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- Clean Water,
- Climate,
- Advocacy
From its start in Franklin, NH, the Merrimack flows through eight of New Hampshire’s ten largest cities, including Manchester, Nashua, and Concord. The river continues into Massachusetts, running through Lowell and Lawrence to its mouth at Newburyport. (Photo: Ellen Kenny)
The Merrimack Conservation Partnership — a regional conservation alliance formed to protect the southern portion of the greater Merrimack River watershed in New Hampshire and Massachusetts through accelerated land and water protection, advocacy, restoration, outreach, and education — is hard at work updating its Merrimack Conservation Plan from 2014. The Forest Society is one of the conservation partners.
In 2010, the Merrimack River was identified by the US Forest Service as “one of the most threatened watershed in the nation” in terms of projected loss of private forest land over the next 20 years. This designation inspired a broad partnership of environmental organizations and public agencies in to embark on an ambitious effort to develop a conservation plan that would focus and accelerate land conservation in the Merrimack River watershed. Working together, the group developed a science-driven, consensus based, land conservation plan that integrates the best-available natural resource data with expert judgment to prioritize land protection in the Merrimack River valley.
The bi-state team of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and outreach specialists are partnering with local governments and community-based organizations within the focal communities of Manchester and Nashua, New Hampshire and Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts to inform planning and to amplify community needs and priorities related to conservation and environmental justice issues as the partners work to update the plan. This will build a shared vision for conservation that reflects community and ecological priorities in the Merrimack River Watershed, so that people and nature can thrive, according to TNC's Merrimack River Current e-newsletter about the project. (Subscribe here!)
In December, TNC will hold a community conversation about the Merrimack River Watershed Conservation Plan Project in Manchester. Please share your ideas and experiences to improve the Merrimack River Watershed. They will provide community members with dinner and a $50 Visa gift card for their participation (one card per household). Interpretation services will be provided, and they ask that you please register in advance for these FREE events!
Manchester Community Conversation
Tuesday, December 3 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Community Center at St. Raphael Parish
103 Walker St., Manchester, NH
Register Here