Lake Umbagog refuge adds 3,177 acres; Part of 5,016-acre Mollidgewock Brook lands

UPTON — More than 3,000 acres of heavily logged forest within the 5,016-acre Mollidgewock Brook property have been added to the Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in western Maine and northern New Hampshire, according to The Trust for Public Land.

Mollidgewock Brook, which is more than 12 miles long, flows west out of Mollidgewock Pond in Upton to Errol, N.H., where it meets the Androscoggin River.

The brook's watershed is critical for waterfowl, birds, and aquatic species including black duck, black-backed woodpeckers, 24 warbler varieties, American woodcock and brook trout, the Trust stated Tuesday in a report.

"This land protection effort permanently conserves the diverse wildlife habitats within the lower portion of Mollidgewock Brook," refuge manager Paul Casey said on Tuesday. "It also provides public access to these lands along Route 26 for wildlife-dependent recreation."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bought the 3,177 acres for the refuge with money from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was secured by New Hampshire's congressional delegation, and a grant from the service's Migratory Bird Conservation Fund.

Another 1,839 acres of the brook's land has been added to Errol's town forest, the 13-Mile Woods Community Forest.

The 5,016 acres now under permanent protection are former T. R. Dillon Logging Inc. lands in Errol.

Linking Errol's 13-Mile Woods Community Forest and the Umbagog refuge will create a 31,000-acre block of contiguous conservation and recreation lands, the report said.

"This is a win-win conservation success for (Errol) and its community forest and economy, for the refuge and its important habitat goals, and for the entire Mahoosuc region," Rodger Krussman, New Hampshire state director for the trust said on Tuesday.

Much of the property has been logged heavily, but the forest will regenerate and habitats will be restored.

The portion of the property being acquired by the service will be managed primarily for wildlife conservation. The property being acquired to expand the community forest will be managed for sustainable timber harvesting, wildlife habitat conservation, and recreational access, the report said.

Development on both parcels is forever banned.

After the property became available in 2006, the trust stepped in to negotiate purchase of the property from the T.R. Dillon Co.

The trust, a national conservation organization, took ownership in 2007 and held the property, buying time for the conservation solution to be developed, the report stated.

The first phase of the project was completed in 2008 when 727 acres were transferred to the FWS. The second phase, a 2,450-acre addition to the refuge, was able to move forward after the FWS updated their Comprehensive Conservation Plan, which included a boundary expansion to include these lands, the report stated.

Conservation of Mollidgewock Brook is part of the trust's role in the Mahoosuc Initiative, a partnership of local, regional and national organizations working on conservation and economic development in the 600,000-acre Mahoosuc Region of New Hampshire and Maine.

The Mahoosuc Initiative wants to conserve the region's natural resources — such as its productive forests and its natural beauty — to support the timber and tourism economy of the region to protect quality of life for residents and visitors, the report states.

In the Mahoosuc Region of New Hampshire and Maine, the trust has conserved more than 25,000 acres since 1992 when the refuge was established. The refuge's primary purpose is to protect wetlands and wetland-associated wildlife, and to protect migratory birds.

Lake Umbagog is more than 7 miles long and covers more than 7,000 acres, making it one of the largest lakes along the Maine-New Hampshire border. It has an average depth of only 15 feet, according to the refuge Web site.

Under FWS management, the refuge conserves more than 20,500 acres.