PREP Reports & Publications

Abstract

The purpose of the Cooperative Project to Control Invasive Plants in the New Hampshire Seacoast Region is to coordinate with a variety of natural resource agencies and organizations and initiate an innovative collaborative effort to combat invasive species in the seacoast. Those partners include the University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Estuaries Project, the New Hampshire Coastal Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Rockingham County Conservation District, New Hampshire Audubon, the Town of Rye, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership. These groups all have a common interest in protecting existing habitat and restoring degraded habitat for the benefit of aquatic life, migratory birds, threatened and endangered species, and other plants and animals, as well as to reestablish beneficial ecological functions of both upland and aquatic habitats in the seacoast region of New Hampshire. The main objective of the Cooperative Project to Control Invasive Plants in the New Hampshire Seacoast Region was to restore degraded wetland and adjacent upland habitats through the control of invasive, non-native plants. This goal included the following specific items: 1) to identify and develop management plans for individual properties, and to select eight sites for monitoring and evaluation; 2) to advertise for and select an invasive species control contractor for individual projects; 3) to develop a scope of service for each property; 4) to oversee contracted work, review and approve invoices with assistance from Project Partners; 5) to complete payment requests to all funders; and 6) to monitor and evaluate contracted work on individual properties, and the overall project. To date, the scope and objectives of the Cooperative Project to Control Invasive Plants in the New Hampshire Seacoast Region are complete. RCCD considers this conservation project to be successful, and as with all new undertakings, there are many things to be learned along the way. In accordance with the management plans and conservation practices selected, the results of the Cooperative Project to Control Invasive Plants in the New Hampshire Seacoast Region have been satisfactory. For New Hampshire, this new venture could not have taken place without the diversity of Project Partners bringing together considerable expertise and resources, and the RCCD is pleased to be collaborating with such an impressive group. As additional phases of the overall conservation project expand there are recommendations to assist future endeavors. It is anticipated that through continued conservation practices to restore degraded habitats, other seacoast communities and private landowners will want to join the Project Partners in this collaborative effort against non-native, invasive plants. In fact, additional Conservation Commission members in the seacoast region and others from communities outside the region have already requested information on how to obtain assistance to eradicate invasive plants. Additional phases of the overall habitat restoration project to control and manage invasive plants by using a combination of mechanical and chemical practices will likely bring additional Project Partners. A broader assemblage will only benefit the overall goals of the project, as cooperation on a broad scale is undoubtedly one of the best ways to control non-native, invasive plants.

Department

Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership

Publication Date

7-16-2007

Publisher

New Hampshire Estuaries Project

Document Type

Report

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