Northern Forest Demonstration Areas

Johns River Watershed, Coos County, New Hampshire

About the Johns River Watershed

This sprawling region of uplands, rolling hills, wetlands, rivers, and ponds lies in the sparsely populated White Mountains of northern New Hampshire. The Johns River is a major tributary of the Connecticut River. Some of the land in the watershed is farmed, but the vast majority is forested with northern hardwoods, with many acres of aspen and birch, conifers such as spruce and firs, and extensive alder flats. The region provides a rich habitat for wildlife, including large and small mammals and a variety of breeding and migratory birds.

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Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge, Franklin County, Vermont

About Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge

This 6,729-acre federal wildlife refuge hugs the eastern shore of Lake Champlain in Franklin County, northwestern Vermont. It includes most of the Missisquoi River delta where it flows into Missisquoi Bay. The refuge protects quiet waters and food-rich wetlands that attract large flocks of migrating waterfowl. Upland areas are a mix of old fields, shrubby habitat, and northern hardwood forest.

Ring-necked ducks, green-winged teal, black ducks, mallards, northern harriers, short-eared owls, snipe, woodcock, shorebirds, and a wide range of songbirds breed on and pass through the refuge each year. The refuge includes the Shad Island great blue heron rookery, the largest such colony in Vermont.

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Maquam Wildlife Management Area, Franklin County, Vermont

About Maquam WMA

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department administers Maquam Wildlife Management Area, which is composed of two parcels. The Maquam Bay parcel (391 acres) is a low, marshy area along Lake Champlain sharing a boundary with Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge. The Lampman parcel (482 acres), an upland tract south of Maquam Bay, includes abandoned farm fields and woods. Woodcock breed and rear their young on the Lampman parcel, and migrating woodcock feed there in spring and fall. The Lampman parcel is currently being managed to create and restore woodcock habitat.

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Hanover Water Works, Grafton County, New Hampshire

About Hanover Water Works

This 1,400-acre tract in the Connecticut River Valley of central New Hampshire includes the water supply for the town of Hanover and Dartmouth College. In the early 1900s, the land was mainly farmland; today, it surrounds two reservoirs. Some of the landscape is forested with planted conifers, while other areas have grown up in northern hardwoods. The forest, as well as winding streams and associated wetlands, provide habitat for woodcock and other wildlife including white-tailed deer, moose, bear, wild turkeys, and many migratory and resident bird species.

Since 1978, O’Brien Forestry Services of Orford, N.H., has supervised a series of commercial logging operations on different forest stands throughout the property.

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Cutter Property, Grafton County, New Hampshire

About the Cutter Property

This 100-acre tract of private land is in the Connecticut River watershed, near Lyme in west-central New Hampshire. The parcel was heavily logged in the past, and today it is growing back as a young forest of gray birch, aspen, red maple, pin cherry, and other northern hardwood trees, as well as a mix of conifers. The property includes a stream and associated wetland areas. Beavers abound in the area, as do moose, deer, bear, other mammals, and a variety of bird species.

Improving the Land for Woodcock

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Brouha Property, Caledonia County, Vermont

About the Brouha Property

This old hill farm, in the town of Sutton in northeastern Vermont, borders Calendar Brook Wildlife Management Area. The Brouha property totals 430 acres, much of it pasture that has reverted to forest.

As committed conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts, landowners Paul and Carol Brouha have been creating and maintaining young-forest habitat to benefit woodcock, grouse, and other birds and mammals for 35 years. Black bear, moose, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, foxes, fishers, and a wide range of songbirds use the land. Forested areas include a mix of northern hardwoods and softwoods; the property also has ponds, streams, wetlands, and hayfields.

Improving the Land for Woodcock

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Freedom Town Forest, Carroll County, New Hampshire

About Freedom Town Forest

In the early 2000s, this 2,661-acre tract in east-central New Hampshire was slated to become a luxury vacation home development. When the developer ran into financial trouble, the Town of Freedom bought the property using public and private funds. Today the land is protected under an easement that permits forest and wildlife management, and recreational activities such as hunting, fishing, hiking, and winter sports.

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Sullivan County Farm, Sullivan County, New Hampshire

About Sullivan County Farm

This county-owned property is in west-central New Hampshire, in the foothills east of the Connecticut River. Over the next decade, about 60 of the tract’s 673 acres will become a habitat management unit benefiting woodcock and other young-forest wildlife.

The Sullivan County Farm includes active crop and hay fields, old fields growing up in weeds and shrubs, and forest stands of differing ages. The predominant forest type is northern hardwood: beech, birches, red and sugar maple, and red oak, and also white pine.

Access to the site is excellent. (The property also houses a complex of county-owned buildings, including offices, a nursing home, and a detention center.)

Improving the Land for Woodcock

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In the Works...

Steepletop Property, Berkshire County, Massachusetts

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