Climate Action in New Hampshire
TNC is taking meaningful action to address the impacts of climate change on the Granite State.
Warmer winters and hotter summers. Extreme storms and severe drought. Invasive pests and struggling wildlife. Here in New Hampshire, and throughout the Northeast, the signs are unmistakable: our climate is changing. The average temperature has increased by two degrees over the past century. Climate action is urgently needed. However, it is also an opportunity for innovation.
By making nature a part of the solution, we can achieve a multitude of benefits for people and nature: upgrading outdated infrastructure to re-connect waterways and increase public safety, connecting communities with clean and affordable energy, protecting vital forests, rivers and drinking water, informing equitable access to natural resources, supporting healthy, livable cities and more.
How Climate Change Is Impacting New Hampshire
If heat-trapping emissions continue at the current rate, the Granite State is on track to feel more like South Carolina by 2050. Skiing and pond skating, maple syrup making and snow-covered woods—our New Hampshire winters are at risk. Some of our wildlife will vanish, too, fleeing northward in search of safe habitat, while southern species will seek refuge in New Hampshire. Relief from extreme heat in our cities and landscapes will be harder to find. Outdated, undersized, obsolete infrastructure like some road-stream crossings will increasingly endanger communities during more frequent extreme weather and floods. Our fish and other aquatic species will pay the price too. And our forest landscape will change, as trees and plants are wiped out by invasive pests or replaced by warmer-weather species.
If we don’t act now the New Hampshire we love will look and feel utterly different to the next generation. But there is hope—and it calls for us to work with nature to prepare our state for a changing climate.
Graphic of a town, water, crops and nature that outline climate change impacts: Increased CO2 in the atmosphere, increased precipitation and flood risk, more severe storms, decline of cold-adapted tree species, more extremely hot days (above 95F), reduced yields of certain crops, greater risk of algal blooms in lakes and rivers, increased risk to human health, less habitat for cold-water fish.
Climate Solutions in the Granite State
Carbon neutrality, or “net-zero” carbon emissions, is a global objective. Nature can reduce more than one-third of the emissions needed to hit this goal if countries invest in carbon-storing forests, grasslands, wetlands and farmlands. Combined with transitioning away from fossil fuels, natural climate solutions offer immediate and cost-effective ways to tackle the climate crisis—while also supporting healthy, thriving communities and ecosystems. By incorporating nature into our solutions here in New Hampshire, we can make a meaningful and lasting contribution to climate balance.
Adaptation
We're working together with partners to harness nature-based solutions and climate-friendly infrastructure to better equip our communities to adapt to a changing climate and meet conservation goals at the same time.
Demonstration
Our work in sustainable forest management, coastal restoration, access to greenspaces and water quality are just some of the ways we help people and nature prepare to meet the impacts of a changing climate.
Engagement
Through listening to, and learning directly from, communities about the ways they view nature and how we can support them in preserving it, we can provide true community-centric, climate-resilient solutions to protect nature.
Leadership
TNC leads through the real-world expertise we have gained over decades of on-the-ground conservation in New Hampshire. We work collaboratively to advance science-based strategies that help Granite State communities thrive.
Partnership
Private-sector innovation is essential to meet the climate challenge. We work with leading companies and business organizations across New Hampshire to promote climate dialogue and best practices.
Policy
We draw on our extensive experience in natural climate solutions and public-private collaboration to provide policy leaders with science-based knowledge and impactful solutions.
Adaptation at Work: A Community Solves for Floods and Fish
Emerald Acres Cooperative is a close-knit community of more than 100 homes in Barrington, connected to Route 4 by a single road—Topaz Drive. That road crosses the Oyster River at a small culvert that, for years, struggled to do its job.
The outdated crossing blocked fish from moving upstream and restricted the river’s natural flow. During major storms, it also flooded—sometimes cutting off the community’s only access in and out.
A Community Cut Off
That risk became reality during the Patriots’ Day floods of 2007, when the crossing washed out entirely, isolating residents for days without access to emergency services. For longtime resident Lori Wingate, it was a defining moment.
“We were lucky it only lasted about a week, but it was incredibly stressful,” she recalls. “And ever since then, every big storm comes with that same worry—will the road wash out again?”
In the years that followed, the Topaz Drive crossing was identified as a top priority for restoration. But for a resident-owned community, replacing it with a long-term solution came with a steep price tag—and for decades, funding remained out of reach.
Seeking Nature-Based Solutions
That changed when The Nature Conservancy partnered with the community and state agencies to help move the project forward: securing funding, coordinating design and supporting construction of a new 50-foot bridge.
Today, the Oyster River flows freely beneath Topaz Drive. The new crossing is built to handle larger storms, keeps the road open for residents and reconnects miles of habitat for fish and wildlife, including brook trout, eel and turtles.
For Lori, the impact is both practical and deeply personal.
“I will rest easy knowing that we no longer have looming over our collective heads the fear of a bridge washout,” she says. “I feel like I’ve played a part in making sure future members won’t have to worry about this.”
Supporting partners and funders:
Emerald Acres Cooperative; Sterling Realty; New Hampshire Fish and Game; New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services; Moose Plate Grant Program; Aquatic Resource Mitigation Fund; Watershed Assistance Grants Program.
Demonstration at Work: Shaping Our Forest's Future
To some, harvesting trees in order to make a forest healthier may feel counter-intuitive, but much like other active stewardship practices that can sometimes look puzzling at first glance—like controlled burns, invasive species management, and adding wood to streams for fish habitat—this practice can be hugely beneficial and can help increase forest resilience and support wildlife. At the Green Hills Preserve, we’re working with the University of Vermont and New Hampshire Fish & Game to design strategies to help this beech-dominated forest become more diverse and prepared to thrive in a changing climate.
Under certain conditions, beech trees are highly competitive, often out-competing other species that require more sunlight to grow, like oak and pine. To give the other trees a chance, we’re trying two approaches. The first is creating forest openings between 3-5 acres where we’ll remove most of the trees to allow ample sunlight that can help species less tolerant of shade get established. We’ll also plant additional species that are predicted to be well-suited to future climate conditions. The second approach involves giving existing, healthy trees a boost: When we find a thriving non-beech tree in the canopy, we’ll cut around it so it can grow bigger and healthier.
While we’re taking an active approach in certain places, we’ll continue to maintain areas of older forest, which will allow us to see differences in how the forest responds. In areas where we cut, we’ll also leave legacy features like large old trees to create a diversity of ages and forest conditions. By encouraging a variety of species and ages, we’re also creating more diverse habitat that can accommodate a variety of different wildlife.
As our climate changes and forest pests and pathogens expand their ranges and move northward, our Climate Resilient Forest Project work is more important than ever. By making room for other species that are resistant to different diseases or adapted to changing forest conditions, we can better position our forests to thrive in future climates where a forest dominated by a single species could be disadvantaged. With careful planning—and some sunshine—we can create healthier forests that can survive the coming challenges.
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