High-elevation Spruce-Fir Forest in the Northern Forest: An Assessment of Ecological Value and Conservation Priorities

Principal Investigator: Dr. David Publicover Affiliation/Institution: Appalachian Mountain Club Email: [email protected] Mailing address: PO Box 286, Gorham, NH 03581 Co-Principal Investigators: Dr. Kenneth Kimball Affiliations/Institutions: Appalachian Mountain Club Emails: [email protected] Completion date: spring 2013

High-elevation areas are a limited yet critical component of the Northern Forest landscape. Despite a high level of conservation, ecologically significant areas remain unconserved, especially in Maine.

Funding support for this project was provided by the Northeastern States Research Cooperative (NSRC), a partnership of Northern Forest states (New Hampshire, , Maine, and New York), in coordination with the USDA Forest Service. http://www.nsrcforest.org Project Summary

High-elevation habitats are a limited yet critical component of the Northern Forest landscape. They provide the primary habitat for Bicknell’s thrush, the northeast’s rarest migratory songbird, as well as other species of conservation concern. They are also likely to provide refugia for spruce-fir-dependent species in a future warmer climate. These areas have been a target for wind power development, but inappropriately sited wind power projects threaten to degrade this critical habitat. Evaluation, prioritization and conservation of the most important areas is an objective of many state and regional wildlife conservation plans. This project is assessing the extent, conservation status, current condition (development and harvest history) and relative ecological value of high-elevation areas (>2700’) across New York and New England to guide future conservation of these areas and reduce conflicts over wind power siting. Information on ecological value includes elevation range, extent of spruce-fir forest, presence of rare plants and natural communities (particularly subalpine fir- heartleaved birch forest), documented presence of Bicknell’s thrush and extent of potential Bicknell’s thrush habitat, inclusion in large roadless areas, and identification as priority areas in state wildlife action plans and other regional conservation assessments. There are about 767,000 acres of high-elevation land in ME, NH, VT, MA and NY, or about 1.2% of the area of these five states, with 60% lying within 39 areas greater than 5,000 acres in size. Overall the level of conservation is high relative to other parts of the landscape, with over 83% of high-elevation land under some form of permanent conservation. Maine is the outlier with less than half of its high-elevation land conserved. Though high-elevation areas are in general the most “natural” parts of the landscape, significant impact from development and harvesting has occurred in some areas. Nearly 10% of the areas over 10 acres in size have some form of development, including three commercial wind power projects, 34 downhill ski areas encompassing over 1% of the total area of high-elevation land, and public roads and summit complexes on some of the region’s most notable mountains. Nearly 4% of the area shows evidence of harvesting since 1975, with most of this concentrated on large commercial ownerships in northern New Hampshire and western Maine (where nearly 20% of the private high- elevation land has been harvested over this time). The most important high-elevation area with a relatively low level of conservation is the Sugarloaf-Abraham- Crocker area in western Maine – at nearly 21,000 acres the largest high-elevation area in the state containing multiple significant ecological values. Though only 22% of the area is conserved, the area is the focus of on-going conservation attention with multiple projects underway. The greatest concentration of unconserved high-elevation land is the northern Boundary Mountains region of western Maine, which has high value as Bicknell’s thrush habitat. Background and Justification • High-elevation areas (>2700’) are a limited component of the northeastern landscape but provide significant ecological values. • They are generally the most “natural” parts of a regional landscape that has been heavily impacted by human use (settlement, agriculture, timber harvesting). • These areas provide important habitat values as well as having significant adaptive value in a changing climate. • Mountain areas have long been a focus of conservation attention (e.g. Adirondack, Catskill, and Baxter state parks, Green Mountain and White Mountain national forests). While the overall level of conservation is high, significant areas remain unconserved. • High-elevation areas have been a target for commercial wind power development, which if inappropriately sited can degrade the values of these areas. • A comprehensive assessment of the conservation status, condition and ecological value of high-elevation areas across the region will help identify the most important unconserved areas, serving as a guide for future conservation action and appropriate siting of wind power projects. Background and Justification (cont.) Habitat value of high-elevation areas: • High-elevation spruce-fir or subalpine fir forest is recognized as a distinct habitat in state wildlife action plans (ME, NH, VT) as well as regional bird conservation plans (Partners in Flight, Atlantic Coast Joint Venture). • Critical habitat for Bicknell’s thrush, which is endemic to subalpine forest of the northeastern US and maritime Canada. This species has perhaps the most restricted breeding range of any North American bird, has been called “perhaps the highest priority for conservation planning” by Partners in Flight, and is being considered for T&E listing by US Fish and Wildlife Service. • Other species of concern associated with this habitat include blackpoll warbler, spruce grouse, boreal chickadee, white-winged crossbill, three-toed woodpecker, purple finch, olive-sided flycatcher, bay-breasted warbler, northern bog lemming, American marten and Canada lynx. • Many of these plans recommend prioritization and conservation of the most significant areas, with a particular focus on Bicknell’s thrush. • Many of these plans identify commercial wind power development as a threat to this habitat. Background and Justification (cont.) Climate adaptation value of high-elevation areas: • The extent of suitable conditions to support spruce-fir forest in the northeast is expected to decline significantly over the next century, with the range of this forest type contracting to the higher elevation areas of northern New York and New England. • Paleoecological evidence indicates that high-elevation vegetation may be more resistant to climate change than lower-elevation vegetation. During the major post-glacial Hypsithermal warming period (5,000 to 9,000 YBP), the extent of high elevation forests in the White Mountains showed little change during a time when low-elevation spruce-fir forest was greatly reduced. • Recent research by AMC and others on the historic climate of the Presidential Range supports the idea that high-elevation areas in the region are to some degree uncouple from and more resistant to climatic changes occurring at lower elevations. • The projected decline in spruce-fir forest, and its ability to persist at higher elevations in the face of climate change, emphasizes the need to maintain the integrity of high-elevation forests as potential refugia for spruce-fir dependent species. Methods • Areas above 2700’ elevation across ME, NH, VT, MA and NY were delineated using USGS 30-meter Digital Elevation Model data. • Publicly-available data on conservation lands for each state was used to determine the proportion of each area conserved through public ownership, non-profit ownership and conservation easement. • The current condition of each area was determined in two areas: – Development: Existing development was delineated from NAIP aerial imagery and categorized as to type. – Harvest history: Areas showing clear evidence of recent (post-1975) and earlier (pre-1975) timber harvesting were delineated from NAIP aerial imagery and historical aerial and satellite imagery. • Information on a range of ecological values (see next slide) was acquired from publicly-available sources; evaluation of areas for to determine overlap with these values is on-going. • Information on condition and ecological value will be combined into a ranking system to describe the relative conservation value of each area. • A Google Earth application is being developed to present information on these areas in a web-accessible map-based format.

