Life Sciences Commons^™

Nroc Coordination And Program Delivery, Amanda Stone, Frank Mitchell

PREP Reports & Publications

The primary goal of the Natural Resources Outreach Coalition (NROC) program is to provide education and outreach to communities in the NH Coastal Watersheds that are dealing with the effects of growth, and looking for ways to conserve open spaces and natural resources. Program objectives to meet this goal include: 1. NROC and client communities determine natural resource concerns of the communities. 2. NROC and client communities gather community information about these concerns 3. NROC develops and client communities host community presentations about natural resource-based planning. 4. Communities receive follow up technical and educational assistance as requested. In 2006, NROC …

Shoreland Buffer Module For Granit Data Mapper, Fay A. Rubin, David G. Justice

PREP Reports & Publications

The Complex Systems Research Center at the University of New Hampshire enhanced the GRANIT Data Mapper (http://mapper.granit.unh.edu) by incorporating data describing shoreline buffers in New Hampshire. The project supports an ongoing, comprehensive New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) outreach initiative that seeks to educate municipal decision-makers about the importance of stream buffers in preserving water quality in coastal New Hampshire. It complements these existing outreach efforts by allowing coastal managers, local land use boards, and the general public to readily visualize the spatial extent of current and/or proposed shoreline regulations in their community. The primary data source for the analysis was …

Shellfish Tissue Monitoring In New Hampshire Estuaries 2005, Phil Trowbridge

PREP Reports & Publications

Conducted by a committee of Canadian and US government and university scientists, Gulfwatch examines the effects of decades of development and industrialization on the water quality of the Gulf as it relates to human health as well as its impact on other marine organisms. Gulfwatch scientists collect blue mussels at over 60 US and Canadian sites Gulf-wide, and analyze the organisms’ tissue for potentially harmful levels and concentrations of toxins including heavy metals, chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). New Hampshire increased the number of Gulfwatch sampling locations from two sites per year in 1997 to …

Juvenile Soft-Shell Clam, Mya Arenaria L.Research In The Hampton-Seabrook Estuary, Brian F. Beal

PREP Reports & Publications

A series of field experiments was conducted at two intertidal sites in the Hampton Seabrook Estuary from November 2004-2006 to assess the efficacy of enhancing intertidal areas with cultured clam (Mya arenaria L.) seed (mean shell length [SL] = 7-10 mm). Measurement variables in each experiment included survival and growth of both cultured and wild seed clams. The first of three trials (November 2004 - May 2005) examined the interactive effects of size of planting area (4 m2, 8 m2, 12 m2, and 18 m2) and predator deterrent netting (none, 4.2 mm, and 6.4 mm aperture [flexible, plastic netting]) at …

Town Of Strafford Nroc Projects, Carolyn Page, Al Pratt, Jeff Schloss, Harmony Anderson

PREP Reports & Publications

The three Strafford committees formed through the work with the Natural Resources Outreach Coalition in 2004 and supported by the grant award from the New Hampshire Estuaries Project have succeeded in furthering land protection, water quality protection, and managing growth here in Strafford. The original NROC meetings brought many new volunteer citizens into the process, but even their enthusiasm and willingness to work could not have earned these results without the financial support of the NHEP grant award. Hours of letter writing and personal contact with landowners by the volunteers of the Land Protection Group have raised awareness of the …

Cains Brook And Mill Creek Watershed Management Plan, Town Of Seabrook, Waterfront Engineers, Inc.

PREP Reports & Publications

Cains Brook is a freshwater stream that flows in an easterly direction from its origin—a spring fed pond about one mile west of I-95 on the Salisbury, Massachusetts/Seabrook, New Hampshire border. At its lower reaches the brook is joined by Shepard Brook where it becomes Mill Creek, a tidal creek that discharges into the Hampton-Seabrook estuary. Along its course there are several ponds on either side of US Route 1—Secords, Cains and Mary’s Ponds to the west of Route 1 and Cains Mill Pond and Noyes Pond to the east. This stream system is approximately 3.8 miles long. The Cains …

Land Conservation Plan For New Hampshire’S Coastal Watersheds – Implementation & Outreach, Mark Zankel

PREP Reports & Publications

The Nature Conservancy was awarded funding to complete activities to promote the Land Conservation Plan for New Hampshire’s Coastal Watersheds in the fall of 2006. The Nature Conservancy and its partners, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Rockingham Planning Commission, and Strafford Regional Planning Commission, conducted the following tasks to increase understanding and use of the plan by communities, land trusts and others interested in land protection.

