Two more projects – Atkinson and Goffstown – receive ARM Fund money
NHDES announced that the Governor and Executive Council approved an Aquatic Resource Mitigation (ARM) Fund project in Atkinson for $180,000 and in Goffstown for $300,000 in recent months.
The award funds for the Atkinson project went to The Conservation Fund, which will support the acquisition of a 15.4-acre parcel within the Merrimack River Service Area, conveyance of ownership to the Town of Atkinson, and the granting of a conservation easement to Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire. The property is adjacent to the West Sawmill Town Forest and consists almost entirely of New Hampshire Fish and Game Wildlife Action Plan Tier 1 ranked habitat. It contains high functioning vernal pools and upland buffers providing habitat for spotted salamanders, wood frogs, and Blanding’s turtles. Adjacent to both the 223-acre Sawmill Swamp Town Forest to the east and Cluster Open Space to the west and north, the property is a missing piece of conservation land surrounding the Sawmill Swamp high priority ecosystem. The parcel will build upon existing landscape connectivity efforts in the watershed and region.
The awarded funds for the Goffstown project went to the Piscataquog Land Conservancy to purchase a 42-acre conservation easement in the town of Goffstown. The easement will protect prime wetlands and wildlife habitat and conserve important agricultural and forest soils. The easement is on a section of the Clarkridge Farm and includes a portion of the third-largest prime wetland in Goffstown, which is also the headwaters for Harry Brook. The project area is part of a broader 1,200+ acre wildlife habitat block and a priority corridor for wildlife movement. The parcel builds new connections between existing protected habitats within the watershed and regional landscape.
The ARM Fund Program manages mitigation payment funds paid to offset unavoidable impacts to aquatic resources. Competitive grants fund projects that restore, enhance, and preserve aquatic resources and associated upland buffers across nine watersheds, also called service areas. Over $35 million in compensatory funds have supported 141 projects, including irreplaceable-resource preservation, aquatic barrier removal (culvert replacement and dam removal), and living shoreline projects since New Hampshire’s ARM program began in 2006. The goal of the program is to meet the federal goal of “no net loss” of functions and values of aquatic resources by supporting restoration, enhancement, and preservation.
For more information, please visit the ARM Fund Program webpage, please visit the website or email des.arm@des.nh.gov.