Wetlands Evaluation Project

This New Hampshire Estuaries Project (NHEP) grant funded a study to identify and evaluate significant wetlands within the six towns that comprise Moose Mountains Regional Greenways (MMRG): Brookfield, Farmington, Middleton, Milton, New Durham and Wakefield. The goals of the study were to heighten awareness of the wetland areas in each town, educate Conservation Commission members and key town officials of the functional values of each selected wetland, and provide educational outreach toward the preservation of the quality of these wetlands using proven planning tools such as outright land purchase, easements, master planning, Prime Wetland designation in zoning, wetlands of special importance in zoning and inclusion of evaluated wetlands in natural resource inventories. The project area is located on the boundary of the heavily developed southern tier of NH and contains the headwaters of several regional waterways, including twelve major stratified drift aquifers. Moose Mountains Regional Greenways, with the help of Wetlands Scientist Nancy Rendall, researched, evaluated and documented more than 60 significant wetland areas using the NH Method and used the information gathered to create maps, NH Method data sheets, and a User’s Guide to address voluntary and regulatory methods of protecting significant wetland resources. These tools, along with the final report results, were presented by Nancy Rendall and Moose Mountains Regional Greenways staff and volunteers to the Conservation Commissions of all six subject communities at workshops in each town