In 2021, conservation partners set an ambitious goal of protecting 4,000 acres a year in the 52 towns that make up NH’s coastal watershed. To help meet this goal, we updated a regional conservation plan, rallied funders, technical assistance providers and municipalities, and launched an outreach program called Connect to Protect. So how are we doing? Pete Steckler from the Northeast Conservation Services has been updating data and maps about current conservation lands and will share a status report. Through this update, 271 tracks of conservation/public lands were added across NH’s Coastal Watershed. How does this measure up to our goals?
If you missed the April 2025 webinar, you can watch the recording here.
Here are links to many of the resources mentioned in the webinar.
Conservation Planning and Mapping
- Connect to Protect – with links to the conservation plan maps as PDFs
- Coastal Viewer – this is an interactive mapper that allows you to view the conservation focus areas and the currently conserved lands to identify priority lands that are unprotected. Look under Layers List / Environment and Conservation / Land Conservation Plan and/or Conservation and Public Lands
- You can access the current GIS data for conservation lands on GRANIT.
- To submit additional conservation lands, please use the instructions provided on NH GRANIT. Note that conservation lands updates are usually done annually, not as submissions come in.
Educational and Networking Opportunities
- Conserving Your Land: Options for NH Landowners Publication
- Saving Special Places Conference
- Taking Action for Wildlife – Recorded Webinars
- NH Association of Conservation Commissions
Finding A Conservation Partner
- NH Land Trust Coalition – NH Land Trust Map
- Southeast Land Trust
- Taking Action for Wildlife – 2025 Community Technical Assistance
Funding Opportunities
- Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership
- Moose Plate Grants (Details posted July 2025, September 2025 deadline)
- PREPA Grants
Email: info@connect-protect.org
Website: https://connect-protect.org
This webinar was hosted by the Connect to Protect team, including staff from NH Fish and Game/Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Northeast Conservation Services, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership, UNH Extension, and NH Sea Grant.
