Stewardship priorities at Great Bay focus on upland and intertidal resource management. Some brief highlights this year include:

Natural Resource Management

• Comprehensive mapping and population monitoring of upland invasive species in preparation for a strategic regional control program. Project in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy.

• Management of the winter eagle roost site on Great Bay. 2005/2006 is first winter closure of this property to all recreational use.

• In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, completed detailed resource inventories on four more Reserve properties.

• Developing performance indicator monitoring at the Reserve scale and pre and post monitoring for individual restoration projects.

• Continue to write consensus management “abstracts” for new properties.

Public Involvement & Education

• We currently have 20 active Community Land Stewards on 18 properties. Land Stewards monitor properties seasonally, pick up trash etcetera.

• Overviewed University of New Hampshire Wildlife Management students’ management plans on Reserve properties. Students do a full natural resources inventory on their assigned property and develop management plans in order to complete their senior project.

• Volunteer work party on National Estuaries Day. This year we did cut stem treatment of an acre stand of Japanese knotweed.

• Developed a standardized database to record the type of trash removed from Reserve properties. Based on the International Coastal cleanup so we can compare to their data. Also, over time we can see what our major dumping issues are and look to address behavior change associated with the source reason (e.g. appliances because of dumping fees). Have a high school class that is “geo-caching” to our major known dump sites throughout the year and removing our major debris sites.

Public Access

• Development of a sensitive habitats co-occurrence model to guide location of a regional trail. This trail is planned to cross properties under multiple ownerships and provide a four mile walking route from the local university to the shores of Great Bay.

• We are working with Northeast Passage, a self-funded program of the University of New Hampshire, Reserve lands accessible to as wide a range of abilities as possible. Northeast Passage works to create an environment where individuals with disabilities can recreate with the same freedom of choice and independence as their able-bodied peers. They are partners in the design of all new trails, kiosks, and viewing platforms on Reserve properties.

• Acquired 1060 acres of land that had subdivision approval on them, keeping this land open to public access.

Stewardship Infrastructure

• Preparing to relocate a cabin deemed eligible for the National Historic Register from its remote location to a site more accessible to the public and appropriate for interpretation.