Results of a WILDLIFE CORRIDOR ANALYSIS Of the City of Lebanon, NH Prepared for the LEBANON PLANNING DEPARTMENT Rick Van de Poll, Ph.D. Ecosystem Management Consultants 30 North Sandwich Rd. Center Sandwich, NH 03227
[email protected] November 2016 Foreward In December of 2004, Lebanon completed a Phase I Natural Resources Inventory. The Phase I work was one of the first steps in what the 2002-2006 Master Plan stated as “bringing about a more refreshed ecology” in Lebanon. In 2010, Phase II of Lebanon’s Natural Resource Inventory or NRI, was completed. The final report, “Natural Lebanon,” can be found on the City’s web site at http://planning.lebnh.net/home/documents/nri. In that document, 65 wildlife crossing areas were identified that contained potential significance for upland and wetland mammals and game birds. In 2013, Dr. Alcott Smith and the author completed a wildlife corridor assessment of three of these locales in Lebanon that were subject to development and road construction that could impact their viability as wildlife crossing areas. This report is on file at the City’s Planning Department. In 2014, the City Planning Department commissioned the author to conduct an analysis of the remainder of the major wildlife crossing areas to determine a) how they were being used, b) which species of concern were using them, and c) what, if anything, could be done to improve their potential for passage. This report summarizes those findings. While researching the history of use of these wildlife crossings areas, it was apparent that the “green infrastructure” of the City has become more and more important as zoning changes, development projects and impacts to the city’s natural landscape have occurred.