Northeastern Area Forest Legacy Program (FLP)
The Tract Record
Third Quarter FY 2011
Northeastern Area Makes Up 50% of FLP Projects and Funds in FY2011 Appropriations
President Obama signed the “Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011” into law on April 15, 2011. The law includes funding for 12 Forest Legacy projects with six of those projects located in States serviced by the Northeastern Area. 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 FY2011 budget for FLP is $55,150,000. This total includes $52,894,000 of fiscal year 2011 appropriations and the use of $2,256,000 in prior year funds from failed projects and cost savings. The Northeastern Area share of the project funds for FY2011 is $25,450,000 for six projects in six States.
Engaging Discussions Keep Meeting Attendees Inside on Chamber-of-Commerce Day
What could possibly keep meeting attendees in a meeting room while gorgeous weather is occurring outside in the beautiful Adirondack Park? Why that would be the high quality presentations that led to engaging discussions among participants at the Northeastern Area (NA) Forest Legacy Program (FLP) meeting. The Tupper Lake, NY, meeting was attended by FLP coordinators from 15 States, NA FLP staff and others on May 10-12, 2011. A field trip to Tahawus FLP tract and a presentation by Tom Martin, New York Department of Conservation, offered a History of the Adirondack Park and Conservation Easements in the State of New York. Various topics to help implement and maintain the FLP in the States included conservation challenges with the expansion of deep gas drilling public access management issues, and monitoring violations. However, a conversation on conservation easements with USDA Office of General Counsel Attorney John Vandlik and New York Department of Environmental Conservation Attorney Jeanne Konz was so popular that it was extended by an hour.
Recently Completed FLP Projects
Wisconsin Conserved Acres Overflow
Phase I of the Chippewa Flowage FLP project was completed on April 6, 2011. This conservation easement acquisition protects 8,096 acres in Sawyer County, in northern Wisconsin. This Wisconsin Northwoods jewel is part of a conservation effort that will protect more than 18,000 acres of productively managed hardwood and pine forests. The protection of this property is critical to forest connectivity in northern Wisconsin, where nearly one million acres of forested and natural lands adjacent to the FLP tract are managed by the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the Lac Courte Oreille Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. This conservation easement purchased from the landowner Plum Creek Timberlands, L.P., restricts development while ensuring the property remains forested. Non-motorized public access and well as designated snowmobile trails will be secured for perpetuity. The conservation easement was acquired using $1,500,000 in FLP funds, and $2,150,000 from the State of Wisconsin Knowles-Nelson Stewardship land acquisition fund
Metacomet-Monadnock Project Moves Forward in Massachusetts
The first tract in the multi-tract Metacomet-Monadnock Forest Project (MMF) project closed. on April 8, 2011. Verne and Caroline Fellows granted a conservation restriction (CR) to the Town of Erving, Massachusetts. The Town’s Conservation Commission will administer and monitor the CR. The CR appraised for $350,000; the Fellows’ sold the CR at a bargain sale for $262,500 in FLP funds. The 132-acre CR protects the land for such conservation values as forestry, agriculture, wildlife habitat and biodiversity, cultural, open space, and scenic values. The MMF project when completed will include 13 landowners and will conserve 1,200 acres of land in six towns.
Massachusetts Southern Monadnock Plateau Phase 2 Gets Underway The sale of a 38-acre forested parcel in Ashby Massachusetts by landowner Michael Bussell to the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game on April 28, 2011, marked the successful completion of the first tract in the Massachusetts Southern Monadnock Plateau Phase Two (SMP II) FLP Project. The forested tract located in both the City of Fitchburg and the Town of Ashby was purchased in fee for $100,000 in FLP funds. The Bussell tract will eventually be joined by more than a dozen other tracts of fee and conservation restriction acquisitions, which will protect a total of approximately 1,900 acres of forests over a several mile-wide expanse of rolling hills and waterways in north central Massachusetts. Non-Federal cost share will be achieved through the bargain sales of these other SMP II project tracts.
Young Campers Cheer Forest Protection in Vermont
The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR), in partnership with The Conservation Fund, completed purchase of a conservation easement on 444 acres of private forests, ridgeline and vista near the village of Plymouth from the landowner Farm & Wilderness Foundation where they operate an outdoor camp for children. The conservation easement will conserve this verdant working forest near Woodward Reservoir for youth summer camps and will remain open for public recreation including hunting and hiking. Adjacent to Coolidge State Forest, the protected tract is critical to linking core black bear breeding habitat as well as protecting headwater streams of the Ottauquechee River. The property, which boasts a rich hardwood forest, will continue to be sustainably harvested for its high-value timber. The easement was purchased at its appraised value of $425,000 using all FLP funds on May, 31, 2011. The cost share for the acquisition is being met with the acquisition of other forest lands in Vermont without the use of Federal funds.
Protecting the New England National Scenic Trail in Massachusetts
Along the New England National Scenic Trail and its viewshed, the Metacomet-Monadnock Forest (MMF) Forest Legacy project continued to conserve land for active forestry and public recreation with three project closings on June 27, 2011. Sam and Barbara Richardson granted a conservation restriction (CR) to the Town of Northfield. The Town’s conservation commission will administer and monitor the CR. The 38-acre parcel includes 1,800 feet of the New England National Scenic Trail as well as two spectacular scenic overlooks atop Alexander Hill. The Richardsons sold the CR for the fair market value for $21,000 in FLP funds. The second transaction was by Deborah Fowler who sold a 28-acre parcel valued at $19,000 to the Town at a bargain sale for $16,500 in FLP funds. The third tract had Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust sell a neighboring 123-acre parcel to the Town for the appraised value of $185,000 in FLP funds. The acquisitions are adjacent to the 48-acre Town of Northfield Brush Mountain Conservation Area, which also includes a segment of the New England National Scenic Trail.