The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

On Wednesday, the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership – a diverse coalition of conservation organizations, federal and state agencies – will celebrate the completion of its 100th project resulting in the conservation of 5,800 acres around Great Bay.

The 100th project is a 53-acre property located in the Town of Madbury along Route 108.  Nick Brett led the conservation effort to fulfill his father Wesley’s wishes to conserve the property.  The elder Brett is a former professor of design and art at the University of New Hampshire.  The family trust will continue to own the land, and the conservation easement will be held by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.  The conservation easement on the Brett family property ensures the protection of approximately 1,300 feet along Gerrish Brook, a tributary to Johnson Creek connecting to the tidal portion of the Oyster River.  This section of Gerrish Brook has been documented to include a State species of concern, the red fin pickerel. 

Ultimately preserving land like the Brett property has an impact on the health of the natural systems that wildlife and people enjoy.  The Great Bay region provides a variety of wildlife habitats that support more than 150 rare species and 55 exemplary natural communities and ecosystems.  Encompassing the outflow of five rivers to the Atlantic Ocean, the area is known for providing North American waterfowl breeding, migration and wintering habitat for more than 20 species of migratory waterfowl species.  It is widely recognized as an ecosystem of local, regional, state, national and international significance.

For 17 years, the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership’s commitment to the seacoast and its collaborative approach to conservation have secured a diversity of habitats including open fields, shrub lands, and forests, and protected 24 miles of tidal shoreline, 55 miles of stream frontage and 1,655 acres of wetlands.  Protection efforts have also ensured that thousands of acres of land remain available for uses such as hiking, snowshoeing, wildlife observation, hunting, and fishing.

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The Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership is a group of organizations committed to protecting the important habitats of the Great Bay region.  Since 1994, the Partnership has operated as a unique cooperative effort intended to further collective conservation goals and promote conservation actions.  The work of the Partnership is informed by science-based conservation planning that informs the Partnership’s land protection, management, and stewardship activities.

Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership Principal Partners include:  Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, New Hampshire Audubon, New Hampshire Fish & Game Department, Society for the Protection of NH Forests, The Nature Conservancy, US Environmental Protection Agency, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Natural Resources Conservation Service.