2005 Coastal Illicit Connection Identification And Elimination Grant Project, Jeffrey Marcoux

PREP Reports & Publications

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) received funds in 2005 from the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) to administer grants to coastal municipalities to eliminate illicit discharges into their storm drainage systems. This final report describes the projects that were funded under this grant. Projects in Rye and Somersworth involved eliminating sewage discharges into storm drainage systems from houses. A project in Portsmouth involved developing a standard operating procedure manual and recommendations for future training for illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE). The removal of illicit discharges in Rye and Somersworth helped improve water quality in the coastal …

Guidelines And Standard Operating Procedures For Idde And Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping, Kristie Rabasca, Christine Rinehart

PREP Reports & Publications

In April 2003, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) issued a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s). A total of 45 New Hampshire communities (six fully regulated and 39 partially regulated) became subject to Stormwater Phase II regulations based on their designation as Urbanized Areas according to the 2000 US Census.

Town Of Newfields Wetland Evaluation Report, West Environmental Inc.

PREP Reports & Publications

West Environmental, Inc. (WEI) has prepared this report to document the evaluation of 45 wetlands within the Town of Newfields, New Hampshire. These wetlands were previously identified in the Newfields Wetland Mapping Report (February 2006), also prepared by WEI. The field work for this evaluation was conducted from May to October 2006 and included the verification of potential prime wetland boundaries.

The purpose of this wetland evaluation was to gain a better understanding of the wetland resources within the Town of Newfields and to identify wetlands that qualify for Prime Wetland Designation. Each wetland was analyzed to determine its relative …

City Of Portsmouth Prime Wetlands Analysis Report, West Environmental Inc.

PREP Reports & Publications

West Environmental, Inc. (WEI) has prepared this report to provide documentation to support the designation of prime wetlands in the City of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This project was based upon the 2003 City Wide Wetlands Inventory (CWWI) and additional research and evaluation of individual wetlands that met the requirements of RSA 482-A:15 and Chapter Wt 700 of the NHDES Wetlands Bureau Administrative Rules. WEI worked closely with the Portsmouth Conservation Commission and Planning Department staff to review the technical criteria for Prime Wetland Designation and the results of the CWWI.

Little River Park, Phase Two Report, Laurel Cox

PREP Reports & Publications

No abstract provided.

Low Impact Storm Water Management Projects At The University Of New Hampshire, Stephen H. Jones, James Houle

PREP Reports & Publications

The University of New Hampshire has become increasingly concerned with storm water management on the Durham campus. Due to Federal regulations many regional municipalities are feeling pressure to enhance and increase management of storm water to reduce impacts to surface waters. The specific objective of this proposal is to demonstrate reductions in the discharge of storm water runoff from UNH-Durham campus properties. The construction and use of three Low Impact Development (LID) integrated management systems on UNH property will help UNH and the UNH Stormwater Center to champion innovative approaches in the state and region for reducing storm water runoff …

Distribution, Morphology, And Genetic Affinities Of Dwarf Embedded Fucus Populations From The Northwest Atlantic Ocean, Arthur C. Mathieson, Clinton J. Dawes, Aaron L. Wallace, Anita S. Klein

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Publications

Dwarf embedded Fucus populations in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean are restricted to the upper intertidal zone in sandy salt marsh environments; they lack holdfasts and are from attached parental populations of F. spiralis or F. spiralis x F. vesiculosus hybrids after breakage and entanglement with halophytic marsh grasses. Dwarf forms are dichotomously branched, flat, and have a mean overall length and width of 20.3 and 1.3 mm, respectively. Thus, they are longer than Irish (mean 9.3 mm) and Alaskan (mean 15.0 mm) populations identified as F cottonii. Reciprocal transplants of different Fucus taxa in a Maine salt marsh confirm that …

Great Bay Estuary Restoration Compendium, Jay Odell, Alyson L. Eberhardt, David M. Burdick, Pete Ingraham

PREP Reports & Publications

Single species approaches to natural resource conservation and management are now viewed as antiquated and oversimplified for dealing with complex systems. Scientists and managers who work in estuaries and other marine systems have urged adoption of ecosystem based approaches to management for nearly a decade, yet practitioners are still struggling to translate the ideas into practice. Similarly, ecological restoration projects in coastal systems have typically addressed one species or habitat. In recent years, efforts to focus on multiple species and habitats have increased. Our project developed an integrated ecosystem approach to identify multi-habitat restoration opportunities in the Great Bay estuary, …

Eye On Estuaries: Nh Tourist, The Bluefish, Soon To Depart Bay, Dave Kellam

PREP Reports & Publications

No abstract provided.

