November 2005, #31

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

OCTOBER ACTIVITIES  

10/1/05 - V.I.P. Tour of Great Bay The 3-hour tour included 24 participants, with 9 communities represented. Presenters included Ray Grizzle (UNH) discussing oyster restoration projects, Jay Odell (The Nature Conservancy) reporting the status of a project to identify potential restoration sites, and Rob Roseen (UNH) speaking about the Center for Stormwater Technology Evaluation and Verification. We had 54 people on the waitlist and they were placed on an early notification list for future tours. Contact Dave Kellam for more information.

10/8/05 - Septic System Workshop for Real Estate Professionals
At the quarterly meeting of the Seacoast Board of Realtors, the NHEP gave a presentation to 35 real estate professionals entitled "Septic System Maintenance:What your clients should know about their septic systems". The presentation featured Dave Kellam, Jay Baas (NH DES Subsurface Bureau) and Tom Canfield (representing Granite State Designers and Installers). The three discussed basic septic system design, maintenance, and the finer points of septic system ownership, such as compliance with state regulations and replacement options. The 1 hour presentation was accredited for continuing education credit by the Board and, judging from the energetic question and answer session at the end of the talk, the presentation was well received. This presentation was part of an effort by the NHEP staff to complete Action Plan WQ-13. Contact Dave Kellam for more information.

10/11 - 10/14/05 - ANEP Conference The Fall 2005 Association of National Estuary Programs (ANEP) Conference was held in Newport, RI from Oct. 11 – 14. The purpose of the conference was to begin the development of a NEP-wide strategic framework by exploring ecosystem-based management concepts and evaluating important connections among science, communication, and management within the NEP. Contact Jodi Castallo for more information.

10/17/05 - TNC Coastal Watershed Land Conservation Plan Meeting
The Nature Conservancy, along with project partners Strafford Regional Planning Commission, Rockingham Planning Commission, and the Forest Society, held a public meeting during which they provided information on the Coastal Watershed Land Conservation Plan that is currently under development. Project partners gave an overview of the project, discussed project criteria to prioritize areas for protection, discussed data compilation, mapping, and modeling activities that will be used to create the plan, and displayed maps of various data layers that will be integrated into the plan. Jennifer Hunter opened the meeting stating the need for and goals of the project, which is being undertaken with funding from the NHEP, NH Coastal Program, and NH Charitable Foundation Piscataqua Region. A second public meeting will be held in the spring. Contact Jennifer Hunter for more information.

10/18/05 - Gulf of Maine Council Indicator Session Jennifer Hunter participated in one of three sessions coordinated by the Gulf of Maine Council to solicit input on indicators for the Gulf of Maine. The session focused on land use indicators; other sessions focused on toxic contaminants and fisheries indicators. Session participants provided feedback on how indicator information should be used, how to present indicator data, and target audiences for reporting indicator information for the Gulf of Maine. Contact Jennifer Hunter for more information.

10/20/05 - Piscataqua River Cooperative Meeting
Jennifer Hunter and Management Committee member Dick Dumore attended the quarterly meeting of the Piscataqua River Cooperative (PRC), a group comprised of energy companies formed to undertake activities to prevent, respond to, and minimize the impacts from oil and hazardous substances in New Hampshire’s marine environment. Jennifer presented information about the NHEP’s objectives and programs to the meeting attendees and spoke about opportunities for future collaboration with the PRC. The PRC work is highly relevant to several action plans in the NHEP Management Plan. Previously the NHEP has worked with the NHDES Oil Spill Response Program to coordinate monitoring efforts and provide additional information to assist with oil spill planning and response activities. Ideas for collaboration with the PRC in 2006 will be further explored in the future. Contact Jennifer Hunter for more information.

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10/21/05 - NHDES Shellfish Program Funding Meeting
At this special meeting of the NHEP Management Committee, draft legislation purposing sustained state funding for the NHDES Shellfish Program was reviewed and commented on by the group. The meeting ended with an agreement to move forward with support for the proposed bill and development of an NHEP statement of support for NHDES Shellfish Program funding. Contact Jennifer Hunter for more information.

10/24/05 - Shell Return Program
An initial meeting was called by Jennifer Greene, Laboratory Supervisor for Ray Grizzle at UNH, to discuss the feasibility of an oyster shell return program for Great Bay. In attendance was Jennifer Hunter, Dave Kellam, Bruce Smith (NH Fish and Game), Ray Grizzle, Jennifer Greene, and Kevin Lavalley(NH Sea Grant). With input from the group, Grizzle's lab will explore a variety of funding options to install and promote a shell return bin at Jackson Estuarine Lab at Adam's Point to collect shells from oysters harvested from Great Bay to be used in oyster reef building projects in the estuary. Contact Dave Kellam for more information.

10/25/05 - Gulfwatch Lab Work NHEP staff helped prepare mussels, clams, and oysters for the annual Gulfwatch monitoring program. Gulfwatch is the long-term monitoring program of the Gulf of Maine Council. The program measures the concentrations of toxic contaminants in the tissues of shellfish, which are an indicator of water quality. In 2005, the NHEP is providing funding for the analysis of mussel, clam, and oyster tissue samples from four sites in New Hampshire. Contact Phil Trowbridge for details.

