Blue Hill Savanna Restoration

The goal of this project is to work with the USFWS to improve oak savanna habitat based on pre-European settlement conditions to support a variety of wildlife including deer, wild turkey, red-headed woodpecker, Blanding's turtles and other species dependent on this habitat. Savannas are a globally imperiled ecosystem and most have been lost or degraded due to fire suppression and direct conversion to agriculture or development. With this decline in habitat, many species associated with savanna are also declining. This project will restore a degraded savanna by cleaning up the understory which will include: removing most dead and downed trees, brush removal, planting native forbs and grasses. Other management activities will include tree thinning operations, invasive species eradication, and planting bur oak seedlings in a restored grassland. Management activities that mimic natural processes (i.e. fire) will be implemented in this area through time to maintain savanna habitat.