Temple Town Forest

Temple Town Forest

Presented by:• Temple Conservation Commission (TCC)

Significant contributions and extracts from:• Eric Foley (TCC member), Temple Town Forest

Capstone project and Town Forest Stewardship plan, December 2012

The Temple Conservation Commission

• Mission Statement– “ To assure the proper utilization and protection

of Temple’s natural and watershed resources”

• Established in 1971• Current members (7)• Management responsibility of the Town Forest

since 1978• Lone Pine and Swamp Loop Trails created in 2005

Temple, New Hampshire

• Incorporated in 1768• Located in Hillsborough County• Census population as of 2010:

1,366 (2011 Town Report Book)

Maps by Eric Foley

Towns of New Hampshire

Towns near Temple

Temple Town Center

The Temple Town Forest• The Temple Town Forest is located off of North

Road near the Temple/Lyndeborough town line• 53 acres• Two walking trails– Lone Pine Trail (1.07 miles)– Swamp Loop Trail (0.24 miles)

• The property is tapped for maple sap• There is no charge/permit to use the Town Forest• The Town Forest is managed by the Temple

Conservation Commission

Temple Town Forest Location• The Town Forest is located off of North Road, and the property boarders with

the town line between Temple and Lyndeborough. • The physical address is 246, North Road, Temple, New Hampshire, 03084. • The latitude and longitude is 42.871249 -71.832285 • The Town Forest can be accessed from two main directions

• From Temple• Take Route 101 heading west• Take a right on Webster Hwy• Slight left on to North Road and follow North Road for about 1.5 miles. The

Town Forest is located on the right at the top of a hill.

• From Lyndeborough• Take Route 31 heading west• Take a left on to Old Temple Road West• Once you cross into the town of Temple, the Town Forest is on the left at the

top of the hill

Temple

Town

Forest

Temple town forest parking

History of the Temple Town Forest Property

• On June 10th 1933 Winfred B. Mansfield, Collector of Taxes, approved the sale of Horton lot for $77.71 from John C. Richards, to the Town of Temple. The Horton lot was to become the Temple Town Forest 45 years later. At the Town Meeting of 1978 the Town gave management responsibility of the land to the Temple Conservation Commission.

Stand Map of the Town Forest (1980)Robert W. BreckFormer Hillsborough County Forester

Stands 1-5SW= Swamp

1980 stand age ranges1 Hardwood 62-92

2 White Pine 52-72

3 White Pine 92-112

4 Hardwood 72-92

5 Hemlock 92-112

2012 stand age ranges

2012 Table by Eric Foley

Town Forest

The Forest CruiseConducted by Eric Foley

• 25 sample plots were systematically placed within the forest at 300 feet apart

• 10 BAF Angle Gauge• DBH, sawlog and pulpwood height measured (8’)• Acceptable growing stock or Unacceptable

growing stock (In terms of timber potential)

Map by Wendy Weisiger

• Did the plot contain tapped maples, stonewalls, sap mainlines and Allegheny mound ants?

Trees per acre 252Basal area per acre 102.4 sq ftNumber of tree species inventoried 12

Examples of Forest

Cruise PlotsPerformed by Eric Foley

Examples from the Forest Inventory1 2

5

3

4

1 Painted Trillium Trillium undulatum2 Pink Lady's Slipper Cypripedium acaule3 Red Pine Pinus rigida4 Hobblebush Viburnum lantanoides5 Mountain Laurel Kalmia latifolia6 Ground Cedar Diphasiastrum tristachyum

6

Tree species found on the Town Forest

Common Name Scientific NameAmerican Basswood Tilia americanaAmerican Beech Fagus grandifoliaAmerican Chestnut (Seen as saplings) Castanea dentataBalsam Fir (Seen as saplings) Abies balsameaBigtooth Aspen Populas grandidentataBlack Birch Betula lentaBlack Cherry Prunus serotinaBlack Gum Nyssa sylvaticaButternut (One tree seen, poor health) Juglans cinereaEastern Hemlock Tsuga canadensisEastern Hophornbeam Ostrya virginianaEastern Red Cedar Juniperus virginianaEastern White Pine Pinus strobusGrey Birch Betula populifoliaNorthern Red Oak Quercus rubraPitch Pine Pinus rigidaRed Maple Acer rubrumRed Pine Pinus resinosaRed Spruce Picea rubensStriped Maple Acer pensylvanicumSugar Maple Acer saccharumWhite Ash Fraxinus pennsylvanicaWhite Birch Betula papyriferaYellow Birch Betula alleghaniensis

Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica): A New Hampshire Rarity

Map by Eric Foley

• Black gums are one of the oldest living hardwood species in the U.S (over 500 years old)

• Black gum is primarily a southern tree species• New Hampshire is in the trees northern range

extent• There aren’t many known locations of black gum

trees in Temple• Exhibits bright red fall foliage

http://www.nhdfl.org/library/pdf/BlackGumReport.pdf

http://www.landscape-america.com/art/trees/black_gum_leaf.jpg

Black Gum in Temple

Town ForestBlack gum trees are located in five locations on the Town Forest. These trees are rare to New Hampshire, as this tree grows extensively in the southern United States.

