Stewardship Plan for the 5 Corners Reserve, Lee, NH

The 20.7–acre Lee Five Corners Reserve (Reserve) is located north of Route 4 and west of Snell Road in the northern “Five Corners” region of Lee, New Hampshire. The property is accessed at the end of Old Concord Turnpike, which leads northwest from Snell Road near the intersection of Route 155 (Map 1). The gravel access road continues through the Five Corners Reserve and onto a Town of Durham parcel that houses a public drinking water well. An iron gate that blocks public access to the Durham well site is located on the Five Corners Reserve. A small parking area is located along the east side of the access road, just before the gate

Newmarket Open Space Conservation Plan

Open spaces – forests, fields, wetlands, floodplains, salt marshes, rivers and streams – are integral to our community. These lands and waters that thread through our neighborhoods are a scenic reminder of our history, when people made their living by working the land. Yet we still depend on these open spaces for our health and our wellbeing. These places provide many “services” such as clean air, flood control, filtering pollutants and purifying drinking water, natural pest control, plant pollination, cooler summer temperatures, and areas for relaxing, exercising and recreating. Collectively these can be thought of as a “natural services network” – a minimum framework or backbone of open spaces that offer these services to all of us regardless of age, income, or points of view. New Hampshire is transforming from a largely rural state to a mostly urban and suburban one. This trend will continue at a rapid pace as the State is expected to grow by 358,000 people (or more than 28%) from 2000 to 2025. Most of this growth will occur in the four southeastern counties, with the Town of Newmarket in the heart of this growth area. The major land use trends include loss of unfragmented forestland, lack of protected lands around public water supplies and aquifers, and loss of intact wetlands and wildlife habitat (SPNHF 2005). Many communities, including the residents of Newmarket, have acknowledged these changes and the need to conserve special places and ecosystems by supporting land use planning tools, natural resource inventories, conservation funds, and stewardship of lands. Since 2001, 83 New Hampshire towns have passed open space bond issues or appropriated funds for land acquisition worth more than $135 million (NH Center for Land Conservation Assistance). In 2002, Newmarket residents overwhelmingly passed a$2 million land acquisition bond. Landowners in our community have generously donated interest in land or easements to ensure that conservation values are protected in perpetuity. This support for land and water conservation that benefits all of us is a tribute to the community land ethic in our region. The Town of Newmarket boasts a rich diversity of natural habitats and associated plants and animals. The Lamprey and Piscassic Rivers, Great Bay Estuary, and Tuttle Swamp, to name just a few, all contribute to the sense of place and allure of the town (Map 1). Balancing the preservation of open space with responsible development, long maintained as a priority by Newmarket citizens, business owners and town officials, is necessary, as growth and all its requisite accompaniments present increasing challenges. Recent concerns about the availability of drinking water for Newmarket residents and businesses as well as the floods of 2006 reflect these challenges. As Newmarket continues to grow, so will concern over loss of natural areas, recreational opportunities, and the quality of life that residents have long enjoyed. Maintaining a network of rivers and wetlands, forests and fields throughout Newmarket for the health of the land and people requires vision, support, and action. In 1991, the Town of Newmarket hired the Smart Associates to prepare a Natural Resource Inventory and Conservation Plan. This was the beginning of efforts by the Conservation Commission to conserve important lands identified in the “Smart Report.” In the fifteen years that have elapsed since the Smart Report, Newmarket has undergone many changes, highlighting the need to revisit the current state of natural resources within the community. The Open Space Commission and Conservation Commission have led recent efforts to identify and protect conservation and recreation areas. The Planning Board and staff have led in creating effective land use planning tools that conserve open spaces while allowing orderly and thoughtful development. Together, Newmarket Open Space Conservation Plan Page 7 of 94 these boards applied for a grant from the NH Estuaries Project (NHEP) Technical Assistance Program in 2006 to develop an Open Space Plan. The NHEP awarded the grant of $6,200 to Ibis Wildlife Consulting to work with the Town of Newmarket to prepare this Plan

