Ossipee Lake Natural Area Working Group

Ossipee Lake Natural AreaWorking GroupJanuary 23, 2009

“Short Sands”• As promised at the lastmeeting, we haveexamined the two sandyareas west of Pine Riveras potential public useareas.• The following slidesexplain the reasonsDRED will keep theseareas closed to publicuse.

Intact Sandy Pond Shore SystemBest remaining example of rareplant communities at OLNA.(though very small)

Intact Sandy Pond Shore System• 3 of 4 Diagnostic Communities Present– Bulblet umbrella-sedge open sandy pond shore– Twig-rush sandy turf pond shore– Hudsonia inland beach strand• Rare Plant Species– Grassleaf goldenrod (state endangered)– Hairy hudsonia (state threatened)

Largest remaining hairy hudsonia population at OLNA

State endangered grassleaf goldenrodand state watch sand cherry

Remnant Sandy Pond Shore SystemIncluding aquatic community

Remnant Sandy Pond Shore System• Only area in OLNA where all 4 naturalcommunities are present at the samelocation.– Bulblet umbrella-sedge open sandy pond shore– Water lobelia aquatic sandy pond shore– Twig-rush sandy turf pond shore– Hudsonia inland beach strand• Rare Plants– Grassleaf goldenrod (state-endangered)– Hairy hudsonia (state-threatened)

Heavy Trampling

Remnant Vegetation Patches

Intact Natural CommunitiesTrampled Shoreline

Reasons To Keep “Short Sands”Closed to Public Use• Best chance for preservation andrestoration success– Intact or remnant natural communities– Rare plants• Best existing source of plants for sexual andasexual reproduction– Physical setting• Low erosion potential (fetch)• Width of beach allows for all sandy pond shorecommunity types

Proposed Public Use Area

The proposed Public Use Area contains the widest opensandy area at OLNA with approximately 54,660 squarefeet of beach.