NORTH QUABBIN CORRIDOR FOREST LEGACY AREA Application for Forest Legacy Area Expansion September 29, 2003 Massachusetts Forest Legacy Committee United States Forest Northeastern Area 11 Campus Boulevard USDA Department of Service State and Private Forestry Suite 200 Aariculture NewtownSqiare,PA 19073 File Code: 3360 Date: December 17, 2010 Jack Murray Deputy Commissioner Department of Conservation and Recreation 251 Causeway Street, Suite 600 Boston, MA 02114 Dear Mr. Murray: Enclosed is a copy of a letter from the Deputy Chief for State & Private Forestry approving the Amendment to the Massachusetts Needs Assessment for the Forest Legacy Program that expands the North Quabbin Corridor Forest Legacy Area (FLA.) I have enclosed a copy of my letter to the Deputy recommending the approval for your records. Congratulations! With the approval by the Deputy Chief, your expanded Forest Legacy Area has become eligible for sharing in Forest Legacy Program funds for acquisition of lands or interests in lands. If you have any questions regarding the Forest Legacy Program contact Deirdre Raimo. Her number is 603-868-7695. We look forward to continuing our work with you in the Forest Legacy Program. Sincerely, YN P. MALONEY Director Enclosures cc: Mike Fleming, Billy Terry, Deirdre Raimo, Neal Bungard, Scott Stewart, Terry Miller, Robert Clark Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recycled Paper os” Forest Washington 1400 Independence Avenue, SW U4S Service Office Washington, DC 20250 File Code: 3360 Date: December 17, 2010 Route To: Subject: Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Expansion Request Approved To: Kathryn P. MaloneyArea Director Thank you for your letter of December, 13, 2010, regarding the proposed expansion request to the North Quabbin Corridor Forest Legacy Area (FLA) that is part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Forest Legacy Program. I approve the expansion request. /s/ Robin Thompson (for) JAMES E. HUBBARD Deputy Chief, State and Private Forestry USDA America’s Working Forests — Caring Every Day in Every Way Printed on Recycled Paper Forest Northeastern Area 11 Campus Boulevard Service State and Private Forestry Suite 200 Newtown Square, PA 19073 File Code: 3360 Dates December 13, 2010 Route To: Subject: Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area Expansion Request for Approval To: Deputy Chief, State & Private Forestry Enclosed is a proposed expansion to the North Quabbin Corridor Forest Legacy Area that is part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Needs Assessment for the Forest Legacy Program (FLA), which was approved by the Secretary of Agriculture on August 5, 1993. We have reviewed the expansion request and have determined the document meets the requirements as set forth in Section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act (16 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) as amended by Section 1217 of Title XII of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-624: 104 Stat.3359) the Federal Agriculture and Reform Act of 1996 (P.L. 104- 127: 110 Stat. 888); and the Forest Legacy Program Implementation Guidelines dated June 30, 2003. The expansion request was submitted by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Bureau of Forestry, which is the State Lead Agency. The request was reviewed and endorsed by the Massachusetts Forest Legacy Committee, which has been authorized by the State Forest Stewardship Coordinating Committee to act on its’ behalf in Forest Legacy Program matters. The North Quabbin Corridor FLA expansion will allow Massachusetts to protect significant landscapes of important forestland, which were identified in a recent State-wide GIS compilation of significant biological sites. I fully support this expansion request for the North Quabbin Corridor Forest Legacy Area as proposed and recommend that the expansion be approved. // Jim Barresi (for) KATHRYN P. MALONEY Area Director Enclosure cc: Billy Terry Deirdre Raimo Neal Bungard Scott Stewart USDA America’s Working Forests — Caring Every Day in Every Way Printed on Recycled Paper Roger Monthey Kathryn J Conant Macario Herrera Mike Fleming Jack Murray Table of Contents I. Introduction…………………………………………………..……………… 1 II. Description of Each Important Forest Area…………………………………. 2 III. Summary of the Analysis Used to Identify the FLA and its Consistency with the Eligibility.…..……………………………………………………………. 3 IV. Identification of Important Environmental Values, and How They Will Be Conserved…………………………………………………………………… 7 V. Conservation Goals and Objectives of the FLA Expansion Area………….. 10 VI. List of Public Benefits That Will Be Derived From Establishing the Amended Forest Legacy Area………………………………………………………… 10 VII. Identification of the governmental entity or entities that may be assigned management responsibilities for the lands enrolled in the Program...