Stewardship Plan for Garrity Reserve, Lee, NH

The 16.02-acre Garrity Reserve lies on the west side of Garrity Road in the northeast region of the Town of Lee, New Hampshire (Map 1). The Garrity Reserve is identified on the Lee Tax Map as Map 9 Lots 3- 0 and 3-1 (Appendix A). The parcel has just over 790-feet of frontage on Garrity Road. There is no parking on the property; visitors park on the opposite side of Garrity Road, alongside the Gluke cemetery. The property is bordered by a residential subdivision to the west and rural residences to the north and south. A large portion of the property was a former sand and gravel pit operated by the Town of Durham. The two entrances to the pit are gated and the “roads” into the pit are overgrown. The remaining land is upland white pine forest. A few pockets of wetland are found at the bottom of the pit, resulting from the excavation. Early successional species including gray birch and aspen, along with white pine and pitch pine are growing in the previously excavated area. Invasive species, including multiflora rose and Japanese knotweed, heavily infest the northern entrance road and the north slope of the pit. Piles of asphalt and a large boulder pile remain. A portion of the northern slope of the pit is laden with debris, similar to an old farm dump. The steeper areas of the un-reclaimed pit are exposed sandy slopes

Stewardship Plan Isinglass River Conservation Reserve, Strafford, NH

In addition to the significant frontage on the Isinglass River, the Hanson Lot supports myriad wetlands – vernal pools, beaver flowages, forested swamps, meadow marshes, and scrub-shrub wetlands. These are embedded within a hemlock – oak – beech - pine forest that was heavily logged in 1998. A plan to build a large 58- to 70-lot residential subdivision on the property was averted by the acquisition of the Hanson Lot as permanent conservation land. The Bedford property is also mostly wooded; the forest was carefully managed by previous owners and therefore retains a mix of tree species and ages. Together the properties are embedded within a 1,800-acre block of undeveloped lands that offers habitat for wide-ranging wildlife, protects water quality, and provides unique recreational experiences. A woods road runs through both properties, used by snowmobilers, hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders. The river corridor is a popular fishing destination

Developmental and Anatomical Patterns Of IL-2 Gene Expression in Vivo in The Murine Thymus

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a potent growth factor that mature T lymphocytes synthesize and use as a proliferation signal. Much controversy has arisen concerning whether it is used to drive the extensive proliferation of immature pre-T cells in the thymus. Immature thymocytes acquire the competence to express IL-2 at an early stage, but it has remained uncertain whether they are activated to exercise this competence in vivo. Therefore, we have used in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry on serial sections obtained from fetal and adult thymuses of normal C57BL/6 mice and of mice bearing the scid defect to determine where, when, and whether IL-2 is expressed in vivo. Our results show a striking spatial and temporal pattern of IL-2 expression in the normal fetal thymus. We detected a burst of IL-2 mRNA accumulation at day 14.5 of gestation, which rapidly decreased by day 15. At day 15, we observed maximal IL-2 protein production that subsequently decreased by day 16 of gestation. Both in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical staining revealed an unexpectedly strict localization of IL-2 expressing cells to patches around the periphery of the fetal thymus, creating a previously unrecognized compartment of high IL-2 protein content. IL-2 production in the day-15 fetal thymus appeared to be unaffected by the scid mutation, indicating that this response is likely to be T-cell receptor (TcR)-independent. Several features distinguish the IL-2 induction pattern in the adult thymus from that in the fetal thymus. In the normal adult thymus, IL-2-expressing cells are extremely rare (found at a frequency of 10^(-7)), but they are reproducibly detectable as isolated cells in the outer cortex and subcapsular region of the thymus. Unlike the fetal thymic IL-2 producers, the IL-2 producers in the adult thymus are completely eliminated in mice homozygous for the scid mutation. This suggests that the IL-2-expressing cells in the normal adult thymus are of a more mature phenotype than the immature, TcR-negative cells that accumulate in the scid adult thymus. Thus, our work demonstrates that two developmentally distinct types of cell interactions induce IL-2 expression in vivo: one, a broadly localized interaction in day 14-15 fetal thymus that is unaffected by the scid mutation; the other, a rare event that occurs asynchronously from late fetal through adult life, but which is completely eliminated by the scid defect. These results imply that significant differences exist between the physiological processing of thymocytes in the fetal and postnatal thymic microenvironments

Spontaneous Expression of Interleukin-2 In Vivo in Specific Tissues of Young Mice

