If you haven’t seen it, you need to get out more. Across Bow, new land clearing, for sale signs, and new construction show that over the last two years a new surge in land development is underway. 

The ongoing or completed sales of more than 350 acres of forest land in the last two years is a major change for our town. And remember, Bow comprises only 18,000 acres total, so that is 2 percent of the total land in Bow gone in just two years, and possibly more than 40 percent of the total remaining undeveloped land. This situation has some concerned that the rural nature of Bow is undergoing an unplanned and permanent change. 

The Bow Open Spaces Board has taken the first few steps to address this problem. First, a new Directorship has been established – Director, Land Conservation. Second, members of Bow Open Spaces are now looking at several key ideas that may help. And third the Board is asking for thoughts and help from the Bow Opens Spaces members to develop approaches. 

So, when you are out there walking, hiking, riding or, perhaps just sitting, think about how we can work together to protect what makes Bow so unique. 

Key Maps Help Tell the Story

First, the Bow Zoning Map illustrates that the town has already given major areas of Bow over for development, underscoring the importance of protecting the areas currently designated as rural. 

Second, the Bow Conservation Commission has designated key parts of Bow for possible protection as “Conservation Focus Areas.” While designated as important, these areas currently have NO protection, and significant parts of these areas are currently for sale or under development. 

Finally, take a look at realtor.com or Zillow or your favorite realty app. See for yourself what’s already on the market, and draw your own conclusions. If you have thoughts on what we should do or want to help, then email us and let’s see if we can impact the future of Bow in a positive and important way.

Bow Open Spaces is a member and volunteer driven organization. And that includes its Board of Directors, all Bow residents.

Bow Open Spaces Directors, 2022-2023. Front Row: Bob Lux, Past President and Secretary; Harry Hadaway, President; Bob Dawkins, Membership and Land Conservation. Top: Marc Ferland, Trails; Frank Boucher, Treasurer; Martin Murray, Public Relations. Not pictured: Eric Thum, Stewardship.

Join us at the Baker Free Library on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 for an informative talk about the health of our forests.

Invasive species are damaging to the many trees on the acres of public lands in Bow.

We hope you will join us to hear from Bill Davidson, State of New Hampshire Forest Health Specialist!

Document Identifies Natural Resources and ‘Conservation Focus Areas’

A Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) documenting Bow’s natural elements, including wetlands, waterways, forests, plants and wildlife, has been completed and accepted by the town’s Conservation Commission. The document is expected to be a valuable tool as Bow considers management of existing conservation land and how best to balance the conservation of open space with the inevitable pressure of future development. 

“Time, money, and human resources are limited in the accomplishment of conservation,” the NRI introduction states. “Making the effort to document and keep track of the natural resources of a town is an effective and forward-thinking step in taking stock of assets and needs relative to which resources are most important to conservation.”

Bow Natural Resource Inventory

The Conservation Commission believes the NRI provides information to encourage responsible use of all of the natural resources of the town — trails, surface waters, forests and wetlands — used by everyone.

Importantly, the NRI identified 16 Conservation Focus Areas (CFAs), specific areas within the town that have high natural resource values and are largely undeveloped as well as unprotected. The 16 CFAs include, for example, three separate CFAs in proximity to Turee Pond, ranging in size from 18 to 223 acres. Those areas abut existing conserved lands, are adjacent to prime wetlands, and most of the acreage has been identified previously as having high conservation value. In its recommendations, the NRI suggests using the CFAs as a tool for land protection efforts. It also recommends community education and outreach regarding Bow’s biodiversity and the importance of long-term protection strategies. A full listing of the CFAs and the criteria used to identify them can be found in the NRI, which is posted on the Conservation Commission’s website.

The NRI identified more than 90 confirmed or potential vernal ponds in Bow

Of particular interest to Bow Open Spaces is an NRI section focused on recreational trails. It highlights a NH Fish & Game 2019 report describing  the impact on wildlife of trails developed by and for humans and cites the Nottingcook Forest trail network as an area “…where conflicts may exist between trail use and protection of wildlife resources.” The NRI recommends that the Fish & Game report be used for the assessment of existing trails and to help guide planning for future trails.

The Bow Master Plan, adopted in 2018, included a chapter on Natural Resources, noting that the creation of an information base such as an NRI would support “…more informed land use decisions.” The NRI was initiated in July, 2019 and conducted by Moosewood Ecological LLC of Chesterfield, NH.  The complete NRI, including maps and related documents, is posted on the Conservation Commission webpage.

By Cathie Murray

In Bow, neighbors help each other out, and find ways to celebrate together – like a fire pit during Covid times. But have you noticed some neighbors avoiding you? They wait until dark to come out, and even then they keep to the treelines and the shadows, or crawl under snow, leaves or the earth. 

These shy neighbors are wild, furry, four-footed creatures. Most travel and forage for food at night. Besides avoiding us and our pets, the smaller animals use night to reduce their chances of being eaten. Since the predators have to show up where and when the smaller animals are, night-time is where the action is.

Seed eaters! Grub eaters! Twig and bark eaters! Big critters that eat little critters! Big critters that eat frozen apples!  

A few of the shy creatures who call Bow home in the winter are:  White-footed Mouse, Deermouse, Star-nosed Mole, Meadow Vole, Masked Shrew, Snowshoe Hare, Porcupine, Striped Skunk, Opossum, Raccoon, Gray Fox, Red Fox, Eastern Coyote, Bobcat, Weasel, Mink, Fisher, Otter, and White-tailed Deer.

Tracks of a Fisher

Want to know them better? Head outside the day after a snowstorm. A fresh coat of snow on a firm base is best, but look for tracks in your yard, local fields or woods after any snowstorm.  Tracks will tell you stories.

Stand back at first. Do you see a pattern of paw prints? 

Almost a straight line? Fox, coyote, cats, bobcats and deer often walk this way, putting their hind foot where their front foot was.  

Does it look like a bounder, with pairs of prints spaced almost the same distance apart? Meadow voles are very tiny bounders. Bigger ones might be a weasel, mink or fisher.

Is the pattern wide and irregular, almost like a waddle? This might be a skunk, raccoon, porcupine, or opossum.

Or does it look like a hopper, with a pair of small prints and bigger prints bunched together? Squirrels do this.  They plant their small forefeet and bring the larger hind feet around and in front of them. If the prints are very small they are shrews or mice.  Snowshoe hares are hoppers too, but have large hind feet to support them on the snow and often plant their front feet one in front of the other.

To get a specific ID you will have to do more detective work, counting toes, checking for claws, measuring the stride and straddle. There are plenty of resources for you online or at the library. (NH Fish and Game has a handy pocket guide for tracks, posted here.)

These critters have lived here for thousands of years but our current way of life is hard on them. 

What do they need from us? Clean water in streams and ponds. Diverse native plants for food. No poisons, so insects and other small animals survive to feed the bigger animals. Shrubs along streams, corridors of trees and roadless areas for safe travel and shelter. “Dark sky” lighting is safe for us and safer for wildlife.

Making your yard critter friendly is a great start. But since the territory of a tiny deermouse can be 3000 square meters, it will take our whole town to keep wildlife welcome and safe! 

Cathie Murray is a Maine Master Naturalist who occasionally visits and walks the woods of Bow. A version of this article was also published in the Hallowell Champion.