Town of Phippsburg 2012 Annual Report

2012 ANNUAL REPORT
The Nature Conservancy on the Basin Preserve
The Nature Conservancy and the Town of Phippsburg completed a two-year process and
finalized the transfer of 64 acres of land to be used for municipal purposes. The transfer from
TNC to the town included 20 acres near the school, 3.6 acres on the Hatch Road, and 40.5 acres
between the Hatch Road and the shores of the Basin. The Conservancy appreciates the time that
everyone contributed to make this transfer happen.
If you were wondering about the fencing and tree tubes that appeared at the Greenpiece last
May, TNC partnered with the Maine Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation to plant a
chestnut orchard. Last spring, we planted 1,500 chestnuts with the help of twenty volunteers in
the hopes of eventually harvesting blight-resistant chestnuts for use in restoring the tree to our
forests. The American chestnut was wiped out by a blight introduced to our trees from Asia in
1904. The chestnuts planted in our orchard are crosses between the American chestnut and
blight-resistant Chinese chestnut. The tree tubes protect the seed and emerging seedling from
being eaten by rodents and the fencing keeps deer (they love the taste of chestnut) out of the
orchard. As the trees mature, they will be purposely inoculated with chestnut blight. Those trees
that show susceptibility to the blight or have a growth form that more closely resembles Chinese
chestnut will be culled from the orchard over time. This coming year, we will focus on replacing
the deer fencing with more sturdy metal fencing, weeding around the young trees, and
preparing the ground for 2014, when another batch of chestnuts will be planted.
Drew Barton of the University of Maine at Farmington finished his research on the pitch
pine woodlands found on Pasture Ridge and the south side of Fuller Mountain. Pitch pine
woodlands are a rare forest type in Maine and the Basin Preserve has some of the largest stands
in Maine. Although much of Phippsburg was cleared for agricultural land, the pitch pines on the
extreme top of Pasture Ridge are older than trees found across much of Phippsburg. These pines
date to the mid-1800s compared to the early 1900s when agricultural land was abandoned, reverting
to forest. Unlike pitch pine woodlands growing on deep sand, fire plays a minor role in
the ridgetop pitch pine woodlands found in Phippsburg (instead the pitch pine outcompetes other
trees due to the shallow soil and poor growing conditions). The large fire that spread across
Phippsburg in 1926 probably played some role in shaping the forest of the Basin Preserve, but
probably had little impact on Pasture Ridge.
The management plan for the Basin Preserve is nearing completion and our focus this year
will be to complete all of our trail signs and kiosks, complete a visitor brochure and self-guided
nature trail, and begin assessing the area near Hedgehog Road where dumping and illegal fires
continue to be a problem.
The Nature Conservancy welcomes volunteers to help us with our trail maintenance and
preserve management work. Feel free to contact Nancy Sferra if you are interested in helping at
373-5068.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy Sferra
Director of Science and Stewardship
373-5068
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