US Forest Service Forest Legacy Project

The Nashua, Squannacook & Nissitissit Rivers Wild & Scenic Stewardship Council applied for and was awarded a U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program grant in 2023.  This is a highly competitive national grant program and the Stewardship Council is honored to have received an award of $8,615,000 for its project to permanently conserve twenty tracts of land, totaling approximately 2,000 acres, within a 20-by-20-mile forested landscape around the Wild & Scenic rivers. All tracts augment assemblages of conserved land, with excellent biodiversity, pristine surface waters, and important ecological, recreational, scenic & climate resiliency values. Project partners include seven of the NSN Wild & Scenic towns, three headwater towns, two regional conservation organizations, six land trusts, the U.S. National Park Service, the Mass Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, the Mass Dept. of Fish and Game, private landowners, and the Stewardship Council. Protection of these lands will further the conservation goals of our Stewardship Plan, as well as the goals of the NPS Freedoms Way National Heritage Area, the U.S. F&WS Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, and the Merrimack Conservation Partnership.

Read more about this project in the Stewardship Council Forest Legacy Program Steering Committee Status Report for Feb. 2026.