February 2011 Archives
The Taking Action for Wildlife team, made up of UNH Cooperative Extension and New Hampshire Fish and Game staff, wants to better understand the impact of the Wildlife Action Plan on communities. Which towns mention the NH Wildlife Action Plan (or its 
habitat maps, strategies, or other tools) in their planning documents? We're interested to see if the WAP is being mentioned in Master Plans, Town Conservation Plans, Zoning Updates, or other town documents.
Please use the "Comments" link on this site (above this post) to tell us how your town has used the Wildlife Action Plan information. To learn more about what we're looking for, go to Taking Action for Wildlife, Stories and read about other community efforts.
UNH Cooperative Extension's Geospatial Technologies Training Center has lots of new workshops scheduled for spring. Learn the basics of GIS software, take a class to learn about free online mapping programs, or take a class in using Google Maps. They are great classes - and you can sign up to receive their email workshop alerts here. Annual Conservation Conference on Saturday April 9, 2011
Kearsarge Regional High School, Sutton, NH
As always, this year's Saving Special Places Conference promises to be a great place to learn, network, and enjoy the company of other natural resource volunteers, professionals, and decision-makers from across New Hampshire. Check out the conference brochure here. There are some great new workshop topics ...I'll be going to "Getting Heard: Web and Social Media for Conservation"! And for the first time, you can register online.
When we got to the office building, everyone told us to go upstairs and look out the back window. This is what we saw - so amazing! There's nothing like seeing the real thing. Very fun way to start off a meeting about Taking Action for Wildlife!
Join the Bunny Blitz! 
Working closely with the UNH Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, we're hoping to get in two days of intense surveying to get estimates of New England cottontail populations on certain sites. We're calling it Bunny Blitz! Any and all are welcome, even if you haven't gone through any training to collect pellets. We'll provide a quick refresher course at the beginning of the day.
Sunday, February 20th 9:30am-12:30pm - meet at the NH Fish and Game Bellamy Wildlife Management Area in Dover, NH (click HERE for a map)
Saturday, March 5th 9:30am-12:30pm - location TBA
Email Emma Carcagno (or call 862-2512) if you can come either day so she can get a rough head count. "If you can't stay for the whole time, that isn't a problem, we can use as much help as we can get!" says Emma!
Warning!
Please keep in mind that survey work will involve trekking over snow, through some VERY dense shrubs, including multiflora rose and all manner of other prickly plants. Dress appropriately: warm clothes, layers to help keep you dry, clothes you don't mind getting a little beat up, boots, snowshoes, etc.
Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you might have!
Emma Carcagno
Wildlife Program Assistant
UNH Cooperative Extension
Phone: (603) 862-2512
Fax: (603) 862-0107
E-mail: emma.carcagno@unh.edu
Mid-Winter Snowshoe in Kingston and Danville with Southeast Land Trust of NH
Saturday Feb 19th, 9 am to 12 noon
Join the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire for a fun snowshoe/winter walk to explore the now protected 193-acre Tucker Forest and 370-acre French Family Forests. These are two wonderful properties that the Southeast Land Trust has recently acquired. They include an historic mill site, extensive marshlands, and the Little River corridor. The tour leaders will be members of the Friends of Kingston Open Space (FOKOS) group and staff from the UNH Cooperative Extension. The group will look for signs of river otters, mink, fisher, and snow shoe hare. Snowshoes, binoculars, and appropriate mid-winter clothing are recommended. The walk is moderately strenuous with some small hills and uneven terrain. This event is free and open to the public but registration is required. Click here for more information Contact Karen McCormack at the Southeast Land Trust office at 778-6088 to register and for directions.
Would you be interested in sharing your enthusiasm for vernal pools? UNH Cooperative Extension is planning a new training for Coverts Cooperators and Natural Resource Stewards, to help you lead your own vernal pool walk in your town or on your land. These walks are always popular, they are easy to organize, and they are fun to lead! Time: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Location: The Rocks Estate, Bethlehem, NH and Joan Hannah's property, Sugar Hill
Pre-registration is requested: Contact Tina at 224-9945 ext 313 Cost: $10 for non-members, $5 for Forest Society members, free for Forest Society Land Stewards.
Releasing and pruning wild apple trees can keep them healthy and result in greater fruit production for use by a variety of wildlife. This basic introduction to releasing and pruning wild apple trees will include both an indoor classroom session and outdoor field practice led by Nigel Manley, director of The Rocks Estate (and a Coverts Cooperator!), and pruning enthusiast Mike Didio. The indoor portion will be held at The Rocks Estate in Bethlehem, NH, from which we will carpool to the field practice site at Joan Hannah's property in Sugar Hill, NH, just 10 minutes away. Spectacular views of Franconia Notch at this location make a perfect backdrop for learning how to prune. Read more at the Forest Society
Its almost that time of year again! Interested in maple sugaring on a small scale? Extension is offering several hands-on workshops to get started: http://extension.unh.edu/- Feb. 12 - N. Haverhill
- Feb. 15 - Peterborough
- Feb. 26 - Andover
- Mar. 5 - Keene
- Rare Plant Monitoring
- Habitat Management
- Survey and Control of Invasive Species
- General Botanical Surveys
http://www.newenglandwild.org/
Welcome to Brendan Prusik, the new forest resources educator in Coos County! 
