Update on Land Management Process and Community Engagement Activities - April 13, 2021

SELT has actively begun the process of needed forest management at Franklin-McElheny Preserve and is kicking off engagement activities with neighbors and community stakeholders. 

"To explain simply, the forest management is needed because of the decline and death of the hemlock trees due to the invasive insect Hemlock Woolly Adelgid," said Deborah Goard, SELT's Stewardship Director.

The process to arrive at a final management plan included public meetings held in 2018 as well as a nearly year-long process with a working group made up of Rollinsford residents and SELT staff, which SELT paid to be facilitated by NH Listens. The final plan, completed in June 2019, was a consensus for a two-phased management. The first phase will remove the hemlock most affected by the insect. The second phase would depend on how quickly the remaining hemlock declined but was estimated at between three to ten years after the first entry.

In late April of 2020, while SELT began planning to start the first phase, it was determined that the access previously used by the former owners (the McElhenys) from Baer Road was no longer viable. Concerns about the dam’s condition were brought to SELT's attention by the new owner of the former McElheny home; SELT hired a civil engineer who confirmed that substantial repairs were needed in order for the access road on the dam to be used for logging equipment and trucks. The cost of these repairs – estimated at between $80,000 and $340,000 – are unaffordable and makes this access for forest management not feasible.

SELT then investigated other ways to access the land. After research and property review, SELT concluded there is no other viable access to a public road, other than the access from the end of River Road. This point of access is through the Town’s land, whose ownership was accepted by the Town through the subdivision and development of the neighborhood and is shown as an extension of River Road from the cul-de-sac to the boundary of the Franklin-McElheny Preserve. This access is the current location of the footpath and kiosk.

As such, SELT has requested the Town’s approval to establish a woods road from River Road to the Preserve to support the management activities on the property.

An additional benefit of this access point is that it will serve as an emergency access for fire and rescue in the event of a forest fire or an injury. (While chances of fire or injury may be small, SELT has had two forest fires and several rescues on other publicly accessible lands over the last year.)

SELT will continue to engage with abutters and residents in the neighborhood who have questions and concerns. As we hear  feedback from the HOA and abutters, SELT will do what is possible to address concerns as we plan the woods road.

Site walks will be scheduled soon so residents can tour the Preserve prior to, during, and after the harvest is done. These walks, which will offer information on the hemlock-wooly adelgid infestation, describe the proposed management activities, show areas marked by forester Charlie Moreno for cutting , and offer an explanation of what to expect when the management starts. Subsequent tours will answer questions and provide updates on the work.

Stay tuned for more information on these walks.


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