Stewardship updates from Birch Ridge Community Forest and Collins Family Forest
It’s been a busy few months of stewardship and land management in New Durham. Below is a rundown of what’s been happening at Birch Ridge Community Forest and Collins Family Forest.
Birch Ridge Community Forest
Improving and Expanding the Trails
It’s been an epic journey, but we are close to wrapping up the 17+ miles of trail work envisioned at Birch Ridge. Thanks to our friends Russ Weldon, Mike Gelinas, and the Powder Hill Snowmobile Club, SELT constructed a multi-use, all-season trail that will loop out from a section of Corridor 22 (before connecting back later on), bypassing a particularly steep section of the Corridor that will only be open while there is snow cover or for SELT’s land management. Speaking of Corridor 22, using federal dollars from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), we completed major improvements in July to improve access for future management needs.
So what’s on deck for Birch Ridge trails moving forward?
- A hike/bike trail in the eastern portion of the property that will provide users with a loop option, instead of out-and-back only.
- An All-Access trail, offering a path from the Birch Hill Road parking lot to a loop by the cabin; This trail will be designed to be accessible for people of all abilities. More to come!
- By the end of the year, trail markers will be finished, intersection signs will be installed, and SELT anticipates the completion of the Birch Ridge trail guide. Click here for our latest trail map.
- SELT staff is recruiting and training volunteers to help maintain the hiking/biking trails. We are grateful to the Powder Hill Snowmobile Club for their continued partnership in maintaining snowmobile trails.
Cabin Upkeep
We’re giving a big hat-tip to Mike Gelinas, who was the driving force behind the recent updates to the cabin at the end of Birch Hill Road. Work included the relocation of the doors and windows, weather proofing, removal of the loft for increased safety, and a new wood-burning stove and chimney. Thanks to everyone who donated their time and materials to make these much-needed improvements!
Healthy Habitats
As you may know, Birch Ridge Community Forest was heavily harvested prior to SELT’s ownership, with substantial cutting affecting approximately 2,000 acres. Managing this land and the varied habitats it contains requires patience, thoughtfulness, and expertise, and we are grateful to collaborate with experts like Charlie Bridges and Lee Alexander. (And a special thank you to NRCS who provided federal dollars through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.)
- If you have recently walked up Corridor 22 to the area where work was done last year (the former commercial blueberry fields), you may have enjoyed the return of the blueberries – and hopefully sampled a few!
- What’s next: as outlined in the management plan, this is a location that we hope to do some prescribed burning, which will maintain an open condition, and as a long-standing home for blueberries, an excellent food source for wildlife (and human visitors!).
- This year, 30 acres of land was managed to provide early successional habitat, which encourages tree and plant diversity and welcomes wildlife like pollinator insects, turtles, rabbits, songbirds, and many others. To date, about 70 acres have had this treatment across Birch Ridge.
- Planned for next year, by the beaver pond: 50 additional acres of early successional habitat work and about 50 acres of forest stand improvement (a forest stand is essentially a contiguous “community of trees”), which will improve growing conditions for oaks and pines.
Education and Exploration for All Ages
Birch Ridge has become one of SELT’s go-to venues for nature-based programming throughout the year, including hikes, bird walks, management tours, and wildlife tracking. In partnership with Moose Mountains Regional Greenways, our goal is to host at least six events a year, with plans shaping up for outdoor adventures for K-8 students.
Collins Family Forest
It’s all systems go at Collins Family Forest, as SELT’s stewardship staff and volunteers have been hard at work, focused on trail work as recommended by professional trail builder Lew Shelley.
This work follows the creation of a parking area off North Shore Road in 2022, and the installation of a roadside sign at the parking entrance (that trailhead really snuck up on you!). A new trail was made to connect the parking lot to the existing trail system.
Forthcoming work will include: brushing and blazing trails, closing out or relocating a few trails to more sustainable locations, installing bridges, and eventually constructing two additional trails, one of which will take hikers to the Devil’s Den Trailhead. Once the trail work is complete (currently slated for the end of summer), SELT will provide a trail map and guide, allowing even more people to enjoy this fantastic property.
Phew! There is so much going on. We are so appreciative of everyone who has worked diligently to steward these special lands. Thank you – and be sure to enjoy a blueberry (or two, or three, or twelve) on the Ridge!