$20,000 to support placement of a Conservation Restriction on a priority parcel at the headwaters of the Squannacook river to protect endangered native turtles and their habitat. Funds will be used to create a Baseline Documentation Report and to create an escrow for...
2026 Land Protection Grants
The Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers Wild & Scenic Stewardship Council is pleased to announce that $58,000 in grant funding was awarded in 2026 through our Land Protection Grants Program. The Council awarded funding for three projects, all of which demonstrate strong commitment towards protecting the rivers’ resources and building local stewardship of the rivers in accordance with the Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers Stewardship Plan.
The grants program supports municipalities, land conservation organizations, and state agencies in protecting the riverfront and watershed lands. The program furthers local conservation efforts by providing funds to support acquisition, transaction, due diligence, and management costs associated with land protection. The following projects received funding:
North County Land Trust
$20,000 to conduct a survey as part of working with a landowner to permanently protect about ~125 acres in Sterling which include 1,700 feet of Wekepeke Brook, 0.4 miles of trail that is part of the Wekepeke Trail network, and historic farmland that is highly...
Harvard Conservation Trust
$18,000 to support the acquisition of the Farwell Quarry property, 27+ acres of privately owned land adjacent to the town of Harvard’s Pin Hill Conservation Land and within the Nashua River watershed. Bowers Brook, a major tributary of the Nashua River, flows along...
Grant funding is provided by the Stewardship Council through the National Park Service under CFDA: 15.962 – National Wild & Scenic Rivers System.