Protecting Priority Landscapes
Forest Conservation: Clean Water and Carbon Storage
Protecting priority forestlands is an essential part of NRWA’s work to protect water resources. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the conserved forests in the Nashua River watershed, and the broader Merrimack River watershed, are among the best in the country for providing clean drinking water. Forests naturally absorb and filter rainfall, recharging wells, streams, and groundwater aquifers. They also slow the runoff of water from storms, reducing floods and erosion and creating a more stable stream flow and healthy aquatic habitat. In addition, the woods throughout our watershed provide habitat for a wide diversity of plants and animals.
Conserved forestlands are also a vital nature-based solution to mitigating the impact of climate change. Forests sequester carbon, removing it from the atmosphere, and store carbon both in the trees and the soil. The Northeast and Northwest have the highest above- and below-ground carbon sequestration in the United States. In the Nashua River watershed, one of the most important climate mitigation strategies is to stop the conversion of forest land to non-forest land uses and increase forest cover. Maximizing forest cover is critical to addressing both the core causes and impacts of climate change. Read more about NRWA’s work to use nature-based solutions to address climate change.
Wild & Scenic Forest Legacy Project
The NRWA is currently working closely with the Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit River Wild & Scenic Stewardship Council, the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation, and local partners on a project that will protect 20 tracts of priority lands in nine communities, 2,098 acres, funded by a US Forest Service Forest Legacy Program grant of $8,600,000. Tracts chosen to be included in this project were selected because they adjoin or provide key linkages between conserved properties, with 80% of the tracts being state-designated priority habitat. The project area is the largest habitat in the northeast US for one state-listed species, the Blanding’s turtle. Twelve of the tracts are designated climate resilient by The Nature Conservancy. Four of the nine municipalities in the project have Environmental Justice (EJ) populations that will benefit by the protection of these tracts. The project area is within commuting distance of 3 metropolitan hubs with a combined population of 6.3 million, and under intense development pressure. Forest Legacy is a highly competitive national program with projects across the country ranked by the USFS to prioritize available funding. This “Nashua Wild & Scenic Rivers and Forests” project ranked 6th in the nation, an acknowledgment of the value in conserving these lands. For updates, visit wildandscenicnashuarivers.org.
Prior to this project, the NRWA worked with partners to complete two Forest Legacy Projects. One project protected 1,162 acres of priority forestlands in Ashburnham, Ashby, Fitchburg, and Westminster. The second protected approximately 2,000 acres of forests in Ashburnham, Ashby, Fitchburg, and New Ipswich, NH.