In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were used to determine the spectrum of tissues in which interleukin-2 (IL-2) mRNA and protein are found in healthy, normal young mice. In neonatal animals, IL-2 is expressed specifically by distinct, isolated cells at three major sites: the thymus, skin, and gut. Based on morphology and distribution, the IL-2-expressing cells resemble CD3ε + T cells that are also present in all these locations. Within the thymus of postweanling animals, both TcRαβ and TcRγδ lineage cells secrete "haloes" of the cytokine that diffuse over many cell diameters. Within the skin, isolated cells expressing IL-2 are seen at birth in the mesenchyme, and large numbers of IL-2-expressing cells are localized around hair follicles in the epidermis in 3-week-old animals. At this age, a substantial subset of CD3ε + cells is similarly localized in the skin. Significantly, by 5 weeks of age and later when the CD3ε + cells are evenly distributed throughout the epidermis, IL-2 RNA and protein expression are no longer detectable. Finally, within the intestine, IL-2 protein is first detected in association with a few discrete, isolated cells at day 16 of gestation and the number of IL-2 reactive cells increases in frequency through El9 and remains abundant in adult life. In postnatal animals, the frequency of IL- 2-positive cells in villi exceeds by greater than fivefold that found in mesenteric lymph node or Peyer's patches. Overall, these temporal and spatial patterns of expression provide insight into the regulation of IL-2 in vivo and suggest a role for IL-2 expression distinct from immunological responses to antigen

Conservation Easement Stewardship and Monitoring and Assessment of Newfields Conservation Lands

Ibis Wildlife Consulting worked with the Newfields Conservation Commission to ensure that the town meets sound easement stewardship practices. Project components involved preparing monitoring plans for seven conservation easements, completing two easement baseline documentation reports, completing an inventory of existing conservation lands in town, and completing an annual easement monitoring report for five conservation easements

Danville Town Forest Stewardship Plan

As a community resource the Town Forest offers many benefits and values to residents and visitors. The Forest provides wildlife habitat, scenic beauty, clean air, cool temperatures, hiking trails and other outdoor recreation, wood products, water supply protection, flood storage, historical artifacts, among others. People value the Town Forest for many different reasons. Fortunately, most of these are complementary benefits, each available without compromising the integrity of the others. A goal of this Stewardship Plan is to understand and appreciate the values of the Town Forest and to guide the use and management of these resources over time. This is achieved by identifying the known soils, topography, plants, animals, habitats, forests, waterways, historical artifacts, and public uses that occur in the Town Forest. The surrounding landscape, including ownership patterns, affects the Town Forest, and therefore can influence stewardship decisions. Past, present, and potential future natural and human disturbances are also an important factor in guiding long-term stewardship. The Stewardship Plan builds an understanding of the relationship among these features and factors. Another purpose of the Stewardship Plan is to meet the provisions of a proposed conservation easement on the Town Forest. The Town of Danville is working with New Hampshire Audubon to convey an easement on a majority of the Town Forest to that organization. The draft conservation easement deed requires that all activities in the Town Forest be conducted in accordance with a Stewardship Plan. The specifics of the conservation easement deed are described in more detail below (see page 8-9) and a copy of the draft easement deed is in Appendix A. A grant from the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) Community Technical Assistance Program provided funding to complete this Stewardship Plan. NHEP contracted with Ibis Wildlife Consulting to prepare the Plan, working with the Danville Forestry Committee, Conservation Commission, Heritage Commission and Selectmen, as well as staff from the NHEP and New Hampshire Audubon (Audubon). Many people through participation in the abovementioned committees contributed information and ideas to the Plan. Existing plans, studies and other documents provided valuable information about the Town Forest

Greenland Conservation and Land Stewardship Plan

The New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) Technical Assistance Program provides financial assistance to communities for land conservation planning and protection, wetlands protection, and stormwater management in coastal New Hampshire. The Greenland Planning Board applied for and received support to develop stewardship plans for town-owned lands (see proposal in Appendix A). The Town is working on a Master Plan update, as well as considering the expenditure of a $2 million bond for land acquisition. This project enables the Town to assess existing town lands for natural resource values and stewardship needs and identify other areas within Town as conservation priorities. The information in this Plan can be inserted into the Master Plan as appropriate