Methods (cont.)

Information included in assessment of ecological value: • Elevation range. • Proportion of area in spruce-fir forest (from National Land Cover data). • Presence of rare plant and natural community occurrences documented by state Natural Heritage programs. • Presence of documented (from state Natural Heritage program data) or potential (delineated from NAIP imagery) occurrences of subalpine fir-heartleaved birch forest. • Documented occurrences of Bicknell’s thrush (from Vermont Center for Ecostudies Mountain Bird Watch database). • Extent of potential Bicknell’s thrush habitat (from model developed by Vermont Center for Ecostudies). • Proportion of area in large (> 5,000 acre) roadless areas delineated by AMC. • Inclusion of area in state wildlife action plan focus area (ME) or highest value habitat (NH). • Presence of priority summit ecosystems identified in TNC Northern Appalachian- Boreal Ecoregional Assessment. • Mean score from The Wildlife Society’s Human Footprint analysis. • Climate change adaptation value assessed by reference to TNC’s Resilient Sites for Terrestrial Conservation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Region analysis.

Results – extent and size Results – conservation status Results – largest areas Results – development Of the 765 areas at least 10 acres in size, 68 have some form of development that could be discerned on NAIP imagery. (Some areas have multiple types of development). • Eleven areas have significant roads (not including logging roads), including one state highway (the Kancamagus Highway) and six public summit access roads (Mount Washington, , Equinox Mountain, Mount Greylock, Whiteface Mountain and Mount Utsayantha). • Thirty-four areas have downhill ski areas, in total encompassing over 9,000 acres of high- elevation land (more than 1% of the total). • Eight areas have commercial wind power development encompassing three active facilities (Kibby [ME], Granite Reliable [NH] and Searsburg [VT]) and one abandoned project (Little Equinox Mountain). (Two additional projects – Kibby Expansion [ME] and Deerfield [VT] – have been permitted but not constructed, two projects – Redington/Black Nubble [ME] and East Mountain [VT] have been denied permits, and at least three other projects [in ME, NH and VT] are in development.) • Seven areas have mixed use complexes (generally recreation and communications), including the summits of Mount Washington, Whiteface Mountain and Mount Greylock. • Eight areas have recreational facilities (such as AMC’s huts in the White Mountains; campsites and open face shelters are not included). • Six areas have lookout towers. • Nine areas have utility corridors. • Seven areas have residential development (six of which are in the Catskills). • Four areas have communications facilities (in addition to those in mixed use complexes). • Six areas have miscellaneous other development (including the Mount Washington Cog Railway, a garnet mine in the Adirondacks and a Buddhist monastery in the Catskills).

