A Walk in the Woods: Surveying Our Lands
Despite nearly 300 years of continuous occupation and records, the town knows
surprisingly little about town lands. Various surveys have been done to mark
habitations, land use, soil types and drainage; but most knowledge is through
oral history or family records.
If you walk any of the town conservation lands regularly, the Conservation
Commission would like to hear from you. Information on the current state of town
lands is used to benchmark land health, plan for growth, management and
conservation of resources, and provide background data for grants and policy
discussions. The more we know about our town lands, the more effective and
responsive we can be in our conservation policies and efforts.
In general, if you know of any problems (marshy or drowned trails, down trees
or obstacles, vandalism or improper trail use), please contact the Conservation
Commission at our email address (staff@atkinsonconservation.org)
with the following information:
- name of the land
- approximate location in the land (entrance, right trail, etc.)
- nature of the problem
If you are out walking on any of the trails, and have the time
and
inclination, the Commission would also like to know any details on the condition
of the property. Some of the details are in the following list. Don’t be
concerned about the daunting length of this list: it is simply a guideline
of what to look for: any and all information, detailed or not, is useful and
appreciated.
- Overall status: Is the land healthy? Cared-for? Overgrown?
In need of maintenance (watering, plant disease control, overrun…)? Pleasant?
Difficult to access?
- Type of land: flat, hilly, swampy or marshy, pine forest,
hardwood forest, meadow, wetland, manmade environment (ball field…)
- Condition of land: old growth (untouched, undeveloped),
light use, heavy use
- Access: easy/hard to reach, parking (size of parking
area), entrance ease or difficult to find, through private land, wandering
and/or confusing trail system, steep, wet or marshy paths, brambles or natural
growth barriers, hazards (downed trees, sharp rocks, trip and tangle hazards)
- Human use: dog walking, hiking, biking, ORHV, camping, picnicking, campfires
- Plants: percent wooded and type of woods (conifer, hardwood, softwood). Percent grass
and undergrowth (ground cover, mosses). Percent can be expressed as “half”, “one-third”, etc.
- Animals: insects (density and type), seen amphibians, mammals, reptiles, birds. Signs
of wildlife: trails, scat, dens or burrows.
- Boundary Markers
- Approximate Acreage
- Points of interest: old foundations, quarries, farmed areas, orchards, and
known historical points. Special land formations: glacial boulder “erratics”,
ancient beaches, outcroppings.
- Environmental changes: transition from pine to hardwood, wet to dry, unusual plants
or animals
- Special Features: Anything that sets this area apart from other town lands.