Active Sites & Activities

Maine: Kennebunk Plains, Wells Barren Preserve, Waterboro Barrens Preserve
New Hampshire: Ossippee Pine Barrens, Concord Pine Barrens,
Vermont: Sandbar Wildlife Management Area
Massachusetts: Linda Loring Nature Foundation, Head of the Plains, Katama Plains Conservation Area
Rhode Island: Nicholas Farm Wildlife Management Area
Connecticut: no sites presently
New York: Albany Pine Bush Preserve, Rocky Point Pine Barrens State Forest
Pennsylvania: Scotia Barrens, Sideling Hill, Big Pine Flats, Presque Isle
New Jersey: New Jersey Pine Barrens
Delaware: Nanticoke Wildlife Management Area
Maryland: Green Ridge State Forest, Pocomoke State Forest
District of Columbia: no sites presently
West Virginia: no sites presently
Virginia: no sites presently

Habitat Management

Sites are autonomous. Based on prior experience and management goals, site stewards plan management activities that fall within local constraints and take into consideration previous land use, current threats, and achievable conservation values. Across the sites shown above, a wide range of habitat management approaches are being applied.

Monitoring Activities

To track management effects, protocols for monitoring vegetation response were developed by Helen Poulos and Andrew Barton. Templates for data collection and reporting were also provided. [Learn more about the vegetation monitoring goals and approach]

To track bee communities at these unique sites, a protocol for sampling native bees was developed by Joan Milam and is maintained by Amanda Dillon. Joan Milam oversaw the identification of bees collected in 2018, and the responsibility for bee identification is now with the National Bee Inventory and Monitoring lab overseen by Sam Droege and Clare Maffei. [Learn more about the bee monitoring and approach]

Sites are known to host rare lepidoptera, and in 2021 nocturnal moths were sampled at nearly all sites with 3 bucket traps at each site. A sampling approach at this scale can not be implemented at the optimal intensity of weekly or bi-weekly visits. Instead, our protocol calls for 5 visits distributed from April to October. [Learn more about the moth monitoring and approach]

One of the distinctive characteristics of barrens sites are the soils with textures that are well-drained. We used SSURGO data to provide general soil characteristics for each site. However, in recognition of the possible link between the ground nesting bees and the soil crusts at these sites, we supplemented this data with penetrometer measurements.