by relying on body fat stored from the previous fall.
• Racoons and striped skunks are the last of the winter sleepers. Unlike the true hibernators, these animals may sleep only during the coldest temperatures and the deepest snows, but remain active periodically throughout the year. There is no dramatic reduction in their body temperatures, heart rate or respiration. Life goes on, just at a slower pace. Just like us humans! To conserve energy, both raccoons and skunks congregate in communal dens. Often, it will be the mother and her young from the summer who will den together, but sometimes as many as 12 to 20 raccoons may den together. Skunks enjoy mixed company of other skunks, as well; there can be 20 or more in a den, but usually no more than 10. Skunks, especially females, prefer to make their winter dens under or in buildings. Have you noticed a telltale odor of skunk this winter? If you have, get ready for the blast of reality when skunk-breeding season rolls around in January! Male skunks may travel over two miles a night in search of that den full of vivacious babes. Squabbling males or reluctant females may cause a stir that will include some spraying. Keep that clothespin handy! The denned skunks tend to have two or three brief active periods each day, each lasting less than 10 minutes. Skunks have a slight depression in body temperature and lose between 40 and 58 percent of their body weight.

New Hampshire's seven sleepers are all snuggled into their dens for a long winter's nap. Wouldn't it be nice to sleep through that next big snowstorm, or, better yet, that ice storm when the power is out? Plus, great news - "you snooze, you lose." If Christmas dinner, ribbon candy and holiday parties have you putting on a few extra pounds, remember, the solution is only a nap away. --Eric Orff, Wildlife Biologist