A 242-acre stretch of forested land featuring a rare wetland ecosystem has been conserved as “forever wild” near Maidstone Lake in the Northeast Kingdom.
The new Hawk’s Nest Preserve hugs Dutton Pond and a neighboring poor fen, the latter of which is home to carnivorous plants like the sundew as well as the rare white-fringed orchid.
Poor fens are wetlands that form over many, many years and are rich in peat.
Northeast Wilderness Trust holds the conservation easement for the property. CEO Jon Leibowitz says these uncommon ecosystems are rich in biodiversity.
“One of the things that makes a poor fen special and rare is that the kind of base of it is made up of sphagnum moss,” Leibowitz said. “And over time, that forms a lot of peat, which is important for many reasons, but one of them is that it stores an immense amount of carbon.”
As the sphagnum moss grows, it creates a carpet-like surface. The water in poor fens is very acidic and oxygen poor, so that when the moss dies, it doesn’t break down, but rather builds up over many years to become peat.
“These are carbon sinks,” Leibowitz said. “They're just soaking up so much carbon.”
By some estimates, peatlands like this poor fen cover just 3% of earth’s surface but may store more carbon than all of the planet’s forests. And yet most are not protected from development.
Poor fens in Vermont are also critical habitat for wildlife, like the four-toed salamander and mink frog.
Leibowitz says this fen and the block of forest that surrounds it sit within a roughly 100,000-acre stretch of contiguous woods running across Vermont and New Hampshire.
These forest blocks allow wildlife and plants to migrate and are expected to be increasingly important as Vermont’s flora and fauna adapt to climate change.
Northeast Wilderness Trust secured the property through a donation from Carolyn and Ellen Mulliken. Carolyn’s brother Keith Fox purchased the land in the 1950s.
"My brother purchased this land in Maidstone, Vermont, with the intention of creating safe habitat for the wild animals of the area,” Mulliken said. “Following his death, it became more difficult to properly oversee the property.”
Northeast Wilderness Trust will manage the property under a “forever wild” easement. This means extractive timber harvests will never be allowed, and the nonprofit does not plan to build trails, though it will be open to the public for bushwhacking and hunting.
While Vermont is about 80% forested, Leibowitz estimates only about 3% of the state’s landscape is managed as forever wild.
“Because of the commitment to not managing and not logging the property, we are essentially laying down the roots for tomorrow's old growth forests,” Leibowitz said.
