SELT: Birch Ridge Community Forest's Prescribed Burn

The US Forest Service tells me through Google Gemini that “Prescribed burns, also known as controlled burns, are the intentional, carefully planned application of fire to a specific land area. Executed by fire experts under strictly monitored weather and fuel conditions, they are designed to reduce hazardous wildfire fuels, restore ecosystem health, and manage natural habitats”. I’ve seen this work firsthand at places like Waterboro Pine Barrens (The Nature Conservancy) and Pine Mountain at the Morse Preserve (Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests), and now, more recently, at Birch Ridge Community Forest (Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire (SELT)).

Waterboro Pine Barrens is one of those places that literally needs fire. The pitch pines and scrub oaks are adapted to a fire cycle: regular burns clear the understory and let these species thrive alongside some rare plants and animals. Pine Mountain, before the Forest Society purchased it, was a mountaintop blueberry farm. The landscape there is kept in a similar open, shrubby condition, so the blueberry habitat persists. Those kinds of places show how important carefully managed fire can be to maintaining particular ecosystems. 

I first explored the Birch Ridge area just before SELT bought it in 2019. I was there during their fundraising period, hiking while the seller was rushing to harvest as many trees as possible. I remember thinking the logging machinery was too close to hikers on what should have been a quiet Sunday. SELT eventually acquired the land; Moose Mountain Regional Greenways holds the easement; the Town of New Durham and the NH Department of Environmental Services have enforcement rights. It’s a wonderful property that’s healing from past over-harvesting and slowly coming into its own. 

Back in the early 1960s, part of Birch Ridge was an active blueberry farm, and the owners burned the barrens every few years to maintain the crop. Recently, SELT decided to bring back that tradition on a 20-acre patch to encourage blueberries and wildlife. It isn’t a small task. They did a selective logging pass first to keep desirable oak trees, created a firebreak around the site, and met all the regulatory requirements. Then they had to wait for the weather to cooperate. 

SELT hired a company called Star Tree Wildlife Protection from New Jersey to run the burn, with help from the New Durham Fire Department and foresters from other groups. I showed up just after they started igniting near the top of the site. I walked the firebreak counterclockwise and soon ran into a watcher whose job was to record wind speed and direction every ten minutes or so. He was one of the few not wearing the standard fire-protection suit—most folks wore Nomex, that golden-yellow protective gear. 

The quickest way to tell people apart was helmet color: the burn boss had a red hat, Chad from SELT and some Star Tree crew wore yellow, Steve from SPNHF wore blue, and the local firefighters had baseball caps. 

The burn was started uphill and encouraged to move inward from the edges. I followed the action from the firebreak and later found myself near the densest blueberry patch. There I saw what I expected: ground cover blazing, crew members with drip torches encouraging the fire, and others ready to hold the fireline. 

It didn't seem to take long before the objective shifted to just letting the fire do its job. Crews worked to knock down flames within about 20 feet of the firebreak while letting the center burn. They used a variety of specialized tools to smother flames and break up fuel; water came from pumpers and a nearby pool/reservoir.

I watched for a bit longer but soon took my sooty self home. 

On May 29th I was very excited to be able to (skip an afternoon at work and) go back to Birch Ridge once again for a community walk organized to check out the burn results. I learned some of the above information at that time and it's always great to learn more. Chad and others explained that they had planned two potential burn zones but decided to do just the lower one. The eastern side had more young trees and less duff; they knew different parts of the area would handle the fire differently.  

We talked about beech leaf disease, which causes beech trees to sucker—sending up diseased sprouts from roots. Burning on the eastern side would hopefully remove some of that problematic growth. 

Walking west around the site we passed a mostly blueberry area that responded exactly as SELT hoped. Bracken ferns were pushing up through the ash, and blueberries were beginning to emerge. It was odd to see young beeches that didn’t look damaged but didn’t survive—many had died right as buds were about to break. 

The pre-burn logging removed many non-oak trees, and the fire didn’t appreciably damage the mature oaks. Red and white oak acorns are an important food for wildlife. 

After the burn Chad came and seeded some of the open spots—likely with a conservation seed mix aimed at quick-stabilizing plants that reduce erosion and support biodiversity. 

I love to attend events like this, learning more about the ecosystem and how it handles situations like this. I like to fill my arsenal of information to better inform others who might not see the benefit of treating the area in this way. And, of course, I love to be able to provide SELT and other non-profits with pictures that can help them better tell their stories.  

So, until next time, Go capture some memories, leave the trail better than you found it, and don't forget to take off the lens cap! - Kate 

Did you find your way here after a hike where Kate was the volunteer photographer? Perhaps you've enjoyed her images or seen her byline on one of many environmental websites. Kate is a naturalist and largely self-taught photographer with a passion for capturing the beauty and urgency of the natural world. Having photographed hundreds of environmental events for nonprofit organizations—entirely self-funded—she is now asking for your help to upgrade her equipment. Your support will allow her to continue providing high-quality, impactful images that support conservation efforts. Ways you can help:

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SPNHF: Lost River Workday

Lost River in North Woodstock, NH sits on land owned by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests who bought it in 1912 to protect it from logging. The trails and buildings are currently leased and operated by the White Mountains Attractions Association. Each year, in the week before the gorge opens to the public, volunteers from the Forest Society spend a day getting the gorge, gardens, and Ecology trail ready for visitors.

We start the day with a quick huddle to divvy up tasks, and I attempt a group photo. Somehow the photographer often ends up missing from the shot (completely accidental, honest), and this year I outdid myself: two tripods with no heads. Classic.

I usually tag along with the crew that heads into the gorge. Some folks sweep or blow the boardwalks clear, while others tackle ice and snow packed into the caves.

Past years have had us hauling out fallen branches and doing cleanup in the parking lot after storms, but this year the lot was unusually tidy.

The gardens are a whole-day job for a few volunteers — cleaning beds, laying fresh mulch — though they rarely need new plantings.

Another small team keeps the Ecology Trail in shape, trimming branches and repairing the hardware cloth on the boardwalks so people don’t take an unexpected slip when things are wet.

One of my favorite signs of spring is the hobblebush starting to flower; I usually share a photo of what I jokingly call the Grogu plant.

(One of the funniest things about this is that I've never seen the Mandalorian)

Down in the gorge some of the caves are ready for visitors, while others have to wait until water levels drop a bit.

This year I am using these outings to practice with my new camera gear, especially my macro lens. This gorge sits in a slightly different ecosystem than where I’ve been shooting recently, so I spotted several moss species that were new to my photo collection.

Laurel injured her shoulder this spring and stayed up top to freshen a large sign. She found another sign she could have upgraded but left it alone; it points toward the Dilly Trail, which has been closed since a forest fire in fall 2017 destabilized the rockslides.

Lunch is a friendly, do-it-yourself spread that White Mountain Attractions usually provides. 

After eating, a few of us wander back through the gorge just to enjoy it from the visitor perspective. A couple of the younger folks scrambled through several caves this year — I’ll come back with a kneepad or two.

Go capture some memories, leave the trail better than you found it, and don't forget to take off the lens cap! - Kate