MassWildlife News Commonwealth of Massachusetts – Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Wayne F. MacCallum, Director

PUBLIC LANDS MANAGEMENT TOURS OFFERED 7/1/10 #8

BIOLOGICAL DATA ON WILDLIFE LANDS AVAILABLE ON LINE

MILE-A-MINUTE ALERT

DIVISION PROGRAM HONORED BY ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS COUNCIL

JULY EVENTS & MEETINGS

PUBLIC LANDS MANAGEMENT TOURS OFFERED

During the month of July, the public is invited to join professional foresters and wildlife biologists from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) on three informative evening tours on state lands located in central Massachusetts to explain and discuss state forestry and wildlife habitat management practices. These public lands have been managed for the purposes of watershed management, forest or wildlife habitat diversity.  All tours will meet (rain or shine) at 6:30 PM and last until 8:00 PM.  Please wear sturdy footwear and bring insect repellant.  Directions to meeting places and descriptions of sites are listed below. A fourth tour will take place at a sawmill in Orange on July 28 at 6:00 PM offered by a forest products company and will focus on the use of locally harvested trees for lumber and the manufacture of other forest products. Dates and locations of the tours are as follows:

July 7— DCR Federated Women's Club State Forest, Petersham – This tour will take participants to two sites, a shelterwood system designed to regenerate a variety of tree and shrub species and a forest type conversion/clearcut intended to create and maintain an early successional (young) forest habitat.  Meet in the center of Petersham at the Memorial Library, 23 Common Street just off Route 32 to carpool to the sites.

July 14 – DCR Quabbin Reservoir, Hardwick – Two site visits on this tour will demonstrate harvest results from forest thinning operations, enlarging forest openings, and show how forest regeneration achieves watershed management goals for species diversity and forest age structure.  Meet in the center of Hardwick in front of the Hardwick Post Office at the intersection of Barre Road and Petersham Road (Route 32A) to carpool to the sites.

July 21 – DFW Phillipston Wildlife Management Area, Phillipston – This site features a 30-acre old-field white pine harvest using a seed-tree cut to regenerate a more diverse stand of mixed species, including red oak, white pine, black cherry, and hemlock. The young forest habitat created benefits several declining bird species such as Brown thrasher, Blue-winged warbler, and White-throated sparrow, all of which depend on this type of habitat. Meet at the Templeton General Store located at the intersection of Routes 101, 2A, and Baldwinville Road. Carpooling to the tour location is encouraged.

July 28 – Heyes Forest Products Sawmill, Orange – This unique sawmill and forest products manufacturing tour is being offered by Heyes Forest Products (HFP), a company that has harvested trees and manufactured lumber products from the forests of the North Quabbin region for the past 40 years. Meet at 6:00 PM at Heyes Forest Products, 34 Daniel Shays Highway (Route 202) in Orange.

WILDLIFE LANDS BIOLOGICAL DATABASE NOW ONLINE

The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) has recently posted a searchable biological monitoring database on its website that provides survey information on plants, animals (primarily songbirds), vernal pools, natural communities, and other natural resources found on some of the agency’s wildlife management areas (WMAs). Some of the collected information includes plant surveys conducted before and after habitat management activities. The database may be of interest to anyone who has visited particular WMAs and wants to know more about the natural resources on those lands; anyone who plans to visit WMAs and wants to know more about the plants and animals they can expect to see; or anyone who is curious about the types of natural resource data the Division collects on its lands. “This database helps people not only learn about the diversity of plants, animals, and habitats on our wildlife management areas,” said Tom O’Shea, Assistant Director of Wildlife. “It also provides wildlife professionals with essential baseline information needed for developing habitat management plans on Division lands.”

The DFW Biomonitoring Database is hosted on the Mass.gov Open Data Initiative Wiki Space, a web tool utilized by state agencies to help make public data available and accessible to the citizens of the Commonwealth. For more information, go to: www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/habitat/management/bdi/forest_mgt/bio_monitoring.htm.

MILE-A-MINUTE ALERT

Mile-A-Minute vine (Persicara perfoliata) also known as Devil’s Tear-thumb, is an invasive weed that has recently appeared in several new locations in Massachusetts. Native to Asia, this species was accidentally imported and became established in Pennsylvania by the 1930’s.  Closer to home, it appeared in New England in the past decade in southwestern Connecticut and on Block Island.  Here in Massachusetts recent reports of Mile-A-Minute vine populations have been confirmed by Division of Fisheries and Wildlife State Botanist, Bryan Connolly and other state agencies such as the Department of Agricultural Resources, Department of Transportation and the Department of Conservation and Recreation. These agencies are working together to locate and eradicate known Mile-A-Minute plants as well as other invasive plants.  Originally, Falmouth and Milton were the only towns with known Mile-A-Minute infestations, but in 2009, additional populations were located in Erving, Greenfield, Littleton, Boston, Bridgewater and Middleborough. All confirmed infestations are currently subject to ongoing control efforts. 

Mile-A-Minute is a rapidly spreading, spiny annual vine growing at rates of six inches per day, smothering native vegetation on its way to attaining a final length of 20 feet. It tolerates various soil types, produces abundant bird-dispersed blue fruits with seeds that can grow after being buried for up to seven years.

“Mile-A-Minute vine is an easily identifiable plant,” says Connolly.  He noted that the most obvious features are the almost perfectly triangular leaves and a circular leaf-like bract that surrounds the stem at the base of every leaf. The vine is slender and covered in small, curved spines. It also produces very distinct metallic-blue fruits.  Images, information, and a recent guide to similar species to aid in identification of this highly invasive plant can be found at a website created by the collaborative efforts between the Department of Agricultural Resources and UMass Extension at www.massnrc.org/pests/linkeddocuments/mamflyer_mass.pdf.

Finding the locations of new populations Mile-A-Minute infestations is the first step to controlling its spread. If you believe you have seen Mile-A-Minute, make detailed notes on the location, take close- up photos and provide a map to the plant's location. Report findings online at http://massnrc.org/pests/mamreport.aspx or to Bryan Connolly at bryan.a.connolly@state.ma.us. Send hard copy notes and photos by postal service to: Mile-A-Minute Report, MassWildlife Field Headquarters, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA, 01581.

SELECTED JULY EVENTS & MEETINGS

July 10 –Free Fly Fishing Clinics, Foxborough --Learn about fly fishing and try out your skills with author and Angler Education Program Instructor Dr. Robert Sousa at Bass Pro Shops located on Rte 1 Northbound at Patriot Place. There will be two free clinics at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM respectively. Topics covered will include fly casting, fly tying, and fly fishing. Contact Bass Pro Shops at (508) 216-2000.

July 25 - Cape Cod Freshwater Wetlands Talk, Sandwich --The Thornton Burgess Society (TBS) invites the public to join Dr. Patricia Swain, natural community ecologist for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife's Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, on July 25 from 7-9 PM at the Green Briar Nature Center, 6 Discovery Hill Road, East Sandwich. Topics in her presentation will include natural communities, identifying wetlands, wetland conservation and unique Cape wetlands. Registration (and fee) is required. Adults and children are welcome. To register, call TBS at (508) 888-6870 or visit their website at www.thorntonburgess.org/index.htm.