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Near to the Bradford Town line, the 65-acre
Back Mountain Lot is the Town's only forestland in the northeast
part of Washington. Located on the north side of the Old Bradford
(or Back Mountain) Road, this property is relatively close
to both Pillsbury State Park and Pillsbury's disjunct Max
Israel Tract. The Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway is located about
a mile west of the property. Currently, this land is very
remote, with no houses for several miles in all directions.
The Back Mountain Lot is not diverse in terms of wildlife
habitats. Most of the property consists of either young spruce/red
maple woods or young birch stands. Some large oaks and sugar
maples on the eastern cliffs, however, are important contributors
of hard mast . Similarly, occasional mature black cherries
near the road in the south of the property provide a source
of sweet fruit for many wildlife species. Given the overall
youth of this property, time will be needed for habitat diversity
to develop.
59 plant species were recorded for this property, in addition
to the tree species recorded during the prism cruise. Interestingly,
at the base of the cliffs on the extreme east side of the
property a number of plants were found growing that indicate
richness and fertility. Species such as maidenhair fern, zig-zag
goldenrod, red elderberry and purple-flowering raspberry were
found together, clearly benefiting from their position at
the base of the cliffs where nutrients would naturally collect.
This was the only example of a mesic rich woods found on any
Town property, and should be conserved as the plant community
is relatively rare in this part of New Hampshire.
There are five forest types or management units (MU's)
on the Back Mountain Lot:
1) MU 1 is a part of the old fire area, and consists of young
red spruce, with slightly taller red maple and white birch.
Nearly all of the trees are less than 12" in diameter.
These trees are not densely stocked, with some patches of
rock outcrop and ledge throughout. Timber management will
be difficult in spots due to rocky and ledgy terrain.
2) MU 2 is the largest stand on the property, and consists
of young, dense white birch and red maple pole stands. There
are some areas of thick striped maple saplings as well. Most
of the red maple has been ruined through moose barking, and
will eventually die. Some white birch trees have been pulled
over through the ice storm, but there are many other birches
that will benefit form the "thinning".
3) MU 3 is made up of two small stands at opposite ends of
the property (one on the northeast and one on the southwest).
Both stands contain some scattered large sawtimber trees,
mostly white ash, red maple and white birch. Below these larger
trees are smaller poles of the same species, including some
occasional beech and red spruce. The northern stand was badly
damaged by the ice storm, with many broken branches and pulled-out
tops.
4) MU 4 also consists of two stands, both along the southern
bound of the property. These are mostly spruce stands of pole
and small sawtimber diameters. There are occasional large
sawtimber spruces, but they are scattered. Mixed in with the
spruce are red maples of mostly small sawtimber diameter (12-14").
5) MU 5 is inoperable due to steep slopes and large jagged
rock outcrops. There are some large sugar maples and red oaks,
with a mixture of red spruce, red maple and white ash poles
and small sawtimber trees.
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