The Merrimack Conservation Partnership (MCP) announced the 2024 recipients of its twelfth round of Land Conservation Grants, which help underwrite conservation projects that protect the ecologically important Merrimack Valley Watershed region of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In the latest grant round, the MCP awarded grants totaling $116,304 to eleven projects that will conserve a total of approximately 1,543 acres of land. The total value of the land to be protected in these latest grant rounds is conservatively estimated at $10.4 million.

In 2010, the Merrimack was identified by the US Forest Service as the most threatened watershed in the nation in terms of projected loss of private forestland over the next 20 years. The two-state region of the Merrimack Watershed spans a total of 2.1 million acres and 3,275 square miles of which 54% is in New Hampshire and 46% in Massachusetts. The Merrimack River starts in Franklin, New Hampshire and flows through eight of New Hampshire’s largest cities, then continues through Massachusetts to its mouth at Newburyport.

Launched in 2012, the Merrimack Conservation Partnership is a collaborative effort of private organizations and public agencies working on land conservation in the Merrimack Valley Watershed. The partners share a vision of conserving (on a strictly willing-seller/donor basis) the region’s most ecologically significant forests and the key connections between them for wildlife passage and human recreation.

The Merrimack Conservation Partnership Land Conservation Grants program underwrites transaction costs—appraisals, surveys, title research, staff time, etc.—on conservation transactions that protect land identified in the Merrimack Valley Regional Conservation Plan.

Below is a list of the 2024 grant recipients and a brief description of each of their projects.

Great Meadow – Follansbee Parcel in New Boston, NH

Applicant:  Piscataquog Land Conservancy
Acres to be conserved:  294
Protection Method:  Land Purchase
MCP Grant Award:  $27,434
Estimated Total Project Cost:  $536,750

Piscataquog Land Conservancy has entered into an agreement to purchase in fee 250+/- acres that comprise the last remaining unprotected shoreline of the Great Meadow in New Boston, NH. The acquisition will protect prime wetlands, including fourteen confirmed vernal pools, forest and agricultural soils, and a 6,150-foot riparian corridor along Buxton Brook. Once the parcel is placed into conservation, the entire area will encompass roughly 650 acres of unfragmented protected land with only one scenic road cutting through it. There are many recreational opportunities available to the public in and around this parcel, including an existing trail network on-site, which is used for hiking, biking, and snowshoeing and provides excellent opportunities for birdwatching, wildlife observation and fishing.

Baldpate Hill in Georgetown, MA

Applicant:  Essex County Greenbelt Association
Acres to be conserved:  75
Protection Method:  Land Purchase
MCP Grant Award:  $7,796
Estimated Total Project Cost:  $957,000

Essex County Greenbelt Association is partnering with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation to permanently protect 75 forested acres of land at Baldpate Hill in Georgetown, MA through a bargain sale. Acquisition of this property will expand Greenbelt’s existing 17-acre Baldpate Hill Reservation and ensure that its prime forestland, rare species habitat, wetlands and wellhead protection areas will be forever managed and protected. This project will also offer the opportunity to create public access to a previously landlocked conservation area and creation of recreational trails.

Society of Saint John the Evangelist South in West Newbury, MA

Applicant: Essex County Greenbelt Association
Acres to be conserved: 28
Protection Method: Land Purchase
MCP Grant Award: $4,422
Estimated Total Project Cost: $892,500

Essex County Greenbelt Association is working with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation to permanently protect 28 acres of land in West Newbury, owned by the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. Successful acquisition of this land will ensure that its critical natural landscape, multi-town drinking water supply, wetlands and prime forests will be forever protected. In addition, it will expand upon the adjacent Artichoke River Woods, a 45-acre Greenbelt property, to create a contiguous 70-acre conservation area with 2,500 feet of frontage along the Artichoke River. An existing trail network—free and open to all—accessed through the Artichoke River Woods conservation area will enhance public access.

Lake Massabesic Watershed Protection Conservation Easements in Auburn, NH

Applicant: Southeast Land Trust
Acres to be conserved: 193
Protection Method: Donated Conservation Easement & Bargain Sale Conservation Easement
MCP Grant Award: $18,697
Estimated Total Project Cost: $2,156,370

The Lake Massabesic Watershed Protection project will permanently protect approximately 193 contiguous acres of critical watershed lands using two conservation easements, both held by Southeast Land Trust of NH (SELT). These easements near Little Massabesic Lake and the Lake Massabesic reservoir system protect the drinking water source of more than 159,000 New Hampshire residents.in the town of Auburn. There is a limited series of forest trails that the public is allowed to use for passive, non-motorized recreation and hunting by permit.

Sugar Bush Farm Conservation Easement in Goffstown, NH

Applicant: Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests
Acres to be conserved:  53
Protection Method: Purchased Conservation Easement
MCP Grant Award: $6,585
Estimated Total Project Cost: $814,224

The Forest Society is planning to purchase a conservation easement on Sugar Bush Farm in Goffstown in order to permanently protect these 53 acres of vital farmland and wildlife habitat. The property is mainly forested, but the highest part of the property is situated on a drumlin with hay fields with sweeping views of the Uncanoonuc Mountains to the south. The protection of this farm would expand an already highly connected network of conservation land in Goffstown, including the Snook Road Swamp, which hosts an active Great Blue Heron Rookery. Although public recreational access will be guaranteed, there are no plans to construct trails or parking areas as this is a privately owned farm with limited road frontage.

