Salem NH Hopes To Start Work Soon On Rail Trail

Bicycle, Pedestrian Path Will Be Part Of 80-Mile Trail

SALEM, N.H. -- Work is expected to start soon to clear the way for a bicycle and pedestrian trail along a former railroad track in southern New Hampshire.

The work in Salem will be part of an 80-mile rail trail from Lawrence, Mass., to Lebanon, N.H.
The Eagle-Tribune reported that the town and New Hampshire Department of Transportation still need to negotiate agreements for use of the former Boston & Maine Railroad tracks.

Salem selectmen voted Monday to finalize the details with the state.

The rail trail, proposed more than a decade ago, extends 5.1 miles through Salem. The trail passes through Windham, Derry and Londonderry.

Source: http://www.wmur.com/news/31036066/detail.html#ixzz1uTXIOG5y 


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Salem rail trail work could finally start soon

By Doug Ireland

SALEM — There's hope at the end of the trail for a local project that's been years in the making.

Work is expected to begin soon to clear the way for Salem's portion of a bicycle and pedestrian trail that would someday extend about 80 miles from Lawrence to Lebanon.

But first, the town and state Department of Transportation need to negotiate agreements for use of the former Boston & Maine Railroad tracks.

Salem selectmen voted unanimously Monday to authorize Town Manager Keith Hickey to finalize the details with the state.

The rail trail, proposed more than a decade ago, extends 5.1 miles through Salem. The trail passes through Windham, Derry and Londonderry as well.

The Nevada-based Iron Horse Preservation Society has offered to remove part of the old track and would start when given the word, Salem community development director William Scott said.

The nonprofit organization of train enthusiasts volunteers its services, funding the work through the sale of old tracks and equipment for the preservation of historic railroads.

The group has been working on the rail trail in Methuen.

But negotiating the necessary agreements could take a while, according to David Topham of the Salem Bike-Ped Corridor Committee.

Approval is needed from the DOT, the attorney general's office and the Executive Council, he said.

Topham is optimistic, but the big question that remains is when work would begin.

"We don't feel there is any major obstacle at all," he said. "It just takes a while to push the paperwork through."

Windham and Derry are mostly done with their portions of the trail, he said. Scott said he will meet with Windham officials in the next week.

Londonderry is early in the process. The project will be funded through a $1.27 million federal transportation grant requiring a 20 percent local match. Salem must raise roughly $220,000 through private sources, Topham said.

"The town is basically looking for the funds to come up with the match money," he said. "The money is not coming from the taxpayers."

Linda Harvey, also a member of the Salem Bike-Ped Corridor Committee, has been pushing for the project since 1999. She said she will be glad when work finally begins.

"I will be relieved to see something happening," Harvey said.

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Source: http://www.eagletribune.com/newhampshire/x241727125/Salem-rail-trail-work-could-finally-start-soon


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May is National Bike Month

		Dear Reader, Celebrate National Bike Month with the Sierra Club. Tell Congress and your governor: Americans want safer bike options to break our addiction to oil! May is National Bike Month. And as a friend told me yesterday, "Biking feels like flying!" It's true: On a bike, you can smell the flowers, feel the wind in your face, beat the traffic, and help the climate. Everyone deserves access to clean, affordable transportation choices like biking -- but many communities don't have the infrastructure they need to safely replace car trips with biking. With your help, we can do better. Celebrate Bike Month with the Sierra Club by telling Congress and your governor: Our communities need safe biking options. What happens when a community gets safe biking options? Well, thanks to a Department of Transportation pilot program, several communities in Missouri, California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have seen more bikers and pedestrians, safer streets, and an estimated savings of 7,701 tons of climate pollution every year since 2010. 1 Biking isn't just fun -- it also beats paying $4 at the pump. If American drivers traded just one weekly four-mile car trip for a bike ride, we'd save $4.6 billion and 2 billion gallons of gas every year. Tens of thousands of Americans will spend a little extra time on their bikes for National Bike Month, and I hope you'll join them. Start by letting decision makers know: We need safer biking infrastructure. Tell Congress and your governor about these successes, and let them know: We need them to work with transportation officials for safer, climate-friendly transportation options. We're proud to be partnering with the League of American Bicyclists, the National Council of La Raza, and other allies to make Bike Month a big success. Join us by contacting our elected leaders today -- and then hop on a bike for a new look at your community. Thanks for all you do for our environment, Ann Mesnikoff Sierra Club Green Transportation Director [1] LaHood, Ray. "National Bike Month, a good time to put on your helmet and saddle up." U.S. Department of Transportation. Web. 01 May 2012.

Striped bass make their return to Plum Island

By David RogersStaff writer

NEWBURYPORT — It wasn't exactly as easy as shooting fish in a barrel, but those angling for striped bass Sunday were in luck, as schools of the immensely popular game fish were spotted along the shorelines over the weekend.

Stripers were so plentiful Sunday that, according to Surfland Bait and Tackle's Kay Moulton, they were pushing bait fish toward the beaches.

Unfortunately, those hoping to catch a little of that action yesterday weren't as fortunate. For some reason, the stripers were far and few in between, Moulton said.

"I'm afraid we told everybody, 'You should have been here yesterday,'" she said.

Regardless, the sight of so many bass over the weekend leaves little doubt that the striper season has returned to the Greater Newburyport area, more than a week earlier than normal.

