Our Mission is to Conserve and Sustain the Natural Environment for Present and Future Generations by working to make Wise Land Use

Our Mission is to Conserve and Sustain the Natural Environment for Present and Future Generations by working to make Wise Land Use Decisions

The Rockingham County Conservation District delivers soil and water conservation at the local level. Formed in 1946 as a legal sub-division of the State of New Hampshire and operating under NH State Statute RSA 432:12, the District is directed by a Board of Supervisors, a state appointed governing body made up of five residents of the county. The position of a District Supervisor is a public office and as such the Board of Supervisors has a legal and moral responsibility to the people of the District, its constituents.

New Hampshire Aquatic Resource Mitigation Program

Accepting Grant Applications for the

Salmon Falls to Piscataqua River Watershed

Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Aquatic Resource Mitigation Program at the Department of Environmental Services is currently accepting grant applications for funding projects within the Salmon Falls to Piscataqua River Watershed. The DES Aquatic Resource Mitigation (ARM) Fund provides an in-lieu fee payment alternative for permit applicants to consider when striving to meet state and federal wetland mitigation requirements. DES is pleased to announce that up to $1,540,000 is available through the ARM Fund for eligible projects within the Salmon Falls to Piscataqua River Watershed. Payments are deposited into 16 watershed accounts, which then can be used for aquatic resource restoration projects or to permanently protect wetlands with high conservation value. The ARM funds are ready to be awarded to eligible projects in the watershed.

An example of a successful project is one that provides restoration of functions and values and once restored, will retain increased functions over the long-term. Protection of the surrounding upland buffer through a conservation easement elevates its ability to meet the goals of the program. Restoration includes wetland fill removal, culvert removal/replacement, elimination of ditching and other hydrologic modifications, invasive species control only if hydrologic modifications indicate long-term success, installation of water quality best management practices, habitat enhancement opportunities for threatened or endangered species, and planting buffers to promote habitat.

The Salmon Falls to Piscataqua River Watershed will be the seventh of the 16 watershed ARM Fund accounts to be ready for release. As these funds are tied to wetland mitigation requirements, the proposal ranking criteria will favor those projects that restore and permanently protect the functions and values of aquatic resources that were lost within the watershed during the grant cycle. The primary functions lost include wildlife and fish habitat, sediment/toxicant retention, and groundwater recharge and discharge.

For Grant Application Information click here

Freshwater Wetland Mitigation Opportunity Inventory for Nineteen Coastal Communities (2004)

2008 Farm Bill News: Application Ranking Due Dates

Sign ups for Farm Bill programs are continuous but projects are ranked in groups at specific times during the year. The next ranking will be done for all completed applications received by the following dates:

WRP and FRPP (Easement Programs) On going

You can find links to information about the above programs, plus a link to a downloadable Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill Conservation Programs in New Hampshire at http://www.nh.nrcs.usda.gov.

Press Release (PDF)

Farm Bill Guide (PDF)

The District works with landowners and users, local government agencies, and other local interests in addressing a broad spectrum of resource concerns. These concerns include but are not limited to surface and ground water quality and quantity, nonpoint source pollution, erosion and sedimentation, stormwater, flooding, wetlands, forestlands, wildlife habitats, and solid waste. Conservation Programs in Rockingham County are carried out through public education and the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs). Technical assistance and information for the implementation of BMPs are provided for various land uses in cooperation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), other state and federal agencies and organizations, District staff and volunteers, and district consultants.