Results – timber harvesting

• About 3.8% of high-elevation land across the region shows evidence of harvesting since 1975. High-elevation harvesting on Cow Ridge, ME. Area • Only about 0.6% of public and NGO lands have been is approximately 3,000 acres in size; harvest blocks harvested; some of this occurred prior to conservation range from 44 to 300 acres. acquisition. • Nearly 15% of private high-elevation land (including land covered by easements) has been harvested (over 20% in Maine). • Nearly two-thirds of high-elevation harvesting took place on large private commercial ownerships in western Maine. • Three-quarters of all the harvested acreage across the region occurred on just eleven large (>1,000 acres) high-elevation areas (seven in Maine, three in New Hampshire and one in Vermont); the Sugarloaf/Abraham/Crocker area alone contained 20% of the total harvested acreage. Results – conservation value assessment

The assessment of ecological values and conservation priorities is on-going. Presented below is information on the Sugarloaf/Crocker/Abraham area, a recognized priority for conservation with multiple projects underway in under discussion.

• At 20,800 acres, the largest high-elevation area in Maine (sixth largest in the northeast). • Six of the fourteen peaks in the state over 4,000 feet in elevation. • Only 22% in conservation land; all other areas over 10,000 acres have at least 81% conservation land. • Contains portions of four large roadless areas. • Multiple high-quality occurrences of rare fir- heartleaved birch subalpine forest. • Second-highest number of documented Natural Heritage element occurrences (i.e. rare plants and natural communities) of any area in the state. • Bicknell’s thrush documented at multiple locations. • One of the largest contiguous blocks of spruce-fir forest in the state. • Contains TNC priority summit ecosystems. • Habitat focus area identified in Maine Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. • High climate change adaptation value. Implications and applications in the Northern Forest region

• High-elevation areas are a limited part of the northeastern landscape but provide critical habitat values and have a disproportionately important role in future climate change adaptation. • While the overall level of conservation of these areas is high relative to other parts of the landscape, significant areas remain unconserved, especially in Maine. • Inappropriately sited commercial wind power development poses a threat to the integrity of these areas. Multiple projects have been constructed, permitted or proposed in high-elevation areas. Two projects have been constructed, and one more permitted, in areas of high-quality rare subalpine forest habitat actively occupied by Bicknell’s thrush. • Information developed in this project will support future conservation of high priority high-elevation and promote appropriate siting of commercial wind power development. Future directions

AMC will use this information in a variety of ways to promote additional high- elevation land conservation and promote appropriate wind power siting, including: • Promoting the adoption of state-based laws, rules and policies that guide wind power development away from high-elevation sites with high habitat or climate change adaptation value. • Promoting the use of the Google Earth application as an initial site screening tool for wind power development, following guidelines developed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. • Providing information in support of specific future high-elevation land conservation projects. • Supporting identification of areas that may be suitable for high-elevation wind power development in other areas. • Providing information in support of goals set forth in state wildlife action plans.

Outreach/products • Poster presented at the NSF-funded 2011 Northeast Alpine Research Workshop (see http://www.outdoors.org/pdf/upload/High-elevation-spruce-fir- forest-research.pdf). • Presentation at Maine Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s 2011 Wind Energy-Wildlife Forum (see http://joomla.wildlife.org/Maine/index.php?option=com_content &task=view&id=187&Itemid=301). • Presentation at 2012 ECANUSA Forest Science Conference. • Publicover, David A. and Kenneth D. Kimball. High-elevation spruce-fir forest in the northern forest: an assessment of ecological value and conservation priorities. (Paper submitted for proceedings of 2012 ECANUSA Forest Science Conference) (to be posted at http://www.outdoors.org/conservation/wind/wind-research.cfm). • Google Earth application and final project report will be posted on AMC web site once completed (http://www.outdoors.org/conservation/wind/wind-research.cfm)