Skip to main content

Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests

Get our e-news! Sign up

small nav

  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Staff
    • Board of Trustees
    • Our History
    • Employment
    • Conservation Center
    • FAQs
    • Partners
    • Business Members
    • Annual Reports
    • Bylaws
    • Policies
  • log in
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Main menu

  • What we do
    • Land Conservation
    • Education & Events
    • Advocacy
    • Forestry & Recreation
    • News & Features
    • Forest Notes & More Publications
  • Current Projects
    • Mahoosuc Highlands, Shelburne
    • Forest Society North at The Rocks Campaign
    • Build Creek Farm Restrooms, Portsmouth
    • Mount Major Stewardship Fund
    • Recent Accomplishments
  • Visit & Explore
    • The Rocks
    • Conservation Center
    • Mount Major
    • Creek Farm
    • Forest Reservation Guide
    • Visitor Use Guidelines
  • Get Involved
    • Upcoming Events
    • Membership/Renewal
    • Support Our Work
    • Volunteer
    • Subscribe to E-news
  • Search

Search form

Donate
Menu
  1. What we do
  2. Land Conservation
  3. Regional Initiatives
  4. Merrimack River Watershed

News

  • Forest Society Celebrates Earth Day at Mt Major

    Kelly Whalen
    April 11, 2023

    Love Mt. Major? Help keep it clean!

  • 100+ Acres in Allenstown Protected Forever Thanks to Trowbridge-Bonk Family & Forest Society Supporters

    February 23, 2023

    The Bonk-Trowbridge family generously donated the conservation easement and will retain ownership of the land.

    Read more
  • Welcoming All to the Floodplain

    Anna Berry
    November 10, 2022

    Use a new QR code to access the messages in multiple languages.

Merrimack River Watershed

A river at sunset winds past a former mill building in Lowell.

ABOUT THE WATERSHED

From its start in Franklin, N.H., 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. The Merrimack River watershed — the land area that ultimately drains to the river — totals about 3,275 square miles or 2.1 million acres, divided almost evenly between New Hampshire (54%) and Massachusetts (46%). Despite being highly developed, the Merrimack Valley still contains critical terrestrial and aquatic habitats and contributes to the larger Gulf of Maine marine ecosystem. The watershed’s 2.6 million residents directly depend on the Merrimack watershed for drinking water, local food and forest products, and close-to-home outdoor recreation.

ABOUT THE MERRIMACK CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP

In 2010 the Merrimack River was identified by the US Forest Service as “one of the most threatened watersheds in the nation” in terms of projected loss of private forest land over the next twenty years. This designation inspired a broad partnership of environmental organizations and public agencies in New Hampshire and Massachusetts 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 Merrimack Conservation Partnership 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.

ABOUT THE CONSERVATION PLAN

The Merrimack Conservation Plan is the final product of two years of effort by the Merrimack Conservation Partnership, representing 33 private organizations and public agencies in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In early 2012, this broad partnership committed itself to an ambitious effort to develop a conservation plan that would focus and accelerate land conservation in the Merrimack River watershed of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Working together, the group developed a science-driven, consensus land conservation plan that integrates the best-available natural resource data with expert judgement to prioritize land protection to protect water quality (especially drinking water supplies), preserve aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, conserve the region's working farms and forests, and provide recreational open space.

a map of the Merrimack River watershed conservation focus area

MORE RESOURCES

Maps

Conservation Focus Areas Map (conservation land not shown) (9.5 MB PDF)
Conservation Focus Areas Map (conservation land shown) (9.5 MB PDF) - see above

GIS shapefiles

Conservation Focus Areas (2.9 MB ZIP file)
Study Area Boundary (595 KB ZIP file)

Data tables

Population, Land Use and Conservation Status (171 KB ZIP file)
Water Supply Lands, Population Served and Conservation Status (50 KB ZIP file)

Merrimack Valley
Clean Water
Land Conservation
A winding blue river passes the small houses and red barns that make up Franklin, New Hampshire.
Franklin, New Hampshire, where the Pemigewasset River (Left) and Winnipesaukee River (right) converge to form the Merrimack River. (Photo: Jerry Monkman)
Blue river lined by trees on one side and gray buildings on the other.
A wastewater treatment plant on the banks of the Merrimack River in Concord, New Hampshire. (Photo: Jerry Monkman)
A river at sunset winds past a former mill building in Lowell.
A historic mill building on the Merrimack River in Lowell, Massachusetts. (Photo: Jerry Monkman)
A river runs underneath interstate 93 with mountains in the background.
I-93 crosses the Merrimack River in Hooksett, New Hampshire. (Photo: Jerry Monkman)

Download the Forest Society Mobile App, powered by OuterSpatial

Available on the App Store
Get it on Google Play

Footer menu

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
Land Trust Alliance accreditation logo