With southeastern NH facing ever-increasing development pressure, it is essential that communities have the resources they need to identify and preserve their most important natural resources.
To that end, MMRG has partnered with other state and regional
conservation organizations to develop the first science-based
comprehensive plan that evaluates the conservation merits
of the state’s entire coastal watershed.
The plan will utilize cutting-edge GIS modeling and analysis to recommend conservation priorities. Local experts will review and refine the outcomes, ensuring that the plan reflects local knowledge.
The resulting plan will serve as a critical resource for helping communities to prioritize potential parcels for preservation by identifying those that possess drinking water supplies, significant wildlife habitat, large intact forest blocks, large wetland complexes, and pristine headwater streams. This coastal watershed map and accompanying analysis will enable local communities and land conservation organizations to better understand how local activities fit into a larger regional conservation network.
Moose Mountains Regional Greenways will assist the effort by providing the GIS data and field results from the organization’s wetlands evaluation, completed in 2004. The Coastal Watershed Land Conservation Plan is spearheaded by the Society for the Protection of NH Forests, The Nature Conservancy and Strafford and Rockingham Regional Planning Commissions, with funding provided by the NH Coastal Program and the NH Estuaries Project.
“This initiative will put a wealth of science-based natural resource data at our finger-tips,” said Moose Mountain’s new Executive Director Cynthia Belowski. “This information will be invaluable as we work with our community partners to conserve land throughout the Moose Mountains region.”
Representatives from the six Moose Mountains communities of Brookfield, Farmington, Middleton, Milton, New Durham and Wakefield are encouraged to get involved by attending the Spring 2006 information session. Be watching this website, www.mmrg.info, for date, time and place. The meeting will seek local input on proposed conservation priority areas, recommendations, and implementation strategies. The final plan is scheduled to be completed by June 2006. For more information about the plan, contact Cynthia Copeland, Executive Director of Strafford Regional Planning Commission at cjc@strafford.org or call 603-742-2523.
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