INTRODUCTION TO THE BEAR HILL CONSERVANCY

Sustainability initiatives, such as protecting old-growth forests, creates biodiversity oases that serve as safe havens for species of all shapes and sizes. The Bear Hill Conservancy, which stretches for 14,817 acres across New Hampshire, is one such oasis. In collaboration with the Kilham Bear Center, WildLandscapes, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bear Hill has placed conservation easements on their land that prohibits development and requires sustainable timber management. Not only does Bear Hill protect the land for future use, wildlife can also use the land as a safe corridor to reach the White Mountain National Forest without forcing them to enter human communities and risk human-wildlife conflict.

Since part of the property is open to public access, the beauty of Bear Hill is on display for all to see. A series of ecological surveys conducted in 2008, 2011, and 2019 inventoried what threatened species of birds, rare plants, “exemplary natural communities, and unusual landscape features” can be found across the protected range.

Dr. Ben Kilham, a world-renowned bear expert who has studied wild black bears in a vast tract of Northern New Hampshire woodlands for decades, was a major inspiration for the preservation of Bear Hill Conservancy. Ben has been studying and rehabilitating black bears for over 27 years; he founded Kilham Bear Center in 1993, a 501(c)3 non-profit regional rehabilitation and research facility in Lyme, New Hampshire

STARTING AT THE BASE OF THE FOOD CHAIN

According to the 2015 New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan, Bear Hill is home to 11 different types of habitats, each largely defined by the vegetation found there. At 14,817 acres, most of Bear Hill is comprised of Hemlock-hardwood-pine forests. Dominated largely by white pine and eastern hemlock trees, this type of forest is the most wide-spread habitat in New Hampshire. The acorns and nuts produced by hemlock-hardwood-pine forests feed and support species from several other types of habitats, such as bears, deer, and squirrels. From there, predators such as the northern goshawk and the Cooper’s hawk use hemlock-hardwood-pine forests as their hunting grounds.

The second largest habitat type by area at Bear Hill is the colorful, deciduous, Northern hardwood-conifer forests, which are usually made comprised of sugar maples, white ash, yellow birch, and American basswoods. These trees are green in the summer but transform into stunning mosaics of reds, oranges, and yellows in the autumn before losing their leaves in winter. Northern hardwood forests usually grow at lower elevations around the Adirondacks near the most fertile soil the land has to offer.

Fall foliage in a New Hampshire bog © Duke2015, Adobe Stock

BEAR HILL IS EXEMPLARY AND RARE

Bear Hill is also home to several “exemplary natural communities.” The New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau defines exemplary communities as, “the best remaining examples of New Hampshire’s biological diversity.” Classifying natural communities provides a framework for ecologists and land managers to evaluate the relative importance of different plots of land. This, in turn, informs policy-makers’ decisions regarding effective management techniques and other conservation measures.

In addition to exemplary communities, Bear Hill is also home to rare individuals, namely rare plants. According to the March 2020 Ecological Inventory of the Bear Hill Conservancy by Moosewood Ecological, this region is home to eight rare species that are endangered, threatened, or at risk of becoming either. The common names for the eight are: purple clematis, ginseng, Torrey’s bulrush, Goldie’s wood fern, leatherwood, variegated scouring rush, pale jewelweed, and brown beaksedge. The Ecological Inventory identified another 17 species that are native to the area but are now uncommon.

American ginseng is state listed as threatened in New Hampshire © Siddarth Machado

GONE TO THE BIRDS

As mentioned earlier, the rich biodiversity of plants found throughout the Bear Hill Conservancy supports a diverse array of wildlife. As prominent consumers of the seeds and nuts, it should come as no surprise that where there are trees, there will be birds. The Ecological Inventory identified 104 species of birds, 39 of whom are conservation concerns. Year-round, Bear Hill is home to ruffed grouse, woodcock, wild turkey, mourning doves, blue jays, and the tufted titmouse. Amongst the predator species of birds, Bear Hill is also home to bald eagles, American kestrels, and barred owls.

BONUS SPECIES IN BEAR HILL

While the Ecological Inventory focused its efforts on habitat types and birds, the researchers also recorded sightings of other species found around Bear Hill. Preferring damp or wet habitats, the research team found several species of amphibians, such as salamanders, newts, toads, and frogs, and a few kinds of reptiles, such as wood turtles, snapping turtles, and garter snakes. All of the observed reptiles or amphibians listed in the report are as being of “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. Biodiversity amongst reptiles and amphibians is important because they are predators to vast quantities of pest species, such as mosquitoes and other insects. Additionally, amphibians and reptiles are particularly sensitive to changes in their environment, including climate change and pollution. As indicator species, the health of your local population of toads is often a reliable indicator for the health of the overall environment.

Wood turtles are of high conservation concern in New Hampshire © Onreicka, Adobe Stock

 Amongst the mammals, Bear Hill is home to playful river otters, skittish snowshoe hares, and industrious beavers. Aside from being charismatic, popular crowd-favorites, the red foxes, moose, deer, bobcats, and the eponymous black bears that live at Bear Hill have their own biodiversity roles to play. According to one study, mammals regulate insect and prey populations, help disperse seeds and pollinate flowers, and “act as indicators of general ecosystem health.”

This much quantity and quality of biodiversity requires vast tracts of land that encompass many different types of habitats; this land must be continuous and unfragmented by human construction and development; and the protected land will also need buffers to accommodate the imminent environmental changes induced by global climate change. Bear Hill Conservancy is a sorely-needed haven for hundreds of species of animals and further research is essential to develop an even more comprehensive understanding of who lives there.

PREVENTING BIODIVERSITY LOSS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Biodiversity, also known as the variety of life in an environment, is under attack from all sides. Climate change is reshaping ecosystems and making some unlivable for historic species, human development is eradicating habitats entirely, and pollution is contaminating the few wild areas that we have left. The 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, found that about 25% of assessed animal and plant groups are threatened, which may mean that 1 million species face extinction within the next few decades. The loss of all this biodiversity can threaten global food security, and water, air, and soil quality, and increase the damage caused by natural disasters or detrimental pest species. There are ways to protect biodiversity and improve species conservation, though. WildLandscapes work to protect large swaths of land with Bear Hill Conservancy in New Hampshire and globally is doing just that.

Hannah Stewart is a science writer with a background in environmental studies and specializes in writing about the intersection of the natural environment and the human environment.