FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Richard Ober
August 12, 2005 (603) 357-0600
GRANT WILL SUPPORT ASHUELOT RIVER WATERSHED
LAND CONSERVATION PLAN
(KEENE)—The Monadnock Conservancy has been awarded a $4,000 grant from the Connecticut River Joint Commissions (CRJC) Partnership Program to support its work implementing a Land Conservation Plan for the Ashuelot River Watershed. A joint effort of the Monadnock Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy of New Hampshire, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and the Southwest Region Planning Commission, the Plan was produced in 2004. By encouraging permanent land protection agreements, it will have lasting and tangible benefits to water quality, wildlife habitat, and recreation within the 25 towns of the watershed.
The Plan outlines a vision for the watershed that reads in part, “The special habitats and river resources representing the unique natural heritage of the Ashuelot River Watershed are protected within a landscape of well-managed forests, agricultural lands, and natural areas. People use these interdependent resources in ways that maintain the native plants, animals, and natural communities of the region and the natural processes that sustain them.”
In 2005, the CRJC awarded grants totaling $85,000 to 26 projects in the Connecticut River Watershed in New Hampshire and Vermont. This project will further several of the criteria identified for the CRJC Connecticut River Corridor Management Plan, especially conservation of habitat and special places, protection of riparian areas, and encouragement of passive recreation.
Created by their respective state legislatures in 1987 and 1988, New Hampshire’s Connecticut River Valley Resource Commission and Vermont’s Connecticut River Watershed Advisory Commission have met together as the Joint Commissions since 1989. Their mission is to preserve and protect the resources of the Connecticut River Valley and guide its growth and development, by engaging local leadership and focusing resources to benefit the River and the people of its Valley. Visit www.crjc.org for more information about the Joint Commissions and their mission.
Founded in 1989, the Monadnock Conservancy is a non-profit land conservation organization that serves 35 towns in southwestern New Hampshire. Its mission is to identify, promote, and actively seek protection of significant natural, aesthetic, and historic resources in the Monadnock Region; and to monitor and enforce the protection of lands in the trust. Visit www.monadnockconservancy.org for more information about the Conservancy’s land protection efforts.