Morrill Farm Conservation Easement in Concord, NH

Applicant: Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests
Acres to be conserved: 200
Protection Method: Purchased Conservation Easement
MCP Grant Award: $14,371
Estimated Total Project Costs: $245,702

The Forest Society is working to purchase a conservation easement on more than 208 acres of prime farmland and high quality wildlife habitat in Concord, including 6,300 feet of frontage on the Merrimack River. The Morrill Dairy Farm, founded in 1925, currently owns or leases more than 500 acres of land and produces milk, meat, corn, barley, oats and wheat. Protection of this farm and the river frontage will help to maintain the water quality of the Merrimack River, which provides water to hundreds of thousands of people. It also protects against conversion by alleviating financial stress on the farm. Public access will be guaranteed, with restrictions on the agricultural fields during the growing season.

Ellis-Walker Conservation Restriction in Westborough, MA

Applicant: Sudbury Valley Trustees
Acres to be conserved: 34
Protection Method: Purchased Conservation Restriction
MCP Grant Award: $3,644
Estimated Total Project Costs: $645,125

Sudbury Valley Trustees (SVT) is assisting the Town of Westborough with the purchase of 34 acres of land consisting of open meadows, forested uplands and wetlands. There are footpaths and trails throughout the parcel and several streams, which combine and feed into the Sandra Pond Reservoir, which provides 20-30% of the Town’s drinking water. These extensive wetlands also provide an important wildlife corridor to vernal pool habitat areas on nearby lands. SVT will hold a conservation restriction on the Property to permanently protect its ecological features and ensure public access to its trails. The Town expects to improve public access by creating a small parking area and expanding the existing trail network to create connections to nearby conservation lands.

Palmer Bartell – Deneault Addition in Brookline, NH

Applicant: Town of Brookline
Acres to be conserved: 254
Protection Method: Land Purchase
MCP Grant Award: $13,052
Estimated Total Project Costs: $4,366,389

The Town of Brookline Conservation Commission is working to purchase the fee interest in 254 acres of land, expanding the conservation footprint in the northwest corner of Brookline and adding to an 825-acre existing block of conserved land that spans that region of town as well as neighboring towns. The area hosts abundant wildlife and is used by hunters. This project would enable the expansion of the trail network that exists on the abutting town-owned Palmer Bartell Forest.

Ames Family Forest in Francestown, NH

Applicant: Francestown Land Trust
Acres to be conserved: 75
Protection Method: Land Donation
MCP Grant Award: $3,500
Estimated Total Project Costs: $265,470

The Ames Family land has been passed down to family members who wish to subdivide the tract and donate the 75-acre undeveloped forestland to the Francestown Land Trust. This land falls within a 5,000+-acre unfragmented block of forestland and adds to other conservation lands in this area, including an adjacent 61 acres of land protected by the Forest Society. The property will be open for low-impact, non-motorized recreational use including but not limited to hunting, nature observation, snowshoeing, and other passive uses.

Joe Colby Conservation Easement in Boscawen, NH

Applicant: Five Rivers Conservation Trust
Acres to be conserved: 309
Protection Method: Donated Conservation Easement
MCP Grant Award: $12,381
Estimated Total Project Costs: $240,900

The Colby family has lived and worked on the Colby Farm in Boscawen for more than 100 years. Joseph Colby wants his lands to remain as working forest and active agricultural fields so he has offered to donate a conservation easement on 309 acres of his property to Five Rivers Conservation Trust. Conservation of this parcel provides a stepping-stone between two nearby large areas of conserved land and, with opportunities to conserve other adjacent and nearby parcels in the future, could be part of a larger block of contiguous conserved lands. The landowner currently opens his lands for hunting, exploring and snowmobiling. However, he will retain the right to control public access as insurance against overuse.

Sweatt Headwaters Project in Hopkinton, NH

Applicant: Five Rivers Conservation Trust
Acres to be conserved: 28
Protection Method: Purchased Land
MCP Grant Award: $4,422
Estimated Total Project Costs: $82,825

Members of the Sweatt family donated 73 acres to Five Rivers Conservation Trust in 2003 to create the Sweatt Preserve in Hopkinton. Now Sweatt family member Stan Pastuszczak wishes to donate an adjacent 28 acres to the Preserve as a memorial to his wife and the Sweatt family’s long history of living and farming in the area. This parcel contributes to a growing landscape of protected lands in the area. Protection of this forest safeguards the current high-quality conditions and water quality of a perennial stream which flows into Dolf Brook and on to the Contoocook River. The surrounding area is under strong development pressure, so protection of this forested parcel ensures that the headwater stream will continue to flow, provide resilience in the face of increasingly intense storm events and add landscape connectivity for wildlife life and people. There are no immediate plans for trails on the Sweatt Headwater Project parcel because of the sensitive natural resources on the property. Once a baseline and natural resources inventory have been completed, the existing, 2-mile trail on the existing Sweatt Preserve may be extended onto the new parcel.