On Sunday, fishermen crowded beaches along Plum Island, and others launched their small craft in the Merrimack River from a mobbed Cashman Park.

"It's all starting to happen: more boats, more people," Newburyport harbormaster Paul Hogg said yesterday.

Stripers are one of the most popular game fish in the region, drawing hundreds of fishermen to the area's most popular fishing spots: the mouth of the Merrimack River, Plum Island Beach, Deer Island in Amesbury and Joppa Flats in Newburyport. They can grow to almost 5 feet long, and their meat is highly prized by fish lovers.

Moulton and Hogg agreed that the striped bass season is starting a little early this season. Typically, the fish swim up the Atlantic coastline from their spawning grounds in Chesapeake Bay, near Maryland and Virginia, and into the region by mid-May.

Both believe that warmer water temperatures are a main reason for the relatively early start to the season. Such an assumption was likely aided by the earlier than usual arrival of herring, the popular bait fish for stripers. The herring, called alewives, were spotted in late March by the thousands in the Parker River in Newbury, weeks earlier than expected. In late March, the temperature reached an abnormal high of around 80.

On Sunday, the bait of choice was sea worms, which Moulton said were the hottest item that day.

"Sea worms really work well in the beginning of the year," he said.

Already, a half-dozen fishermen have had their photos taken with their bass and affixed to a wall display inside Moulton's Plum Island store. According to the state's recreational saltwater fishing regulations, striped bass can be kept only if they are 28 inches or longer. The biggest striper on Moulton's bulletin board as of yesterday was a 15-pound, 4-ounce fish caught by Andy Kelley on May 3.

Richard Hogg of Crossroads Bait and Tackle in Salisbury said he heard reports of a 47-incher caught off Salisbury Beach and multiple 30-inch-plus stripers caught off Cashman Park.

"The season has been pretty good for the last couple of weeks," Hogg, father of Paul Hogg, said.

Both Richard and Paul Hogg said stripers have been traveling far inland, having been caught at the Great Stone Dam in Lawrence.

"They're following the bait," Richard Hogg said.

But Richard Hogg said that if weather reports of days of rain for the region come true, it could seriously curtail the number of stripers caught as freshwater runoff enters the saltwater sections of the river.

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Source: http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x1640788219/Striped-bass-make-their-return-to-Plum-Island

National Park Action: Sportsmen’s Heritage Act

Click Here to Send Rep. Charles Bass a Message! (Click the "Take Action" link after your legislator's name in the vote center to send your message.) Dear Reader, On Tuesday, April 17, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act which, as drafted, could allow much of the National Park System to be opened to hunting and recreational shooting. Your representative voted to not exempt national parks from this harmful legislation. Take a moment to let your representative know you are disappointed with their vote to not protect national parks! Click the "Take Action" link after your legislator's name in the vote center to send your message. The bill included language that purports to exclude national parks and national monuments from hunting and recreational shooting, but is so poorly drafted that it could result in hunting being permitted in national parks like Yellowstone and the Great Smoky Mountains. In addition, it ignores the many national park unit designations that also do not allow hunting, such as national historical parks, national military parks, national memorials, etc. The House had the opportunity to exempt units of the National Park System from the bill by voting in support of a technical clarifying amendment offered by Representative Rush Holt (NJ-12). Sadly, Mr. Holt’s amendment was rejected. The bill has now moved on to the Senate where NPCA is working to get this harmful language removed and ensure a genuine exclusion for the National Park System that does not change current law. Take Action: Please tell your representative you are disappointed to learn that they voted against Rep. Holt’s amendment on the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act which would have exempted the National Park System from the bill. It's important to let our elected officials know when they don't do the right thing for our national parks. Thank you for taking a moment to express your disappointment in your representative. Perhaps next time they will do better by voting to protect national parks. Sincerely, Elise Russell Liguori Legislative Representative  Share this on Facebook    Share this on Twitter

E-mail us at TakeAction@npca.org, write to us at 777 6th Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001, or call us at 800.NAT.PARK (800.628.7275). Can't see this message? View it on the NPCA Website.

NPCA | 777 6th Street, NW | Suite 700 | Washington, DC 20001 | 800.NAT.PARK | npca@npca.org

Dog Pulls Unconscious Owner From Train's Path

SHIRLEY, Mass. -- A pit bull named Lilly is being hailed a hero after she pulled her unconscious owner from the path of a freight train last weekend.

An engineer of a westward-bound freight train saw a dog pulling a woman away from the tracks in the early hours of May 4 in Shirley. The engineer tried to stop, but couldn't avoid hitting the 8-year-old dog.

The woman, identified as Christine Spain, wasn't hurt, but the train's wheels sliced through Lilly's right foot, fractured her pelvis in multiple locations and caused other internal injuries.

When EMTs arrived at the scene, Lilly was covered in blood but still standing guard over her owner, who had collapsed next to the tracks while walking home from a friend’s house.

The dog was initially taken to an emergency animal hospital in Acton, and she was then taken by Spain's son, Boston police Officer David Lanteigne, to Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston.

Lanteigne said he had adopted the dog for his mother three years before, and Lilly's companionship helped curb her drinking.

"Lilly's recovery from this horrific ordeal is my top priority right now and I'll do everything possible to get her back home to us," he said.

Lilly is undergoing extensive treatment at MSPCA-Angell. To make a donation to Lilly's care and treatment, click here.

Source: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/31027600/detail.html