….….. 11 VIII. Documentation of analysis and public involvement process …………….... 12 IX. DESCRIPTION: Proposed Expansion to the North Quabbin Corridor Forest Legacy Area.…………………………………………………………….…. 16 X. Appendices………………………………………………………………….. 21 A. State-listed Rare Species...…………………………………………....... 22 B. Resource Maps…………………………………………………………. 25 C. Executive Summary For Proposed Massachusetts Forest Legacy Area: “North Quabbin Corridor Forest Legacy Area” (MA AON - 1993) …… 31 D. Letters of Support .…………………………………………………….... 35 North Quabbin Corridor Forest Legacy Area Application for Legacy Area Expansion September 29, 2003 I. Introduction The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Bureau of Forestry, as the State Lead Agency of the Forest Legacy Program in Massachusetts, submits this request to expand the North Quabbin Phase 1 and North Quabbin Phase 2 Forest Legacy Areas. The expansion area includes: the towns of Leyden, Bernardston, Northfield, Montague, Greenfield, Wendell, Leverett, Shutesbury, Pelham, New Salem, Erving, and those portions of Orange, Athol, Warwick, Phillipston, and Petersham that are not already covered by the existing North Quabbin FLAs.1 (See attached maps). The approximate total acreage of the expansion area is 318,225 acres; of this, approximately 262,535 acres are forested. Of the forested acreage, roughly 75% is deciduous and 7.5% evergreen (see attached map, “North Quabbin Vegetation”). Land ownerships of protected open space in the region are indicated below (Data from MassGIS). Total protected acreage is 91,836. Non- DEM DFW Municipal Profit MDC CR APR CR/APR other Athol 185 100 406 Barre 111 1,956 191 550 5,207 455 894 Bernardston 1,182 132 Erving 2,414 172 Gill 198 20 31 309 Greenfield 106 1,221 21 (USFW); 64 (P) Hardwick 1,065 71 4,140 161 832 Leyden 60 343 443 153 Montague 700 3,364 1,709 444 439 223 New Salem 192 84 6 21,534 229 Northfield 2,142 931 512 304 442 Orange 1,001 687 303 61 2,150 Pelham 1,658 5904 63 200 Petersham 1,438 1,549 191 1,511 12,087 783 Phillipston 474 3,136 298 82 153 Shutesbury 622 274 151 5,306 24 Warwick 10,961 231 163 571 1,000 1 For a precise written description of the proposed expansion area, see attachment 1. 1 TOTAL 19,166 12,995 7,251 7,629 36,403 5,695 2,474 223 21 The table reflects a wide array of land protection partners, creating a mosaic of land protection coverage, types, and strategies. Several important events have created the need for this expansion. First, significant ecological data has been developed and distributed through GIS systems that shed light on the ecological significance of the vast stretches of forest land throughout the proposed expansion area. The proposed expansion area includes much BioCore2 and Supporting Natural Landscapes3 that comprise and connect large contiguous blocks of forestland. This land provides not only outstanding wildlife habitat, but recreation, water protection, and unspoiled scenery, while simultaneously promoting the rural quality of life that is perpetuated by a sustained forest products industry. Second, since the first FLAs were created, development pressure in this region has significantly increased, causing inflated land values, land speculation, and forest fragmentation. In light of these factors, the land area of the existing North Quabbin FLAs, while significant, is somewhat artificially truncated when viewed in the context of the greater forest ecosystem of which they are a part. The expansion area is large enough to provide larger landscape-level protection than is possible within the existing FLAs. De facto unprotected corridors extend from the Connecticut River to beyond the Quabbin Reservoir east to Hubbardston, and from west of the Quabbin north into Northfield and Warwick. Because the expansion area and the North Quabbin and Nashua River FLAs would be contiguous, there would be an enormous opportunity to strategically protect valuable and threatened tracts of wildlife habitat, rare and threatened native species, and watershed lands so as to produce the maximum ecological benefit while precluding forest conversion or other harmful uses that jeopardize traditional forest uses that are an accepted part of rural life in this extended region. II. Description of Each Important Forest Area (See MA AON, pg 28) A. The expansion area encompasses a de facto corridor from Montague through Wendell, Orange, and New Salem to the Quabbin through extensive municipal watershed lands, state and private protected land, and private unprotected land. B. The expansion area encompasses the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail through Erving, southern Northfield, and western Warwick, and includes non-protected “Supporting