The Hawk Watch on Balch Hill scheduled for today at 11 am has been postponed to tomorrow due to weather.
Please check back Sunday morning by 9 am tomorrow to see if the event is still on.
Celebrating a Half Century of Conservation!
2011 marked our 50th year! Since 1961, we have spoken up for community conservation, responsible land management, and the timeless pleasure of getting outdoors close to home.
On Sunday, September 25, 100 friends and supporters joined us at the summit of Balch Hill in Hanover, where it all began. We were treated to sunny skies, scudding clouds, and the presence of many of those who had helped us protect this well-loved place so many years ago. photo by Lisa Densmore
President Nancy Collier welcomed the group and recalled our past and present. She recognized our first president, Bob Norman, who was presented with a cherry Shaker-style tray. Bob offered recollections of our first years as the Hanover Conservation Council.
Executive Director Adair Mulligan celebrated the Conservancy’s valuable partnership with the Town of Hanover and the Upper Valley Land Trust, and presented an inscribed Aldo Leopold bench to Vicki Smith, Senior Planner for the Town, and Jeanie McIntyre, President of UVLT. The benches and Shaker tray were made by Conservancy member and craftsman Jim Duffus. (More about Aldo Leopold… plans for building an Aldo Leopold bench)
Vice President Kristine McDevitt, assisted by an able young visitor, distributed blueberry bushes from E.C. Brown’s Nursery and kites from College Supplies to five lucky winners of our “trail” prize raffle. Children engaged in a scavenger hunt, and Hanover High School student Jaden Gladstone entertained the group with his Appalachian music, on fiddle and banjo.
Refreshments were enjoyed by all, and included a taste of fall from Riverview Farm in Plainfield, NH – rosy Empire apples and fresh-pressed cider, along with home-baked goodies from members of the Balch Hill Stewardship Committee.
Hurricane Irene Visits Conservancy Lands
Conservancy volunteers fanned out across town the morning after Irene left the area, to check on trail, bridge, and forest conditions. Here’s the latest information, for your safety. [Read more…]
Wild Brook Trout at Mink Brook
The Mink Brook watershed, Hanover’s largest, harbors healthy populations of wild brook trout, even in some of its smallest tributaries. Fisheries biologists from New Hampshire’s Fish and Game Department, working with volunteers from Trout Unlimited, the Conservancy’s Mink Brook Stewardship Committee, and Hanover students conducted a thorough study of the Mink Brook watershed in July, 2011.
The study is part of the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture, a region-wide effort looking at habitat for wild brook trout. At Mink Brook, biologists examined details of each section’s habitat characteristics, measured water temperature, and recorded the length, weight, and species of each fish captured. Fish were “borrowed” from the water by electro-fishing – a wand sending a weak electric current through the water temporarily stuns the fish, which can then be scooped up with a net and transferred to a bucket for study. All fish were returned to the brook after their brief examination.
Mink Brook is among the streams under study by Dartmouth for survival of young Atlantic salmon, and a number of young salmon turned up.
Celebration at the King Bird Sanctuary
The Nan & Allen King Bird Sanctuary at Hayes Farm Park
The Hanover Conservation Council is pleased to announce our newest project, honoring the memory of two prominent Hanover conservationists and Council members, Nan and Allen King. Located on the beautiful Upper Meadow of the town’s newly acquired Hayes Farm Park, the King Sanctuary includes an extensive demonstration planting of native trees and shrubs.
A trail from the Etna Library leads to the Upper Meadow and will eventually allow visitors to explore the entire property and the town’s adjacent Trescott Ridge Wetlands. The Council and the town’s Conservation Commission have partnered to create this sanctuary to benefit Etna Village.
Preparing the Upper Meadow for planting required removal of a major infestation of invasive plants, including barberry, honeysuckle, and glossy buckthorn. Council volunteers worked with the crew of E. C. Brown’s Nursery to remove the brush before the plantings were installed.
Dominating the crest of the knoll is a stone bench, created from a glacial boulder by sculptor Chance Anderson of Canterbury, NH. Two smaller seats nearby, formed of a single stone cut in half, carry inset illustrations of a kingbird and a chickadee.
Over 60 people joined the Council at the Etna Library for a celebration of the Kings’ life and the opening of the sanctuary on June 30. The Council thanks the many volunteers who have helped with this project, especially neighbors Ken and Norma Pelton and Jay and Susan Pierson.
The Council will soon publish a guide to the plantings to help visitors learn more about the wildlife benefits and year-round ornamental values of these native plants.
Trails Day at Mink Brook
For Trails Day this year, the Hanover Conservation Commission Trails Committee and the Hanover Conservation Council joined together to cut a new trail section in Mink Brook. This trail connects the trail head at the gate at Brook Road to the town trails closer to the Connecticut River. With the new connecting link, it will be possible to walk along Mink Brook, without going on Brook Road.
Eleven volunteers helped work on the new trail, which took about 2 hours to clear. One of the interesting challenges were the numerous hanging vines, some of which were strong enough to swing on. There was also a lot of underlying brush that had to be dragged out.
We hope that the new trail proves popular and useful.
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