10/27/05 - Local Grants Review
A Review Team of three Management Committee members and the NHEP staff met to review the eight proposals received this year for the Local Grants program. After a lengthy discussion, the Review Team ranked the proposals; based on their merit, funding request, and amount of money available through the Local Grants program. The top four ranked proposals were recommended for full funding. The proposal ranked 5th was recommended for partial funding and the remaining three proposals were not recommended for funding. The approved projects will be funded at the cost of $40,700. The five Local Grant recipients will be announced in November. Contact Dave Kellam for more information.

10/27/05 - NROC Water Resources Module Review
Members of the NROC team reviewed and commented on a new water resource module that will be available to towns who have previously worked or are currently working with the NROC program. Contact Jodi Castallo for more information.

10/28/05 - Video Contest Ends Five videos were received for the Septic Scenes video contest. A team of judges from the NHEP Public Outreach and Education Team will meet in November and select the top three entries. Winners will be announced by late November and the complete 30 minute Septic System Variety Show will air early next year on Community Access Television. Contact Dave Kellam for more information.

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NEW NHEP PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS  

10/7/05 - 2005 NHEP Environmental Indicator Report: Shellfish According to this report, both the oyster and clam populations are at or are approaching their lowest values in the historical record. Harvestable oyster standing stock in 2004 was only 11% of the NHEP goal of 50,000 bushels and 5% of the maximum observed standing stock in 1993. Harvestable clam standing stock in 2003 was close to the historical lows observed during crashes of the fishery in 1978 and 1987. Trends over time indicate that the clam populations have followed a cyclical pattern of boom and bust. In contrast, the oyster populations appear to be experiencing a slow decline. Similarly, the number of people taking part in recreational shellfishing activity is decreasing. Oyster and clam harvesting license sales have steadily fallen since the 1980s. The current number of license holders is approximately 12% of the number of license holders in 1981. This report is the first of four reports that offers current available data on NHEP's suite of environmental indicators. Read the Report (.pdf/1.4MB)

10/12/05 - Public Outreach and Education Initiative
Moose Mountains Regional Greenway(MMRG) conducted comprehensive public outreach initiative designed to educate landowners, community leaders and the public about the importance of tools for preserving critical natural resources within the MMRG region. Two New Durham workshops, "Community Roundtable in Wakefield" and "Trail Day in Milton", were well attended by the appropriate target audiences. Participants completed surveys and rated the workshop quality and their knowledge of topics before and after the workshops. All news releases received excellent coverage in The Rochester Times and the Granite State News. In addition, reporters from The Rochester Times attended several MMRG events and presented a three-part front-page series on MMRG’s mission and goals. MMRG distributed its new organizational brochures and 4-color fliers to attendees at all organizational events. The four-color flier was recognized by the highly competitive national Kodak American Greenway Awards as an example of innovative land conservation efforts. The 4-color brochures were mailed to more than 7,800 households within 4 communities as part of a membership solicitation package. The MMRG web site was also reorganized and updated. Read Report (.pdf/5.28MB)

10/28/05 - Educational Programming in Exeter and Dover on board the gundalow Captain Edward H. Adams The Gundalow Company delivered educational programming to Dover and Exeter between May and November, 2005. Collaborative educational programs offered onboard in these two towns totaled nearly 3,000 people including youth and teen groups as well as the public during community events such as the Exeter Revolutionary War Festival. Read Report(.pdf/2.5MB)

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PROJECTS STARTING

Community Technical Assistance Program
For the month of October, the NHEP received and accepted applications from the town of Greenland for the development of a stewardship plan for town-owned conservation lands and from the Town of Newfields for development of a monitoring plan for town-held easements on conservation lands. Contact Jodi Castallo for more information.

Shellfish Outreach
To address four shellfish Action Plans, the NHEP began creating a shellfish brochure to be mailed to all shellfish license holders. Articles are being developed with partners that address shellfish predators, sanitation issues, enforcement, and current status. Contact Dave Kellam for more information.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

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UPCOMING EVENTS

11/17/05 - Press Event to Announce the Reopening of a Shellfish Harvesting Areas in the Bellamy River in Dover, 10:30am, Scammel Bridge (west side), Madbury
A press event featuring keynote speakers from NH Department of Environmental Services, the City of Dover, NH Estuaries Project, the NH Fish and Game Department, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. Contact Chris Nash (NHDES Shellfish Program) for more information.

11/18/05 - Shellfish and Living Resources Team meeting, 1:30-4:00pm, Kingman Farm, Madbury
Contact Phil Trowbridge for more information.

12/6/05 - NROC Quarterly Meeting, 9:30am-noon, Kingman Farm, Madbury
Contact Jodi Castallo for more information.

12/7/05 - POET Meeting, 9:00-11:00am, Sandy Point Discovery Center, Stratham
Contact Dave Kellam for more information.