LONDONDERRY — Local and state conservation officials are another step closer to making the Musquash Conservation Area a haven for endangered rabbits.

With the Town Council's blessings, the goal is to begin clearing a 28-acre section of the conservation area sometime this coming winter, according to Heidi Holman, a wildlife biologist with the state Fish and Game Department.

“This has been a long time coming,” Holman said this week.

State wildlife officials approached the Londonderry Conservation Commission several years ago in hopes of establishing a habitat for the endangered New England cottontail in the town.

Holman said the species, which is often confused with the much more common Eastern cottontail, has been on the decline in recent years, with only eight known habitats in the state.

Since the rare bunnies rely on dense thickets to protect them from predators, many of them have fallen victim to forest succession, overdevelopment and an increase in the population of natural predators such as coyotes and foxes.

Statewide, the overall goal is to eventually develop a combined 2,000 acres of habitat, with those areas to be initially populated by bunnies from a captive breeding program.

Regular maintenance would need to be done on the new habitat, with the area needing to be cleared around every five years to prevent the shrub land from becoming a forest again.

The goal, state wildlife officials noted, is to keep the brush at a maximum of 10 feet tall in the highest areas.

Three sections of the Musquash totaling 60 acres, all located near Faucher Road by the Litchfield town line, have been identified as potential rabbit habitat.

Emma Carcagno of the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension said the area is an ideal place to build habitats since it's already protected as a conservation area.

Working closely with Town Forester Charlie Moreno, state and town officials said the project would fund itself via sales of the lumber created by necessary tree clearing.

“This will come at no cost (to the town) and will actually even create revenue,” Holman said.

“Creating this type of habitat can appear pretty dramatic at first, as a lot of tree cutting has to be done,” Carcagno added. “But with over 100 species of New Hampshire wildlife known to thrive in shrub land habitats, there will be so many benefits.”

Conservation Commission Chairman Deb Lievens said she and other conservation officials visited the habitat site last week.

Lievens said there were some initial concerns about where exactly the trees might be cleared but after delving more into the process, she anticipates no problems.

“It's a three-part process, and the northernmost section will be completed first,” said Lievens, adding that additional grant funding might be available through the New England Cottontail Restoration program.

Additional clearing on the two remaining sections probably won't be done for at least another five years, she said.

aguilmet@newstote.com