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Watershed Management Bureau
Coastal Program
About Us
The New Hampshire Coastal Program's mission is to balance the preservation of natural resources of the coast with the social and economic needs of this and succeeding generations. To accomplish this mission, the Coastal Program focuses on five primary goals:
- To prevent and abate coastal pollution.
- To provide for public access to coastal lands and waters.
- To foster community stewardship and awareness of coastal resources.
- To protect and restore coastal natural resources.
- To encourage a viable economy with adequate infrastructure.
In 1972, Congress passed the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) in recognition of the importance of the nation's coastal resources. The NH Coastal Program gained federal approval in 1982. It is administered by the NH Department of Environmental Services.
Seventeen communities in the coastal zone and 25 communities in the coastal watershed (total of 42 communities) share in the work of the NH Coastal Program.
This year, the NHCP celebrates 25 years of bringing together people, talent and resources for the coast.
Working Strategic Plan
NHCP's strategic plan will guide our work and help define our niche in coastal management for the next two to three years. Working with our network of partners, NHCP will focus on areas with the most demonstrated need that protect coastal resources while balancing the needs of people and ecosystems.
Priority Areas:
- Ocean Resources
- Community science-based decision making
- Habitat restoration
We would like to thank our partners and constituents who contributed their time and feedback into developing our plan.
NHCP Gets a Facelift
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of our program, the NHCP has a new logo.
For years, the NHCP logo featured a cormorant, which, by all accounts, is about as glamorous as a sea gull except it has a worse reputation. In addition, the cormorant is only found on islands and offshore, while much of the Coastal Program's work is in marshes, rivers and throughout the coastal watershed.
To better reflect what we do, our new logo features grass and a fish. The grass can be interpreted as eelgrass, an indicator of estuarine water quality, or marsh grass, a symbol of the coast. The fish is a mummichog, which we use as an indicator of marsh health.
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