Otisfield Conservation Committee Meeting
Minutes – Wednesday, April 27, 2011; 7pm
(Approved)
Present – Pixie Williams, Lee Dassler, Scott Vlaun, Susan Feller, Bob Blake
Pixie opened the meeting at 7pm. March minutes were read, corrections made. Scott moved to approve, Susan seconded at 7:15pm.
Pixie asked Lee to present information on the Crooked River Survey. Lee explained the upcoming Riparian Survey trainings, dates and location for the trainings and showed the data collection forms. Lee also presented the list of upcoming events for the Western Foothills Land Trust.
Old Business – Pixie sent the Board of Selectmen (BOS) the letter from the OCC regarding the use of motorized vehicles in Heniger Park, and has not yet had a response from them. The next BOS meeting is Wednesday, May 4, 2011. Pixie will attend the meeting, and hopes that other OCC members will be able to attend.
Jacinthe picked up Vernal Pool brochures from Maine Audubon and placed them on the table in the Town Hall meeting room, making them available for residents.
Pixie will begin working on the OCC annual report for the town, and reviewed the list of activities and issues the OCC has covered the past year.
The OCC web page was reviewed and corrections/updates need to be made. Scott will email Tanya Taft the needed changes, and inquire about adding photos to the page.
Pixie reported that the Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has new lists of every species of fish in each of the Maine lakes. The former “Pearl” environmental resource website has been phased out and information is now under a new source, www.thelakesofmaine.org.
Vernal Pools – Pixie read her write up for the OCC web page on Maine amphibian life cycles, habitat requirements and the varying species time line for breeding, egg and larval development. Pixie asked members to report on their own explorations of vernal pools. Scott has observed Wood Frog activity on his property, Susan has explored and photographed vernal pools along Little Pond Rd., finding Wood Frog eggs and repeatedly seeing a resident Bull Frog in one deep pool, and Pixie has been monitoring the frog calls and activity at Coon Swamp. Pixie wants to take a kayak tour to the head of Coon Swamp to see if there are a succession of smaller pools that would be “fish free”, providing suitable breeding sites for the vernal pool indicator species. Pixie will also ask Anne Fritts for permission to re-visit
the vernal pools at Camp Arcadia, since it was late in the season last year when they were checked, and no indicators of amphibian activities were observed. Pixie will also ask to check on Anne’s property along Poplar Ridge Rd. which contains wetlands. Bob suggested that the OCC hold their May meeting at Coon Swamp as a field trip in lieu of Town Hall.
Invasive Species/Milfoil Summit – Pixie reported on her attendance of the meeting, and the changes around the state with the increase or decrease of species. Funding may be cut in 2012 putting local efforts at risk for monitoring and control of invasive aquatic plants. A new threat to waterways in ME is the algae Didymo (Didymosphenia geminate), commonly called “rock snot”. This species forms thick, gooey mats covering rocks and plants in clear, rock bottomed waterways that will extirpate aquatic animals and plants. It is established throughout the northeast, and just gaining a foothold in ME. Common means of transfer is via the felt soles on water wading boots.
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid – Pixie reported on the spread in ME of this invasive insect which destroys Hemlock trees and provided handouts of identification, methods of control and maps of its range in ME. Susan reported on seeing firsthand the destruction of vast areas of Hemlocks in NY from the insect.
Jugtown Plains – Pixie reported that David Rodrigues of the Dept. of Conservation (DOC) told her that “formal requests and paperwork” have to be completed prior to any type of official survey being done at Jugtown, such as a survey by the Maine Entomological Society (MES). Pixie said Gail Everett from the MES has offered to do a butterfly survey on her own in May and June, since the society was too busy to do an “insect blitz” this year.
David has received the reports from the U of ME forestry professor that the DOC hired last summer to evaluate the property, pitch pine management plan and experimental scarification area.
Next meeting will be May 25, 2011; 7pm. Meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Feller, Secretary
TAFT 05.31.11
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