Shrub species found on the Town ForestCommon Name Scientific Name

HobblebushViburnum lantanoides

Lowbush BlueberryVaccinium angustifolium

Mountain LaurelKalmia latifolia

Northern Highbush BlueberryVaccinium corymbosum

Witch Hazel BushHamamelis virginiana

Plant species found on the Town ForestCommon Name Scientific Name

Bracken Fern Pteridium aquilinumChristmas Fern Polystichum acrostichoidesEastern Poison Ivy Toxicodendron radicansGoldthread Coptis trifoliaGround Cedar Diphasiastrum tristachyumHay-Scented Fern Dennstaedtia punctilobulaIndian Cucumber Root Medeola virginianaPainted Trillium Trillium undulatumPink Lady’s Slipper Cypripedium acaulePrince’s Pine Lycopodium obscurumRed Raspberry Rubus idaeusSensitive Fern Onoclea sensibilisShining Clubmoss Huperzia lucidulaStar Flower Trientalis borealisTrout Lilly Erythronium americanumWintergreen Gaultheria procumbens

Stone Walls in Temple Town ForestThere are several stone walls in the Town Forest. These walls represent the time when the Town Forest was once agriculture land. There are signal-stone wide walls that may have been used for boundary lines. Then there are large wide walls. These walls may have been used to keep farm animals out of certain sections of the property

Streams and wet areas

The forest has several intermediate streams. There are wet areas in southern most acres of the town forest.

Town Forest SoilsThe soils at the Town Forest have some variation. The property starts on a hill and gently goes into shallow land that has an intermediate stream running through it. Then the ground slopes upward again. Pine species grow on the sandy hill at the beginning of the property and are found less often further on.

Map Description Acres Percent

76B Marlow loam, 3 to 8 percent slopes

6.7 12.5%

143C Monadnock stony fine sandy loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes

33.2 62.2%

247B Lyme stony loam, 0 to 5 percent slopes

5.0 9.4%

559B Skerry stony fine sandy loam, 0 to 8 percent slopes

0.1 0.3%

559C Skerry stony fine sandy loam, 8 to 15 percent slopes

8.3 15.6%

Total 53.4 100.0%

Trails and Recreation

• Motorized vehicles are prohibited on the Town Forest.

• Trail walking and sight-seeing are two main recreational activities.

• The Lone Pine and Swamp Loop Trails were created by Conservation Commission members John Kieley and Dave Repak in 2005.

Map by Eric Foley

Trail Maps

Trails of Temple Town Forest

Lone Pine Trail (1.07 Miles)The Lone Pine Trail is named after a dead wolf white pine that is along the trail. This tree has multiple branches from being grown in open space for so long. This tree has had a couple of its larger branches cut off during the last logging job. The trail traverses the property, going past large impressive stone walls, white and red pine forest, tapped maple trees, hemlock, red oak, black birch forest and past wet areas with the black gum tree. This trail allows a visitor to experience the multiple forest types and ages.

The Lone Pine Trail

Map by Eric Foley

Trail Maps

Trails of Temple Town Forest

Swamp Loop Trail (0.24 Miles)The Swamp Loop Trail is named after the “Swamp” that is at the fork of this trail and the Lone Pine Trail. When this trail was created it was intended to be part of the Lone Pine Trail but once the trail neared the swamp area it was decided that the trail could not cross over it. So this trail became a loop trail. The swamp area near this trail contains black gum trees. These trees are at their northern range limits within New Hampshire. These trees offer beautiful crimson red fall foliage. There is a stand of American beech that this trail goes around. Two features of this trail are a high over look spot, ideal for picnics and bird watching. The other feature is a uniquely shaped rock within a stone wall.

The Swamp Loop Trail

Other possible recreational activitiesActivityTrail walking and runningDog walkingHuntingSnowshoeingRock, leaf and insect collectingNature study and writingPicnickingTree climbingListening to nature soundsBlueberry pickingMeditationPhotography Bird and wildlife viewingArt creationMetal detectingGeocachingTrail maintenanceInvasive species monitoring

Maple Sugaring at Town Forest

• Sugaring on the property is being conducted by Ben Fisk of Ben’s Sugar Shack (http://www.bens-maple-syrup.com/) located on 83 Webster Hwy, Temple, NH. He has over 1,000 taps on red and sugar maple on the property. He uses a main collection tank by North Road at the end of the Lone Pine Trail. There a vacuum pump draws the sap from lines. There is also a smaller sap tank in the back of the property that collects sap from the right side of the property. There is a small vacuum pump on this sap tank.

Questions?