Reef Structure Alternatives For Restoration Of Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) Populations In New Hampshire, Raymond E. Grizzle, David M. Burdick, Jennifer Greene, Holly Abeels, Mark Capone

PREP Reports & Publications

Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) populations in New Hampshire have experienced severe declines since the 1990s, and restoration of oyster populations has been a major goal for New Hampshire management agencies. The most widely used technique in recent years in New Hampshire has been "spat seeding" which involves setting larvae from disease-resistant and/or fast-growth broodstock onto cultch material in large shore-based tanks, then distributing the spat attached to cultch onto the bottom to initiate reef restoration. This approach has the dual potential of providing direct population enhancement as well as introduction to the local gene pool of disease-resistance and/or fast-growth potential. …

Nhep Data Management Plan, Phil Trowbridge

PREP Reports & Publications

A goal of the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) and its monitoring program is to promote a cooperative effort by all agencies and organizations who participate in monitoring activities, in order to maximize the usefulness of current monitoring efforts and available data. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to effectively manage the large volume of existing information as well as new information that will be developed through the NHEP monitoring program. Data and information about NH’s estuaries now exists in multiple formats within a variety of organizations. Existing monitoring programs are designed to meet the missions of the various …

Research On Synthetic Rope And Its Future In Timber Harvesting, Joel N. Hartter, Jared Leonard, John Garland, Steve Pilkerton

Geography

Steel wire rope is used for many logging applications. It has served the industry well in terms of strength, durability, and longevity. However, steel wire rope is difficult to use because it is stiff, heavy, and unyielding. These characteristics can lead to fatigue and exhaustion, and may contribute to worker injuries. Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene synthetic rope has the potential to replace steel wire rope for selected logging applications. Research shows ergonomic gains and other operational effectiveness with its use. This paper presents research results, potentials, and issues in improving economic and ergonomic performance of ground-based and cable logging. Potential …

The Land Conservation Plan For New Hampshire's Coastal Watershed, M. Zankel, C. Copeland, P. Ingraham, J. Robinson, C. Sinnott, D. Sundquist, T. Walker, J. Alford

PREP Reports & Publications

Spanning 990 square miles and 46 towns, New Hampshire’s coastal watersheds harbor exceptional and irreplaceable natural, cultural, recreational and scenic resources (Figure 1). To advance the long-term protection of these resources, the State of New Hampshire, acting through the NH Coastal Program and the NH Estuaries Project, sought to develop a comprehensive, science-based land conservation plan for our coastal watersheds. The State engaged a partnership of The Nature Conservancy, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Rockingham Planning Commission, and Strafford Regional Planning Commission to develop the plan. The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation’s Piscataqua Region supported this effort as …

Stream Buffer Characterization Study, David G. Justice, Fay A. Rubin

PREP Reports & Publications

The Complex Systems Research Center at the University of New Hampshire conducted a characterization of 2nd order and higher streams within the Piscataqua/Coastal Basin of New Hampshire. GIS and remote sensing data archived in the NH GRANIT database were used to map a suite of anthropogenic factors, including land use, impervious surface coverage, and transportation infrastructure, within standard buffers around each stream segment. These factors were then analyzed to produce a categorical indicator representing the status of each stream.

Oyster Reef Restoration Project For The City Of Dover, Grizzle, Raymond E. Grizzle, Jennifer Greene, Holly Abeels

PREP Reports & Publications

This project was conducted as a contract between the City of Dover and the University of New Hampshire, with additional funding supplied by the New Hampshire Estuaries Project. The overall goal was to restore as much bottom area as possible (with available funds) of formerly productive oyster bottom in two areas, the Bellamy River and Pomeroy Cove (Piscataqua River). The restored areas were intended as a contribution to the long-term NHEP goal of restoring 20 acres of oyster bottom by 2010 (Trowbridge 2003). Five objectives were addressed: (1) site surveys, map production, and final restoration protocol development; (2) remote setting …

Development And Monitoring Of Revegetation Methods: Connecting Students With Restoration Activities At Awcomin Marsh, David M. Burdick, Christopher R. Peter, Kirsten A. Nelson

PREP Reports & Publications

Five classes in a local elementary school participated in an effort to grow and plant high marsh and upper border vegetation at a salt marsh restoration site in spring 2005. Seeds of six marsh upper edge species were successfully germinated and grown into seedlings by third graders. The seedlings were planted by the students in late spring 2005, but only switchgrass and quackgrass plants appeared to have established and survived after one year. Mature shoots of three high marsh species planted by the third graders (salt hay, salt grass and black grass) established successfully and continue to proliferate. In addition, …

