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Private landowners play an important role in sustaining New Hampshire's wildlife.
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NORTHERN LONG EARED BAT FINAL RULES IN PLACE
The northern long-eared bat
(
Myotis septentrionalis) was listed as
threatened
on the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species Act on April 2, 2015, due to a dramatic decline in its' population. The northern long-eared bat is also listed as
threatened in New Hampshire
. The decline is due to white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease first observed in New York in 2006 that has spread rapidly throughout eastern and central United States. In New Hampshire, long-eared bats summer in our forests, those with tall mature deciduous trees. Females typically use dead snags or live trees with shaggy bark as maternity roosts.
Decline or loss of the northern long-eared bat is a concern.
All native species have essential niches or jobs to fill in our ecosystems. Bats, in general, eat up to half their weight in insects each night. Recent studies estimate that bats deliver $3.7 million in insect control services to agriculture, forest industries and the public each year.
Northern long-eared bats hibernate in cracks and crevices of caves and mines, called hibernacula, which have constant temperatures, high humidity and no air currents. In New Hampshire, we have very few caves and mines, so most of our bat populations migrate out of state in the fall and return in the spring. Northern long-eared bats mate in the fall and females hold onto the sperm until late winter (a strategy called delayed fertilization). Pregnant females then migrate back to summer areas where they roost in small colonies of up to 60 bats and give birth to a single pup in June and July. Adults can live 19 years or more. To learn more about bats in New Hampshire:
http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/nongame/bats-nh.html
.
What can we do for the Northern long-eared bat?
Maintaining diverse structure and age classes of trees is particularly important. A tree with loose bark is ideal for roosting habitat. In your woodland, where possible and not a safety hazard, leave large, older trees that are dead or dying and that provide loose bark, crevices and cavities for roosting and that may house maternity colonies. (Many other crevice and cavity-dependent creatures will also benefit.)
What should you know if you are planning a forestry operation in a potential northern long-eared bat maternity area? The US Fish and Wildlife Service has put together an easy to use questionnaire to help you:
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UPDATE TO DUTY OF CARE LAW
Effective, January 1, 2016, New Hampshire's Duty of Care law (RSA 212:34) now includes a new paragraph (VIII). The addition states that outdoor recreational activities have risk and those that participate in them accept these risks, dangers, and hazards regardless of who owns the land on which they are recreating. This clarification is good news for landowners and their insurance providers that have concerns about liability.
"VIII. It is recognized that outdoor recreational activities may be hazardous. Therefore, each person who participates in outdoor recreational activities accepts, as a matter of law, the dangers inherent in such activities, and shall not maintain an action against an owner, occupant, or lessee of land for any injuries which result from such inherent risks, dangers, or hazards. The categories of such risks, hazards, or dangers which the outdoor recreational participant assumes as a matter of law include, but are not limited to,k the following: variations in terrain, trails, paths, or roads, surface or subsurface snow or ice conditions, bare spots, rocks, trees, stumps, and other forms of forest growth or debris, structures on the land, equipment not in use, pole lines, fences, and collisions with other objects or persons."
Read the law here:
Please contact your legal representative for interpretations on how these laws apply to
your particular land and situation.
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REPORT WILDLIFE CRIME
Protect New Hampshire's natural resources - report wildlife law violators!
Operation Game Thief is a silent witness, anti-poaching program that encourages the public to report any suspicious activity or knowledge about a poaching violation.
Report Violations: 1-800-344-4262 or www.nhogt.org.
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SIGN HIGHLIGHT: CAUTION WORK AREA
This sign is used to let outdoor recreationists know that there are workers in the area (i.e. logging operation or home construction).
How to get this sign: Download the Operation Land Share participation agreement form and mail in with your request,
www.wildnh.com/landshare.
If you're already enrolled in the program, just call or email with your request, 603-271-1137, [email protected].
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