February 2004, #10 

CONTENTS (click on the topics below to get more information)

NHEP ACTIVITIES

 1/6/04 - 1/8/04 - Northeast Coastal Indicators Workshop 

The Northeast Coastal Indicators Workshop was held on January 6-8 at the New England Center located on the campus of the University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH. The goal of the workshop was to develop indicators that apply to the northeast coastal region of the United States (from New York to Maine) and Canada (Gulf of Maine). NHEP staff participated in the workshop and shared their experiences with developing a suite of indicators for New Hampshire's estuaries. The outcome of the workshop was a detailed list of indicators that would be relevant to different management questions. For the most part, the NHEP indicators are consistent with those chosen by the workshop participants. Materials from the workshop are available at: http://www.gulfofmaine.org/nciw.

1/7/04 - NROC Regulatory Issues Workgroup Meeting

Matt Craig attended a Natural Resource Outreach Coalition (NROC) meeting at NH DES to develop a strategy for providing technical assistance to communities on regulatory issues. Program development is ongoing and further meetings will be held in the coming months. 

1/12/04 - Regional Outfall Study Commission Meeting

Jennifer Hunter attended this meeting at which time proposals submitted by three firms were distributed to Commission members. Consulting firms' proposals are in response to an RFP issued by DES last fall to conduct a feasibility study for a regional outfall for wastewater treatment plant effluent, as well as other treatment and disposal options. The Commission discussed the proposal review process, which will include interviews of the firms on February 9.

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1/16/04 -  Site Planning Roundtable

The NHEP hosted a Better Site Design Roundtable workshop at the Newmarket Town Hall. Twenty-two regional planning commission staff, environmental professionals, and cooperative extension specialists attended the event with the goal of learning the process, which was developed by the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP). CWP staff conducted the workshop and will lend their expertise to this year's Roundtable in Epping. Workshop materials are available to borrow from the NHEP office. Contact Matt Craig for details. 

1/20 - 1/22/04 -  Project Design and Evaluation 

Dave Kellam attended this NOAA Coastal Services Center's course which provides coastal resource management extension and education professionals with the knowledge, skills, and tools to design and implement projects that have measurable impacts on specific audiences. 

1/23/04 - Pickering Brook Restoration Plan

Jennifer Hunter and Matt Craig of the NHEP attended a meeting of Pickering Brook salt marsh restoration stakeholders at the NHEP/NHCP office to review progress to date, evaluate 2002 & 2003 data, and make recommendations for future restoration work. Based on information presented by David Burdick of UNH, the group recommended moving forward with Phase II of the project with some modifications.  A follow-up site visit is planned for February 13. Contact Matt Craig for details. 

1/27/04  -  Public Outreach & Education Team (POET) Meeting

The POET met to prioritize outreach and education action plans for 2004 and 2005.  The group discussed how they could address the Public Outreach and Education Action Plans and how they could assist the other project teams in achieving their outreach-related  Action Plans. A subcommittee formed to implement a monthly NHEP article in the Seacoast newspapers.  

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NEW PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS – go to the publications page of the NHEP website for complete listing

1/16/04 - Laboratory Analyses of Water and Shellfish from Coastal Waters and Watershed of New Hampshire, Department of Health and Human Services

The NH Public Health Laboratories (NHPHL) received and tested 963 shellfish growing water samples for fecal coliforms in 2003. The salinity and pH were performed on 963 and 961 samples. The NHPHL received 66 and tested 64 shellfish tissue samples for PSP toxin in 2003. The NHPHL received and tested 120 shellfish meat samples for bacteria. All results were provided in tabular format to the NHEP. Read Report (.pdf/332KB)

1/17/04 - Spruce Swamp Protection Project,  Rockingham County Conservation District

The purpose of this project was to provide significant educational efforts promoting land and water resource protection for two communities that are in the project focus area. The project focus area was the Spruce Swamp, located within the Exeter River Watershed, in the two communities of Fremont and Brentwood. The land/water area included over 2500 acres. In addition, the Spruce Swamp Protection Project offered sustained assistance to residents within these two communities to help advance the implementation of significant land and resource protection projects within this focus area. Read Report (.pdf/1.9 MB)

1/20/04 - Field Verification of the Piscassic and Lower Lamprey River Watersheds, NH Fish & Game

GIS derived habitat models for 18 species (five reptiles and amphibians, twelve birds, and one mammal) were evaluated to determine how successful they were at identifying habitat for those species. The American woodcock and Blue-winged and Golden-winged warbler models were the most successful at identifying suitable habitat (80% and 71%, respectively), while the New England cottontail and Whip-poor-will models performed the poorest (26% and 25%, respectively). Although the success of the grassland bird model was not very high (33%), most of the areas identified by that model have the potential for suitable habitat if managed or restored. Many of these areas were active agriculture fields that could be easily managed to provide suitable grassland habitat. The habitat models resulted in the identification of 15 habitat patches that should be considered for conservation (6 for American woodcock, 3 for Blue-winged and Golden-winged warblers, 4 for grassland birds, and 2 for New England cottontail). Read Report (.pdf/9.4 MB)

