The Waterman Fund is pleased to announce its 2005 recipients for alpine stewardship grants. This year's recipients represent a broad geographic range and a diversity of projects.


The Town of Waterville Valley, Curious George Cottage
The Observatory proposes an initial project with the objective to enhance the educational and interpretive material at trailhead and trail kiosks at seven locations in the Waterville Valley area in the White Mountain National Forest (see attached map). The information will be developed cooperatively with USFS staff from the Pemigewasset Ranger District and the Curious George Cottage, and will be reviewed by other partners. The educational and interpretive material will emphasize environmental features found along the trails, as well as aspects of the human relationship to the land. The panels will be designed to fit in one of the two side panels of a standard USFS kiosk. The first interpretive theme for kiosks is mountaintop ecologies. This initiative will provide information on the alpine plants and conditions in 'outcrop communities' on the craggy peaks of the western side of the Sandwich Range. These include Welch and Dickey Mountains, Sandwich and Black Mountain, Osceola, and the Tripyramids. A special emphasis will be placed on Welch and Dickey Mountains. Currently, Welch has a trailhead kiosk and two small summit kiosks in a 'recovery area' on the ledges. The Observatory proposal will work with these three existing kiosks, as well as add one additional medium-sized kiosk part way up the trail before hikers reach the ledges. The reason to put an extra emphasis on this location is both because of the heavy 'wear and tear' that this site experiences, and also because so many beginning hikers choose this route. It is an ideal location for an educational initiative designed to reach beginning hikers. The interpretive information will not only provide information on Welch's outcrop communities, but also explain their biological relationship to alpine areas on the Franconia Ridge and the Presidential Range. It would complement the direct contact provided by the Welch Summit Steward.

---

The Adirondack Mountain Club(ADK)
The Adirondack Mountain Club proposes to develop informative signage designed to educate the hiking public on the fragility and importance of the alpine zone found on the summits of New York State's sixteen tallest mountains. Signage designed to convey information on the alpine zone will protect this valuable resource by reaching those hikers whose destinations are summits that are not staffed by Summit Stewards or people who are hiking during the off season when summit stewards are not on duty. These signs will be read by many thousands of hikers every year and instill them with this knowledge that they can choose to use and increase the recovery of the alpine zone. The signage will also reinforce the message delivered by the summit stewards, when hikers do meet them at the summits of Mount Marcy or Algonquin Mountain. Effective signage will include a combination of text and graphics that explain and illustrate the plant species in need of protection, how they have been destroyed in the past, and the simple precautions hikers must use to ensure their future. We will greatly increase the effectiveness of the signage by locating them in high visibility areas, directly at the trailheads where hikers enter into the High Peaks Wilderness Area.

---

The Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC)
The project would involve hiring a Dartmouth student for a ten week summer period (approximately mid-June to late August). This student would receive training ahead of time in alpine ecology, public relations and the history of Mt. Moosilauke. The student would be responsible to: Develop educational materials and plans, both static and interactive, to be used by guests and staff at the Lodge and posted at trailheads. This could include evening programming for Lodge guests. Maintain a presence on the summit during the most heavily trafficked parts of the season. Continue previous years' efforts to focus and direct summit traffic to allow egenerating areas to continue to improve. This will be achieved primarily through outreach and only secondarily through signage and physical barriers. Maintain the privy at the Beaver Brook Shelter, the closest "sanitary facility" to the summit. Maintenance is weekly during the summer season. Continue the work done by Alpine Stewards in the last three summer seasons, in addition to expanding the work in the following specific ways: Continue pre-season outreach to the camps and school groups that have visited the mountain in the past three summers. This will include educational materials as well as an invitation to participate in trail maintenance activities on Moosilauke or nearby. Work with 2005 photomonitoring data and ATC staff to improve our photomonitoring project on the summit. I am excited about this not only to have some concrete evidence of changes in vegetation on the summit but to create the opportunity for a student to work closely with ATC staff; a relationship that will be beneficial for all. Create a volunteer steward program for the spring and fall seasons. The Alpine Steward will be charged with creating easy-to-use educational materials, recruiting volunteers for ten weekends, and sharing appropriate thanks at the end of the season.

---

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC)
The Photopoint Monitoring Project proposal aims to establish permanent photomonitoring points on the summit of Mount Moosilauke to monitor recreational impacts to alpine vegetation. Photopoint monitoring has many advantages, mainly its simplicity of use and its standardized procedure. In addition, photopoint monitoring is an effective biological monitoring technique that can detect changes in natural resources. The data collected can then be used by land managers to implement corrective actions. Photopoint monitoring is a long-term approach to natural resource management. Photopoint monitoring can show not only deterioration of the resource, but also recovery after management implementations.

Mount Moosilauke is the southernmost extent of the White Mountain summits to contain populations of alpine vegetation. The alpine community on Mount Moosilauke is limited to the summit. At an elevation of 4822 feet, Mount Moosilauke supports a number of alpine species; the alpine area also hosts species of boreal and lowland habitats. Many of the plant species associated with this environment are considered Rare, Threatened or Endangered (R,T&E) in New Hampshire due to their limited habitat outside the White Mountains. Alpine vegetation is fragile by nature and its fragility is exacerbated by shallow soils, exposure and damage by trampling.

In conjunction with the data collected through photomonitoring and rare species monitoring, management recommendations will be made and implemented to protect the vulnerable and fragile alpine vegetation. The photopoint monitoring would then be able to document the extent of recovery within the management area. It is important to note that photopoint monitoring does not allow for quantitative measurements of species composition or taxonomic identification, but rather offers a midpoint of both qualitative and quantitative assessment of site and resource conditions.