The Ines and Frederick Yeatts Wildlife Sanctuary comprises 545 acres of habitat along Lake Tarleton Rd (Hwy 25 C) a few miles northwest of the Warren, NH town center. At the center of the Sanctuary are 100 acres of grasslands bordered by a 100-acre mountain-brook-fed wetland habitat. To the north, west, and east of the grassland, there are 345 acres of variable mid-slope mixed northern hardwoods with pine – Red Oak and hemlock woodland pockets distributed throughout. Loop trails around the border of the grassland and through the woodland to the north are in the planning stage to be developed over the Summer of 2024. A Parking Lot in the middle of the grassland was built on the east side of the road in the fall of 2023.
The Yeatts property is about 545 acres in total area and is bisected by State Hwy 25 C or Lake Tarleton Rd. The center of the property’s grassland road frontage is 1.5 miles northwest of the center of Warren, NH. An additional 65 acres of forested property extends north of the open grassland and abuts the White Mtn. National Forest at about mid-slope. To the west of the open fields, there are 165 acres of northern hardwood – pine forest property that extends uphill across Ore Hill Brook. Black Brook holds the east boundary of the open grassland. This streamside-wetland complex adds up to an edge of 30 acres of upland forest downslope west of the bisecting rail-trail, with 60 acres of wetland habitats including a mix of open wetlands, wetland shrubland and swampy Red Maple and soggy glades of oak – hemlock woodlands.
To the east of the rail-trail, accessed by a right-of-way from Pine Hill Road is a rhombus-shaped parcel of mixed pine-northern hardwood woodlands with small pockets of perched hemlock woodlands and scattered hardwood tree-shrub dominated spring-fed vernal pools. There appears to be little evidence of historical human habitation in the forest, but stone walls are found randomly along borders and crossing the sloped hillsides. There is evidence of a possible old mill site, just off the SW boundary of the property. Also, there are the possible remains of a very incomplete cellar hole in the middle of the forested slope to the north. Large glacial erratic boulders are scattered randomly across each slope, north, west, and east of the open field. The open field contains several species of grassland birds known to be in population decline throughout their range(s).
The Yeatts property includes 4,200 feet of stream frontage on both sides of the Ore Hill Brook corridor. Similarly, there are 5,300 feet of stream frontage on both sides of the Black Brook corridor. These two streams converge about 1,000 feet southeast of the property’s border and combine such that Ore Hill Brook flows into the Baker River about 2 miles downstream. The Baker River aquifer is the primary source of drinking water for the town of Warren’s water district and many of its residents who are not served directly by the water district.
The old field grassland habitat is approximately 100 acres in area and is mostly mapped as Prime Farmland Soils.
There are close to 355 acres of forested uplands which are primarily dominated by stands of Pine – Northern Hardwood Woodlands interspersed with occasional pockets of perched Hemlock and Red Maple swamps.
On the remainder of the property, an area of 90 acres comprises a tapestry of various wetland shrublands, open glades and swampy woodlands along the two streams which bisect the property. Vernal pools are found only occasionally in the forested woodlands.
The forested areas in each direction are comprised of relatively mature forests which combine White Pine, with mixed stands of large Red Oak, Yellow and Paper Birch, with Sugar Maple, Red Maple and Beech interspersed throughout. Midstory areas tend to be dominated by Beech with occasional Red Maple, cherry, birches and small oaks. Selective harvests seem to have occurred between 40 and 60 years ago depending on the section surveyed.
Visit Google Maps for location and directions.
There is a small parking lot available for seasonal access.
Photos by T. Parker Schuerman.