Testing Of Great Bay Oysters For Two Protozoan Pathogens, John I. Nelson

PREP Reports & Publications

Two protozoan pathogens, Haplosporidium nelsoni (MSX) and Perkinsus marinus(Dermo) are known to be present in Great Bay oysters. With funds provided by the New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP), the Marine Fisheries Division of New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, (NHF&G) continues to assess the presence and intensity of both disease conditions in oysters from the major beds, some open for harvest, within the Great Bay estuarine system. Histological examination of Great Bay oysters has also revealed other endoparasites.

Spatial Patterns Of Marine Larvae As Indicators Of Incipient Invasions In Great Bay, James E. Byers, Blaine Griffen

PREP Reports & Publications

Understanding the dynamics of coastal marine communities represents a substantial challenge, and one that is actively pursued globally. Within the United States, several sites have been designated as National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERR) with the idea that concentrated research at these sites will lead to greater understanding of the ecosystem. The Great Bay Estuary of New Hampshire is one of these sites. A wide spectrum of research is conducted within the Great Bay, and substantial financial support is committed to that research on an annual basis. To facilitate the success of these research efforts, it is particularly important to develop …

Stewardship Plan For Four Conservation Easements Held By The Town Of Newfields, Jeffrey H. Taylor & Associates, Inc.

PREP Reports & Publications

In 2005 the Town of Newfields, NH was awarded a grant by the New Hampshire Estuaries Project. The Eligible Activity applied for, under the category of Land Conservation and Natural Resource Protection was “Development of monitoring plans for town-held easements on conservation lands”. The Town identified four properties on which the they hold conservation easements as the focus of the project. Newfields’ goal in applying for the grant were to have each property visited by the contractor and a local volunteer, conduct an interview with the landowner and a conduct a ground monitoring of the property. Following the visits, baseline …

2006 Exeter River Alewife Festival, Theresa Walker

PREP Reports & Publications

On June 4, 2006, the Exeter River Local Advisory Committee (ERLAC) held the 6th Annual Exeter River Alewife Festival along the banks of the Squamscott River in downtown Exeter. Three dozen organizations exhibited at the Festival and event organizers estimate approximately 300 people attended the event despite the inclement weather. The purpose of the Festival was to increase awareness of the Exeter River watershed and the role it plays in the Great Bay ecosystem, as well as its role in providing drinking water, wildlife habitat, and scenic, historic and recreational resources for residents in the ten watershed towns. Funding provided …

Eelgrass Distribution In The Great Bay Estuary 2004, Frederick T. Short

PREP Reports & Publications

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is an essential habitat for the Great Bay Estuary (GBE) because it provides food for wintering waterfowl and habitat for juvenile fish and shellfish. Eelgrass is the basis of an estuarine food chain that supports many of the recreationally, commercially and ecologically important species in the estuary. Additionally, eelgrass filters estuarine waters, removing both nutrients and suspended sediments from the water column. Eelgrass in the Great Bay Estuary is the largest monoculture in the State of New Hampshire and is considered a vital resource to the State’s marine environment. The UNH Seagrass Ecology Group has mapped the …

Greenland Conservation And Land Stewardship Plan, Ellen J. Snyder

PREP Reports & Publications

The New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) Technical Assistance Program provides financial assistance to communities for land conservation planning and protection, wetlands protection, and stormwater management in coastal New Hampshire. The Greenland Planning Board applied for and received support to develop stewardship plans for town-owned lands (see proposal in Appendix A). The Town is working on a Master Plan update, as well as considering the expenditure of a $2 million bond for land acquisition. This project enables the Town to assess existing town lands for natural resource values and stewardship needs and identify other areas within Town as conservation priorities. The …

Water Reuse Feasibility Study, City Of Portsmouth

PREP Reports & Publications

The use of reclaimed water in the southern and western parts of the United States has been common practice for over 40 years. These water short areas have realized the value of utilizing highly treated wastewater (reclaimed water) and consider it a resource rather than a disposal problem. Growth impacts on drinking water supplies in New England, and specifically in Portsmouth, have now brought this concept to New Hampshire. Currently the Pease Golf Course is using approximately 200,000 to 300,000 gallons per day (gpd) of potable water for irrigation in the summer months. The City of Portsmouth supplies this potable …