Regional Conservation Plan

Five Rivers Conservation Trust

Five Rivers Conservation Trust (Five Rivers), headquartered in Concord, New Hampshire, is a non-profit organization with the mission to sustain healthy communities by connecting people to nature and conserving land forever. We work in 17 towns at the confluence of the five New Hampshire rivers.

This beautifully rolling landscape is defined by five waterways that converge in the Concord area - the Merrimack, Contoocook, Blackwater, Warner, and Soucook Rivers. It is a region of picturesque country villages, vibrant communities, and a rich mix of fields and forests, farms and wetlands, and other special places. Through conservation easements and land ownership, Five Rivers is doing our part as an accredited land trust to help keep those places intact for future generations.

Five Rivers has developed a Regional Conservation Plan to guide our work in the strategic protection of forests, farmland, water resources, and other assets in our region. Building from the momentum of the recent strategic planning that set a clear course for Five Rivers through 2026, our conservation plan - the first of its kind for the organization - lays out priorities and opportunities for Five Rivers' conservation work in our service area.

The Regional Conservation Plan combines information on natural resources, climate resilience, working landscapes and accessibility, as well as local expertise to identify the places most critical to conserve.

CONSERVATION THEMES

Five Rivers' strategic planning process affirmed the organization’s goals for conserving land important to our region. The Regional Conservation Plan translates these goals into a decision-making tool organized by three themes. These themes, taken together or separately, are the lenses through which Five Rivers will evaluate, prioritize, and pursue future conservation projects. These themes are:

- NATURAL RESOURCES & RESILIENCE - WORKING FARMS & FORESTS - INCLUSION & ACCESS

THEME 1: NATURAL RESOURCES & RESILIENCE

This theme prioritizes the excellent natural resources and critical landscapes within the Five Rivers service area to focus conservation efforts. Included in this theme are important wildlife habitats, valuable surface and groundwater resources, and the most climate resilient lands.

From these focus areas, a total of 13 unique data inputs were selected and analyzed to help identify lands with high, moderate, and some conservation value. The map below shows the resulting co-occurrence (or overlap) of these 13 data inputs.

_{To protect the interests of private landowners, the Conservation Score data is lost once zoomed in past a certain point.}

THEME 2: WORKING FARMS & FORESTS

This theme prioritizes the proud local agricultural and sustainable forestry that rely on healthy ecosystems and fuel our local economy. Included in this theme are active and potential agricultural lands, large undeveloped forests, and soils encouraging productive forest growth.

From these focus areas, a total of 7 unique data inputs were selected and analyzed to help identify lands with high, moderate, and some conservation value. The map below shows the resulting co-occurrence (or overlap) of these 7 data inputs.

_{To protect the interests of private landowners, the Conservation Score data is lost once zoomed in past a certain point.}

THEME 3: INCLUSION & ACCESS

Inclusion and Access are among Five Rivers’ organizational values: We value the inclusion of all community members and diverse partner organizations. We strive to expand equitable access to the outdoors. How we express these values in our conservation work is evolving and will continue to evolve as we learn more.

Our Board and staff want to increase the representation of voices that are heard when considering future conservation efforts and initiatives - deliberately working to increase inclusion. We want to expand access and extend the benefits of conservation to the wider community. This includes benefits like access to recreational resources, access to agricultural opportunities, and access to open spaces designed for more diverse communities.

This theme is unlike the others in its complexity and nuance, and for that reason it could not be incorporated into the visual maps of conservation priorities. Limited data exist to meaningfully add the concepts of inclusion and access into a conservation landscape priority analysis. Furthermore, the information that does exist is often inaccurate and incomplete. Recreational data, for instance, is notoriously limited and unreliable.

Despite the difficulties with incorporating this theme into the landscape analysis, Five Rivers is deeply committed to incorporating inclusion and access into our conservation planning and efforts in the region. We invite conversations with community members and other organizations about how we can do more community-centered conservation, together.

COMBINED THEMES 1 & 2

While the first two analyzed conservation themes tell unique stories on their own, analyzing how they overlap and interact helps identify potential conservation opportunities that have multiple co-benefits. (Theme 3 was unable to be included in this process because of the challenges mentioned above.) Included in this combined co-occurrence of Themes 1 & 2 are: important wildlife habitat, valuable surface and groundwater resources, the most climate resilient lands, active and potential agricultural lands, undeveloped forests, and soils encouraging productive forest growth.

From these focus areas, the 20 datasets from Themes 1 & 2 were analyzed to help identify lands with high, moderate, and some overall conservation value. The map below shows the resulting co-occurrence (or overlap) of these 20 data inputs.

_{To protect the interests of private landowners, the Conservation Score data is lost once zoomed in past a certain point.}

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Partnering with local communities in the 17-town service area is how Five Rivers accomplishes much of our conservation work. Because of this, it was critical to hear from the towns and residents as part of this process. Municipal and residential outreach efforts provided valuable feedback and refined this Regional Conservation Plan.

You can read a summary and key takeaways from the questionnaire that was sent to all Conservation Commissions here .

You can read a summary and key takeaways here from the public forum held on June 5^th, 2023.

STAYING CONNECTED

If you are interested in collaborating with Five Rivers Conservation Trust on any efforts mentioned in this Regional Conservation Plan, please visit the 5RCT website or reach out directly to: Liz Short, Executive Director Jeff Evans, Director of Conservation