Stock up those bird feeders and dig out your binoculars for NH Audubon’s Backyard Winter Bird Survey. This annual statewide survey will take place on Saturday, February 12, and Sunday, February 13. Biologists need assistance from citizens all over the Granite State to get a clear picture of what’s really happening with our winter birds. Anyone can participate by counting the birds in their own backyard on the survey weekend and sending the results on a special reporting form to NH Audubon. 
A reminder for community groups and landowners who want to help conserve wildlife in their communities and on their land, to check out the "Taking Action for Wildlife" webpage, a joint initiative of UNH Cooperative Extension and New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. On this new site, communities and landowners can access new tools for planning, mapping, and community organizing involving wildlife, habitats, and implementation of New Hampshire's Wildlife Action Plan. You can also sign up for the Taking Action for Wildlife E-Newsletter!
- Feb. 15 - Trout Conservation and Education (in Tamworth)
- Feb. 17 - Project WET training for teachers and volunteers (in Madison)
- Feb. 22 - "What Lives in Your Backyard" Tracking Workshop (in Effingham)
UNH Cooperative Extension is offering a new workshop, Ecology and Identification of NH's Shrubs and Vines with Wildlife Value. It will be a great time to brush up (ha ha) on your ID skills, and learn those key shrubs and vines in winter! 
We'll have lots of Extension educators helping, and three dates and locations. Reserve your place today!
February 23-
Westmoreland
February 25 -
No. Haverhill
March 3 -
Brentwood
Every Coverts volunteers, landowner, and person who cares about natural resources in New Hampshire should take a look at the new edition of “Good Forestry in the Granite State.” All Coverts Cooperators received a copy of the green binder during your training...the new (maroon) version is now available, and has lots of new material, including new information on wildlife and habitat management. Our own Karen Bennett coordinated this mammoth effort with a long list of partners - congratulations to all on a great job. We hope everyone will help spread the word about this new and improved resource for landowners and everyone interested in forests and forestry!
About the New Edition
New Website & Online Version of the New Guide
It was great to see some Coverts folks at Farm & Forest over the weekend! I was only there on Friday, but got a chance to chat with David Marden, John Trachy, Cynthia Hayes, Dave and Tanya Tellman, Linda Lauer, Karen Fesler, Nancy Cowan, and I saw Jennifer Barton from afar. To everyone else who made it, I'm sorry I missed you! Special thanks to to Barbara Pinet, Charlie Mitchell, and the Tellmans for staffing the Extension Forestry & Wildlife booth, and to Nancy Cowan for yet again attracting crowds with her visiting Harris' Hawk! (This photo is from a few years ago...but the smiles of visitors are the same every year!)New Hampshire Fish & Game is inviting Coverts volunteers and other friends of the Department to a new opportunity, called the "Fish and Wildlife Stewards Program". You'll receive intensive training from Fish and Game staff, and become an advocate for Sport Fish & Wildlife Restoration projects, including bobcat research, bear research, and sport fish and aquatic habitats. Read more at the link above, or contact coordinator Mary Goodyear at
271-6649 or at mary.goodyear@wildlife.nh.gov
"Should we keep the Coverts Listserve? The listserve isn't used much these days, and I'm wondering if it still provides a useful function now that I send out regular email updates. It may be more efficient and useful for my Coverts Update to serve as a clearinghouse for Coverts' questions to each other. There are also newer online tools we can try, but I'm interested in what you all think. Should we keep this listserve, or discontinue it? Occasionally someone asks a great question and receives useful feedback from other Coverts volunteers on the list."
- Some people like the Coverts listserve, but more people don't think it's that useful and find it cumbersome
- I have long recognized drawbacks to the listserve, including cumbersome management (for me), problems with expired emails (again, a problem for me), problems with SPAM, and most importantly, an inability to record really good conversations so that others at a later time can benefit from the results of the discussion.
- Although some people like the idea of a Coverts Facebook page, most Coverts volunteers do not use Facebook (and don't seem to want to, either). I did think it was funny that people interpreted my words "newer online tools" to mean Facebook. But I think we can use something simpler that would include everyone, not just users of Facebook.
- What people value about the listserve is the ability to hear from a wide range of Coverts folks when a question is posed to the group. I think we can find a better way that still allows this important discussion function.
- I'll share with you with the email message that made me laugh the hardest...you guys are the greatest! "Has the whole jury voted on the listserve issue yet?!?!?!? Silly you. What a question to ask a bunch of civic minded volunteers. You will learn that the best approach is to tell us what has been decided and to "live with it!" And if that causes a stir, blame it on someone else."
- I'm going to discontinue the Coverts Listserve, effective tomorrow. You don't have to do anything, but you might erase the email address (coverts.discussion (AT] lists.unh.edu) from your address book. We've had a great run, but it's time to move on.
- I will continue to email my "Coverts Update" to everyone on a regular basis. Everyone who has email will receive this update, which is also mailed to those who don't use email.
- I will add a Comments section to many of the posts on our existing blog, "Volunteers Working for Wildlife," to facilitate discussion and respond to questions posed by Coverts volunteers. You'll be able to type in your comments directly onto the webpage, and comment on any of the materials sent out in the Coverts Update. I'll add more things, too - your photos, fun stories, etc. You won't have to subscribe or be a member. All posts will be saved for later use, and I'll start using keywords so that we can search by topics.
- If you have something you want to share (like a photo or story), or a question you want to pose to other Coverts volunteers (about wildlife, stewardship, managing town lands, or whatever), just email your submission to me, and I'll post it on the blog. I will also send a regular email messages that link to the blog, so you won't have to check it--you'll know when there's something new. If you're really savvy, you can even subscribe to the blog (whoa!).
