Creating Wildlife Openings in the White Mountain National Forest

Since 1946, the New Hampshire State Conservation Committee has provided Conservation License Plate funds, often referred to as Moose Plate funds, to support important conservation activities throughout the state. For 2023, the NHSCC awarded the NWTF with a $29,845 grant to restore forest openings in the White Mountain National Forest. The NWTF New Hampshire State Chapter is also providing matching funds for the work. 

Located in eastern New Hampshire and western Maine, the White Mountain National Forest is nearly 800,000 acres in size and renowned for its mountainous views, abundant forests and tremendous recreational opportunities, including turkey hunting.  

“Many species of wildlife depend on forests that are diverse in species composition, age class and habitat types,” said Matt DiBona, NWTF New England biologist. “Among these habitat types are forest openings, which can vary in size but typically range from a few acres to upwards of 20 acres. They are usually comprised of grasses, forbs and shrubs and contain few overstory trees. Despite their relatively small presence in the forest, wildlife openings are disproportionately favored by wildlife such as deer, turkey, grouse, pollinators and migratory songbirds because of the essential food resources and nesting cover they provide.”

The White Mountain National Forests wildlife management plan seeks to maintain 1% of the forestland as wildlife openings, which doesn’t sound like much, but when you consider the size of the forest, it is a lot.

“While a management objective of maintaining 1% of the forest as wildlife openings might seem easily achievable, the amount of wildlife openings available on the landscape is currently less than 1% due to various factors,” DiBona said. “Wildlife openings require periodic maintenance through mowing or the application of prescribed fire. Without active management, wildlife openings can quickly revert to a forest after just a few years, requiring more intensive equipment and at a greater financial cost.”

The Forest Service and the NWTF identified nearly 40 acres of wildlife openings on the national forests that have partially reverted to forest and require urgent restoration. 

These new funds from the NHSCC will be used to fund services and equipment that will restore up to 14 acres of the highest priority openings back to an early successional state, where they will not only provide critical habitat for New Hampshire's wildlife but will also enhance recreational opportunities for wildlife viewing, hunting and more.  

After the openings have been restored, they will be continually maintained through various forest management practices.

“The NWTF has a history of conservation success with the Forest Service throughout New England,” DiBona said. “We recently completed a similar project with Forest Service on the White Mountain National Forest last year that resulted in nearly 50 acres of wildlife opening restoration. This new funding from NHSCC sets the table to continue this effort. We are hopeful that additional funds can be secured in New Hampshire and Maine in 2023, which will ultimately result in a larger impact on the landscape.”