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1/26/04 - 2003 Shellfish Program Activities, January - December, NH Department of Environmental Services

The NHDES Shellfish Program conducts a number of activities to minimize the health risks associated with consuming shellfish, and to continue to comply with National Shellfish Sanitation Program guidelines. Among basic program functions is a routine water quality monitoring program, which involved the collection of nearly 800 samples at over 70 sites in 2003. Weekly “red tide” monitoring was key to early detection of dangerous levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning toxin in offshore waters in June, leading a nearly one-month closure to all harvesting in the Atlantic coastal waters. Read Report (.pdf/2MB)

1/26/04 - Testing of Great Bay Oysters for Two Protozoan Pathogens, NH Fish & Game

Oysters were collected from Great Bay's single largest bed, Nannie Island, in the fall of 2003. Oysters taken for testing were 65 mm shell height or greater. The sample of 26 oysters was sent to testing labs at Rutgers University, where testing for MSX and Dermo was completed. The 2003 oyster tests show continued presence of MSX in Great Bay. Dermo was seen for the second successive year after a near five year absence.  Read Report (.pdf/251KB)

1/26/04 - GBCW Support for Shellfish Activities in 2003,  Great Bay Coast Watch

Since 1997 the NHEP has supported the efforts of the GBCW to recruit and train volunteers to assist with the implementation of its plan to protect, restore and manage the state's estuarine systems. This year GBCW again participated in plan implementation by assisting the NH Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) Shellfish Program. Volunteers completed a variety of work tasks including mussel collection, sample collection and transport, and general field assistance. Volunteers helped implement the monitoring program for paralytic shellfish poison (PSP), by collecting mussels from Hampton Harbor, transporting them to Star Island, collecting them a week later, and transporting the mussels to Concord for analysis. Read Report (.pdf/185KB)

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1/28/04 - Evaluation of Effects of Wastewater Treatment Discharge on Estuarine Water Quality, University of New Hampshire

This 2-year project identified observed and estimated effects of wastewater treatment plant effluent on estuarine water quality to evaluate WWTF impacts on bacteria and nutrient concentration in NH's estuaries. Nine (9) WWTFs in NH and 2 in Maine were evaluated in the study. Read Report (.pdf/1.8MB)

1/30/04 - Ambient Rivers & Shellfish Tissue Monitoring in New Hampshire Estuarine Watersheds 2003, NH Department of Environmental Services

NHDES received funds from the NHEP to conduct monitoring activities in 2003 (in support of the NHEP Monitoring Program) for ambient water quality monitoring in tidal tributaries and mussel toxin contamination monitoring as part of GulfWatch. The ambient river monitoring program involved water sample collection at 9 sites from March - December. The GulfWatch program involved mussel collection at 5 sites; the NHEP funds were used for 3 of the 5 sites.  Read Report (.pdf/740KB)

1/30/04 - Volunteer Training Enhancement in 2003, Great Bay Coast Watch

The GBCW staff worked with the Technical Advisory Committee to identify areas of the volunteer training that needed updates. The Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Manual was revised and reprinted. GBCW also updated its QAQC protocols and held 4 volunteer training sessions over the course of the year.  Read Report (.pdf/2.2MB)

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NHEP UPCOMING EVENTS

2004 Septic System Workshops  

     2/18 at Urban Forestry Center, Portsmouth
     3/15 at Dover Middle School, Dover  
     All programs begin at 7:00 PM

These septic system workshops are sponsored in part by a grant from the New Hampshire Coastal Program's Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program. Contact Matt Gatzke of Granite State Designers and Installers at (603)288-1231 or by e-mail at clough@choiceonemail.com.

3/3/04 - "Ribbons of Green": Strategies for Community Based Restoration of Coastal Wetlands (includes restoration clinic) Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve 

Details available at Wells NERR website or contact Dawn Morse at 207-646-1555 x 117 or Chris Feurt x 111

3/7/04 - 3/9/04 - New England Estuarine Research Society Spring Meeting, Burlington, VT. 

Details available at: http://www.neers.org/main/meetings/2004index.htm

3/7 - 3/11, 2004 -  Annual Meeting of National Estuary Programs, Washington, DC

Contact Jennifer Hunter for details.

3/12/04 -  Shellfish and Living Resources Team Meeting, NH F&G Offices, Durham

Contact Phil Trowbridge for details.

3/23/04 -  Public Outreach and Education Team Meeting, 9:00-11:00am, Kingman Farm, Madbury

Contact Dave Kellam for details.

3/24/04 - Land Use Team Meeting, 1:00-3:30pm, at the NHEP office, Portsmouth

Contact Ted Diers for details.

4/13/04 - Technical Advisory Committee Meeting, 10:00 - Noon, NHF&G Offices, Durham

Contact Phil Trowbridge for details.

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