Government

Claremont Conservation Commission

Welcome to the Claremont Conservation Commission's page dedicated to environmental education. Here we will share information of public interest on the environment and to advertise upcoming public events sponsored or hosted by the Commission.

Monarch Waystation Refresh

On Saturday, July 13th, several members of the Claremont Conservation Commission came together to give the Monarch Waystation a much-needed refresh. The original plants have settled in nicely and have grown considerably since their installation three years ago. Volunteers cut the grass between the pollinators and removed some invaders as well as tidying up Kurt Beek's Memorial Garden.

All photos by Eric Zengota

Natural Resources Inventory

In 2013, the Conservation Commission published the Natural Resources Inventory¹ for the City. In addition to providing an inventory of the City's natural resources, it provided a list of ten ecologically significant areas in the City. In the coming months, we will use this space to hightlight each of those areas.

ECOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT AREAS (pg. 41)

The final outcome of any NRI is the identification of ecologically significant areas (ESAs) within the community. ESAs are those areas in the City that exhibit unique ecological characteristics that deserve special attention in terms of land use. This further provides a basis for informed land use planning, recognizing that some areas have high ecological value based on the various attributes present.

ESAs were identified (in Claremont) using a multitude of factors, including landscape-level and site-specific attributes. These included a combination of unfragmented lands, wildlife movement and habitat connectivity, clustering effect of significant habitats that occur in close proximity to one another, presence and distribution of focal species, wetlands of high value, presence and distribution of rare elemental occurrences (rare species and exemplary natural communities; see list of known occurrences in Appendix B), and priorities for conservation developed by the WAP. These landscape-level considerations aid in a more comprehensive approach that recognizes large-scale habitats and ecological processes within the built and natural environments.

As a result of the NRI, 11 ESAs have been identified.

Cat Hole Ecologically Significant Area (ESA #1)

ESA 1 - Cat Hole area

Largest intact forest associated with a large unfragmented block (48,723 acres) extending beyond Claremont boundary
Most diverse wildlife habitat aggregation providing excellent habitat connectivity
Largest high ranked wetland complex (high functionality for ecological integrity and wildlife habitat, maintaining water quality, high flood storage value)
Largest aggregation of high ranked wetlands
High quality headwater streams to Redwater Brook
Numerous sign of multiple focal species (moose, bear, mink, red-tailed hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, grouse)