Northeastern Area Forest Legacy Program (FLP)
The Tract Record
First Quarter FY 2010
FY 2010 Forest Legacy Appropriations at Record Levels
President Obama signed the “Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010” into law on October 30, 2009. The law includes funding for 36 Forest Legacy projects in 33 States. These projects are funded to promote the traditional forest uses on important forest land that otherwise could convert to non-forest uses. Along with administration funds, the total FY2010 budget for FLP is $79,460,000. This total includes $76,460,000 of fiscal year 2010 appropriations and the use of $3,000,000 in prior year funds from failed projects and cost savings. The Northeastern Area share of the project funds for FY2010 is $26,955,000 for 14 projects in 12 States. The FY2010 funding amount is $7,000,000 higher than the previous high funding level in FY2004.
National FLP Award Bestowed Upon Another of Northeastern Area’s Own
Annually, U.S. Forest Service Regional and National Forest Legacy Program (FLP) managers recognize an outstanding State FLP Coordinator with the “Conservation Excellence Award.” This year’s award was bestowed upon Mike Fleming, the Massachusetts State FLP Coordinator. Northeastern Area Director Kathryn Maloney presented Mike with the 2009 Conservation Excellence Award “for outstanding achievement and dedication to forest conservation.” The award presentation took place November 18, 2009, at the Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters (NAASF) meeting at Grey Towers. Fleming gradually realized that he was the subject of the award as Director Maloney made her way toward him and described how the recipient met the three award criteria. Mike provides input and guidance nationally by serving on a number of FLP task forces and teams. Mike also turned around a floundering FLP and now runs an efficient and effective program in Massachusetts, which has protected more than 6,000 forested acres from conversion to other uses using nearly $15 million in FLP funds. Finally, Mike provides leadership and guidance to other State managers and FLP programs. Mike said of the award, “I am shocked and grateful for this recognition. To be acknowledged by a group of professionals I greatly respect is truly an honor. However, I must note that without the help and support of our many partners, who bring us excellent projects and work tirelessly as project sponsors, the Massachusetts Forest Legacy Program wouldn't be the success that it is.”
Recently Completed FLP Projects
Tomahawk Timberlands Triple Tracts Triumph in Wisconsin
The third and final phase of the Tomahawk Timberlands Project has been completed, by way of the acquisition of 1,546-acre fee simple purchase in Oneida County as part of the Willow Flowage Scenic Water Area. This October 9, 2009, purchase protects more than seven miles of scenic river frontage along the Tomahawk River as well as a significant portion of the river corridor from the Willow Flowage to Lake Nokomis. While the property was industrial forest owned by Potlatch Forest Holdings, this stretch of the Tomahawk River was increasingly being threatened for residential development. The land will remain open to the public for all nature-based outdoor recreation, including hunting, fishing and trapping. The $4,000,000 appraised value of the property was acquired with the help of the U.S. Forest Service FLP providing $1,972,000 of the acquisition cost and the State of Wisconsin provided $2,028,000. This phase concludes the project that includes a 35,337-acre FLP conservation easement that was completed in November 2002.
Vermont Project is Strategic to National Defense and Local Wildlife
A conservation easement was purchased on a 78-acre property in the Chittenden County Uplands FLP project located in the Town of Jericho on October 13, 2009, from Scott and Carolyn Hallock and Mary Copans. Sustainable harvesting of forest products will be an important activity on the property. The easement was purchased with FLP funds for $225,000, $14,000 less than the appraised value of $239,000. The $14,000 bargain sale was used to meet part of the non-Federal cost share requirement. The remaining cost share requirement was met through in-kind conservation of similar properties located in Vermont’s Forest Legacy Area. The Hallock/Copans property is strategically located on the north end of the Chittenden County Uplands project, connecting nearly 6,000 conserved acres with the Ethan Allen Firing Range, an 11,000-acre area owned by the Vermont National Guard. The National Guard property features a weapon testing area but much of the area is subject to pro-active forest management to maintain and promote a healthy and diverse forest, resulting in a wide diversity of wildlife habitat.
New Hampshire Protects Globally Rare Ecosystem
The Ossipee Pine Barrens ecosystem is the last of its kind in New Hampshire. It contains exceptional natural resources including the globally rare pitch pine- scrub oak barrens. Completion of the 5-tract, 2,320-acre Ossipee Pine Barrens project permanently protects several of the largest and most important remaining tracts in this forest landscape. The project is located in the Ossipee Mountain region of New Hampshire, and links together many previous conservation properties including the Trout Pond FLP project completed in FY2005. New Hampshire acquired a conservation easement on the properties on November 6, 2009, from The Nature Conservancy who had previously acquired the properties from private landowners. The tracts will continue to be open for public recreational use. The $3,667,000 value of the easements was purchased for $2,351,000 in FLP funds. The cost-share for the project was achieved through bargain sales on three of the tracts and a donation to the State conservation easements on two of the tracts.
Maine’s Grafton Notch – Stowe Mountain Project Protects Working Forests and Leisure Pursuits
The 3,364-acre Grafton Notch-Stowe Mountain conservation easement project protects a scenic ridgeline and productive timberland in Newry, Maine. The conservation project protects views from the Appalachian Trail, a National Scenic Byway, and Grafton Notch State Park. The conservation easement protects key snowmobile trails, guarantees public access for hunting and fishing, and encourages sustainable harvest on the vast majority of the property to supply fiber to the region’s mills. The project is adjacent to the FY2007 Grafton FLP fee acquisition that protected 3,688 acres of forest. The Stowe Mountain project closed on December 11, 2009. Maine’s Bureau of Parks & Lands purchased the working forest conservation easement valued at $1,567,800 from the landowner – The Center for Special Needs Trust – with $1,111,000 from the FLP. Additional funds including a stewardship endowment came from the Land for Maine’s Future Program and from mitigation accounts created as a result of a wind power generation project roughly 50 miles away.
Rhode Island Landowner made Choice Decades Ago, which has Significance into Perpetuity
In July of 2008, Rhode Island acquired a conservation easement from landowner Ernest Bugnet on 69 acres of his forested land in Exeter, RI, known as the Harrington House Woodlands tract. Ernest and his wife Marie purchased the parcel in the early 1960’s as a means to support Ernest’s custom wood molding business, and to provide themselves with firewood in order to save money heating their home. The project is located within the boundary of the Big River Watershed, an Environmental Protection Agency designated “Sole Source Aquifer.” That it is adjacent to 2,000 acres of already protected public land, and that the Bugnet’s agreed to donate part of the value of the easement as part of the non-Federal cost share, were all contributing factors to the Rhode Island Forest Legacy Committee recommendation. The conservation easement, valued at $755,000, was purchased by the State through a bargain sale for $600,000 of which $591,000 was from FLP funds and the remaining $9,000 from State funds. Besides serving as a location for organized public educational tours, the parcel will continue to be managed for wood products, and wildlife habitat. After all FLP standards were met on December 18, 2009, the FLP reimbursed the State $591,000.