Conservation Commission

PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY FROM INVASIVE PLANTS AND INSECTS! Join us Tuesday evening, November 8 at 7 PM at Troy Library when Steve Roberge, Cheshire County's Extension Forester, will discuss threats of invasive plants to your property. Mr. Roberge will focus on the invasive BUCKTHORN that is infesting our fields, forests, ponds and roadsides.  Buckthorn can grow 8 feet to 10 feet per year and quickly overtake any area.

Exotic invasive plants are replacing native plants in many forests and fields throughout our region. At the same time, exotic invasive insects have the potential to impact our native plants and trees in our forests.  What do these invasive plants and insects look like?  What impact do invasive plants, such as common buckthorn, autumn olive and multiflora rose, have on wildlife habitat?  What impacts do invasive plants have on native plant populations?

This is a great workshop for those who wish to learn how to identify invasive plants and insects that threaten our forests and native plant diversity.
   
The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Your Conservation Commission provides this gentle reminder that respect for, and preservation of, our natural resource heritage is everyone’s responsibility.  Don’t just leave it for someone else to do!  Only you can promote responsible conservation!  We generally meet the second Tuesday of each month at 6 PM at the Library, and residents are welcome to attend.
The New Hampshire Coverts Project trains volunteers to promote wildlife habitat conservation and forest stewardship.  UNH Cooperative Extension, in cooperation with the NH Fish and Game Department, NH Division of Forests and Lands, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, is looking for landowners and others committed to wildlife conservation and forest stewardship. If you have time in your schedule for a training workshop, and approximately 40 hours of volunteer outreach during the coming year (it may be volunteer work you are already doing), then you are  invited to complete an application as soon as possible.  Enrollment is open until all slots are filled.

It’s time for Troy Roadside Cleanup Day, our Spring Pick-Up Campaign, with the familiar Blue Bags!  This year, we plan to kick off a continuing process, as trash pick-up will be ongoing throughout the summer and fall. 

    Lynn Estep-Goodridge, member of the Troy Conservation Commission, has again taken on the challenge of coordinating this event, in cooperation with Jim Dicey. 

    The blue bags are available at TOWN HALL (Town Clerk) and the TRANSFER STATION, for individuals, groups, and neighborhood organizations.  If every neighborhood got together and took care of their street, the job would be that much easier!

    For further information on getting Blue Bags, please call Lynn at 242-7776.  Full bags can be left on the side of the road for pick-up by state and town road crews.    Every single Blue Bag collected makes a difference, making Troy a better, cleaner town for all of us!

Many residents who attended the annual Town Meeting last month took the opportunity to view the Conservation Commission’s four large framed maps, mounted on easels, and the complete bound book of maps from our Phase I Natural Resources Inventory [NRI]. Available in the Selectmen’s Office and in the Conference Room at the library for all to see, they provide comprehensive identification, description, and compilation of our town’s existing natural resources data. They serve as a basis for community outreach and education, to be used as a planning tool for future site-specific assessments and recommendations.

Our Conservation Commission is now hard at work on completing the Phase II NRI. This process will develop, document and refine a parcel-based ecological assessment, including field-based analyses, as it relates to preserving open space for recreation, water resources, conservation and wildlife for future generations.

We are also seeking to leverage our modest financial resources by applying for matching grants, as with a proposal recently submitted to the Monadnock Community Conservation Partnership [MCCP].

Your Conservation Commission is pleased to announce that four large maps depicting Phase I of Troy’s Natural Resources Inventory [NRI] are now on display in the meeting room at Gay-Kimball Library.  We particularly wish to express our heartfelt thanks to Evan John for his outstanding service and generous contribution in framing the maps, and to Library Director Catherine Callegari for coordinating their display.  These will be especially appreciated by town residents who are now able to view and examine the graphical data in such a direct, accessible, and tangible manner.  These maps, along with several others from Phase I NRI, can be viewed in a large binder for public use at the Selectmen’s Office (outside on table). Remember, conserving land reduces our taxes FOREVER.

A Conservation Training Course is being offered by the Monadnock Community Conservation Partnership on four consecutive Thursday evenings in late March – early April.  The course will explore answers to such questions as:

What is land conservation?
How can it benefit my town and its landowners?

“The Little Red Hen” is a folk tale many of us remember from… well, it wasn’t that long ago!  Here’s one version:

Once upon a time, there was a little red hen who lived on a farm.  She was friends with a lazy dog, a sleepy cat, and a noisy yellow duck.

One day the little red hen found some seeds on the ground.  The little red hen had an idea.  She would plant the seeds.  The little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me plant the seeds?"  "Not I," barked the lazy dog.  "Not I," purred the sleepy cat.  "Not I," quacked the noisy yellow duck.  "Then I will," said the little red hen.  So the little red hen planted the seeds all by herself.

When the seeds had grown, the little red hen asked her friends, "Who will help me cut the wheat?"  "Not I," barked the lazy dog.  "Not I," purred the sleepy cat.  "Not I," quacked the noisy yellow duck.  "Then I will," said the little red hen.  So the little red hen cut the wheat all by herself.

Another year is beginning for the Lions.  We are looking forward to a great year! Lucille Decatur, a member of our Club, is now the District Governor for District 44N.  We know it will be a great year for Lucille.  She has chosen “Community at Heart” for her theme this year.  Our Club hopes to get together with other groups in the Community and work with them. 
On Friday July 23rd the club was on the common in Troy selling dinners of our delicious chicken BBQ.  We had a great attendance and wish to thank everyone for that.  In August our members sold tickets at Gate 5 at the Cheshire Fair along with the Monadnock Club in Marlborough.  I noticed many familiar faces. 
Next month we will have more information about our Annual Holiday Basket Auction. 
Please contact any member of our club if you are in need of eyeglasses or hearing aids.  We welcome guests to attend our monthly meetings and find out what Lionism  does in your Community.

    A full printed copy of Troy’s new Natural Resources Inventory, Phase I, with accessory maps, is now available for public inspection at the Gay-Kimball Library.  Completion of this comprehensive and informative document establishes the groundwork in meeting the Conservation Commission’s state mandate to index Troy’s geographical and ecological resources. 
    This serves as the basis for Phase 2 of the NRI, as approved at our Town Meeting, which will generate the fine-scale ground assessment necessary to validate specific areas of concern, such as future siting criteria for zoning practices, with computer-based maps, identifying strengths and challenges to Troy’s future growth.
    On May 15, we hit the Daily Double!  First, a well-deserved tip of the hat goes out to Marty Decatur and the Fire Department, for helping make the Conservation Commission-sponsored Annual Fishing Derby a huge success, with divine provision of beautiful weather.