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Moosewood Ecological to prepare Quimby Mountain stewardship plan; contract signed
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Summary
Moosewood Ecological outlined a roughly year‑long stewardship plan for Quimby Mountain, including ecological and timber inventories, invasive species review and trail/parking recommendations; the firm said the contract had been reviewed by town counsel and insurance and will proceed.
Jeff Littleton, principal ecologist and owner of Moosewood Ecological, told the commission the Quimby Mountain Stewardship Plan work is initiating and that field inventories will begin as soon as seasonal conditions permit. Littleton said the scope includes an ecological and timber‑resource inventory, mapping of natural communities and wildlife habitat, breeding bird surveys and baseline documentation to support a stewardship plan drafted under the conservation easement deed.
Littleton said Moosewood will lead most project tasks and that Laura French of Meadows Inn Consulting will perform the forest inventory (timber cruise). He described a roughly one‑year schedule: several days of field investigations in spring and summer, followed by analysis and a draft stewardship plan by November with a final plan by year end. He said Bear Paw had provided conservation easement deeds and baseline documentation to help inform the plan.
Specific items described included locating a recommended parking area (the easement allows a parking area up to 5,000 square feet within 1,100 feet of the roadway), mapping trails and sensitive areas, documenting previous invasive‑species work and creating recommendations for long‑term management. Littleton offered to coordinate with Natural Heritage and to share data with state inventories with landowner permission.
Contract status: Littleton said he had the signed contract; commission members confirmed the contract had been reviewed by the town attorney and insurance administrator and that the project could proceed.
The commission and Moosewood discussed logistics (access points, parking constraints on Goffstown Road, the potential for a public field day and coordination with partners such as Bear Paw and Fish & Game). Littleton said the team will record incidental observations of plants and animals on every visit and will perform systematic surveys for breeding birds and other taxa as appropriate.
Next steps: Moosewood will finalize a schedule for field days, provide the commission with copies of any background reports located (including prior invasive‑species work), and return drafts of the stewardship plan for commission review.
