Washington Conservation Commission

Minutes – February 16, 2017

Assembly time: 7:00 PM

Members present: Jed Schwartz, Arin Mills, Dennis Kelly, Johanna Young, Doug Cook and Nan Schwartz.

Visitors: None

1.0 Approval of Minutes: November and January minutes, Dennis made a motion to approve as written, Arin seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

2.0 Permits Committee - No new permits.

3.0 Committee and Board reports:

3.1 Land Protection Committee - Jed said we are closed on the Bartlett property.

3.2 Energy Committee – Johanna said the EC hasn’t met recently because Andrew has been too busy with his business. She said she is keeping an eye on legislative stuff. Arin said she would like to borrow the thermal camera to check out her house. Johanna said she hasn’t had much solar production at her house with all the cloudy days.

3.3 Planning Board – Nan said both building projects will be on the Warrant at Town Meeting. Jed spoke briefly about the Safety building and said that it meets the needs of the fire and rescue departments. He then spoke about the Town Hall project and the importance of getting both projects passed this year. He hopes everyone will come out and support both projects.

3.4 Forestry Committee –Tom was not here to report.

3.5 Legislative update - Nan said that NHACC has a spreadsheet on bills of concern to CCs here: http://www.nhacc.org/files/2214/8700/1603/Bills_of_Concern.pdf

and Forest Society has bills of concern here:

https://forestsociety.org/blog-post/lawmakers-debating-important-2017-conservation-bills

Arin and Nan looked more closely at SB 30, the bill said it was put forward at the request of DES. We will keep an eye on this one and comment if we need to.

4.0 Public Presentations and workshops:

4.1 Winter Hike - We talked about the snowshoe hike and set the date for Saturday February 25^th at 10am. We will use Jed’s trail in East Washington, which is in good shape right now and he has been working on it. Nan will do posters and a handout for the school kids. Arin will get some extra snowshoes from the school. We discussed doing trail mix and hot cocoa.

4.2 Cottrell-Baldwin Environmental Lecture Series - Authors Series: Big Trees, Rattlesnakes, Historic Hurricane and Wildflowers, all programs take place on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 8:30 p.m., March 7, 21, 28 and April 4 at Fox State Forest, Center Road, Hillsboro

March 7, “The Big Trees of NH,” with author Kevin Martin

March 21,  “America’s Snake: The Rise and Fall of the Timber Rattlesnake,” with author Ted Levin

March 28,  “Thirty Eight: The Hurricane That Transformed New England,” with author Stephen Long

April 4, “Wildflowers of New England,” with author Ted Elliman

4.3 Future presentations and hikes –

Arin wants to do a program in the school this spring about pollinators and butterflies in late May or early June. We have lots of materials to work with for a presentation. Arin bought some nets that she is working on modifying to catch butterflies. Arin will talk to the teachers at school and see what will work for them.

We discussed trying to do a hike in the Bradford Bog again this year. Arin wants to do it when the Rhodura is blossoming and wants to coordinate with the Bradford CC. We will plan this for May.

5.0 New Business:

5.1 NHANRS – Nan received notice that we need to renew our membership to NHANRS for $20. Johanna motioned to renew our membership, Nan seconded and all voted in favor.

6.0 Other Business:

6.1 Natural Resource Inventory Map updates – Nan and Arin will to get together soon to look over the draft maps and make a list of comments for Chris.

6.2 Master Plan goals for 2017 – We are making the NRI update and map update our first goal.

6.3 Barker trail easement – Jed reached out to Whit Beals at NEFF about the Barker easement and is awaiting his reply.

6.4 Tracking Invasive Plants project – We are keeping this on the agenda as a placeholder until the growing season starts. The reporting sheets and guides are always available here: InvasiveProject.html

7.0 What’s Happening in Nature?

Johanna recently saw a turkey sitting on top of a snow bank. Jed said he has seen lots of turkeys in the woods and also cleaning up under the birdfeeder. He has a flock of 4 male turkeys that hang together and a large flock of females that stay in a separate group.

Johanna said she saw a broad wing hawk. Dennis said that he as observed the hawks migrating in the fall.

Jed said he has a fox around and saw it eating nuts under the birdfeeder at night.

Arin saw a big moose on the top of Faxon Hill Road.

Jed said his mutant (Leutistic) chickadee is still coming to the feeder.

Johanna saw three deer traveling together.

Arin said she has seen several dead owls on Rt. 202, recently and they had all been hit by cars. She also saw a bald eagle near the Hillsboro exit on Rt. 202. Dennis said that people talk about how silent owls are, when they swoop around.

Jed saw 2 grouse in the woods, Dennis said they dive under the snow for protection.

Arin said she was out on the ice on the pond and heard lots of strange noises. To find out why the ice makes these weird sounds, click here: NewinNature.html

8.0 Correspondence:

Fox State Forest Newsletter and brochure on Cottrell-Baldwin Lecture Series

9.0 Adjourned at 7:55 PM, our next scheduled meeting is on March 15^th, at 7PM at the Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Nan Schwartz, Secretary