Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers Wild & Scenic Stewardship Council Announces 2023 Community Grant Awards:  Our Third Year of Grants


The Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers Wild and Scenic Stewardship Council announces the third year of their Community Grants program. Grants will support projects that protect and/or enhance the Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers and their Outstandingly Remarkable Resource Values (ORRVs) as set forth in the Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers Stewardship Plan (Stewardship Plan).

The program aims to engage municipalities and local organizations in protecting the rivers’ resources and building strong local stewardship of the rivers in accordance with the Stewardship Plan. Applications will be accepted for projects within the communities along the Wild and Scenic designated rivers including: Ayer, Bolton, Dunstable, Groton, Harvard, Lancaster, Pepperell, Shirley, and Townsend in MA; and Brookline and Hollis in NH.

Projects funded through the 2022 Community Grants program included enhancing access along the Nashua River in Ayer, mapping and installing signage along Harvard's waterways, improving parking at Cook Conservation in Lancaster, rebuilding a canoe launch on Harbor Pond in Townsend, and assessing riverbank stabilization along the Squannacook River in Townsend. Funded projects also included invasive plant removal and native plantings in Ayer, Groton, Pepperell, and Shirley.

Application deadline has been extended and are being accepted through February 15, 2023. Awards will be announced in March, 2023. A Request for Proposals and Grant Application for the 2023 program are available at www.wildandscenicnashuarivers.org.

Grant funding is provided by the Stewardship Council through the National Park Service under CFDA: 15.962 – National Wild & Scenic Rivers System.

February 2023

OVERVIEW

Since its inception in 2015, the Nashua River Wild and Scenic Rivers Study Committee has worked to identify our river-related outstandingly remarkable resource values, consider the eligibility and suitability of the rivers for designation, and develop a voluntary stewardship plan with much public input. A major milestone in this process was reached  with the acceptance  by all eleven participating communities at their 2018 annual town meetings  of the "Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers Stewardship Plan" and its recommendation to seek federal designation of the rivers as "Wild and Scenic."

The “Stewardship Plan” is a companion document to the “Study Report” currently being prepared by the National Park Service for congressional review. Numerous letters of support are being collected for inclusion in the Study Report.

In September 2018 Congresswoman Niki Tsongas (MA-03) introduced a bill to Congress, the Nashua River Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, that is authored by herself and Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster (NH-02) that would add segments of the Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers to the national Wild and Scenic Rivers System.  A companion bill was introduced in the Senate by MA Senators Markey and Warren, and NH Senators Hassan and Shaheen, and was heard in the National Park sub-committee of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The Nashua River Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was included in S. 47, the Natural Resources Management Act (‘federal lands package’) but did not proceed before the end of the 115th Congressional Session.

Early in the 116th Congressional Session, S. 47, the Natural Resources Management Act, was brought to the U.S. Senate, and the Nashua River Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was still included in this large package. On February 12, 2019 S. 47 passed in a 92 – 8 vote. On Feb. 26th, the Nashua Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, included in the Natural Resources Management Act (S. 47), was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, with a vote of 363 to 62. The President signed the Act into law on March 12, 2019 thereby officially designating sections of the rivers as Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers.

Now that designation has occurred, the Study Committee has morphed into the formal Stewardship Council, as described in the Stewardship Plan. Work to protect our outstandingly remarkable resources -- our biological diversity, scenic & recreational, and historical & cultural values -- will continue!