| Fast Facts |
location
5 miles west of Portsmouth, 40 miles north of Boston
ecoregion
North Atlantic Coast
project size
200 square miles
preserves
Lubberland Creek
public lands
Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
partners
Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership, including 24 municipalities, state and federal agencies, and several nonprofit organizations
conservancy initiatives
Invasive Species, Marine
natural events
Waterfowl/shorebird migration, mid-April through June; fish runs and Alewife Festival, May | |
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With one-quarter of New Hampshire draining into the estuary, Great Bay’s protection depends on both local and distant caretakers. |
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Tidal salt marsh near Moody Point.
© Jerry & Marcy Monkman |
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Great Bay is a delicacy of nature, one that can only result from a 5,000-year-old recipe mixing fresh water from seven rivers and numerous creeks with salt water from the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine. Added in are salt marshes, rocky shores, scattered ponds, rich forests and eelgrass beds. Wedged between Maine and Massachusetts, Great Bay is visible proof of why estuaries are celebrated as one of the most productive environments on Earth.
Great Bay’s bountiful resources have been tapped for centuries. Tall white pines invited early New England settlers to fashion the world’s finest masts and spars for the British Navy. Sawmills and shipbuilders consumed first-growth trees such as oak and red maple. Great Bay’s blue clay mudflats were transformed into bricks for the best Boston homes, transported there by the flat-bottomed Gundalow boats that could navigate changing tides and shallow waters before railroads quickened the pace. |
Crommett Creek.
© Jerry & Marcy Monkman |
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But in the natural bounty of Great Bay lay the seeds of its degradation. Much of the estuary was once covered by inches of sawdust from the mills lining its tributaries. Industry and housing growth still tax the ecosystem, yet nature’s resilience and a strong local conservation ethic have made the estuary healthier today than it has been in 250 years. | |
The Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership leads the way in the bay’s protection. With The Nature Conservancy as lead acquisition agent, this is a collaboration of local, state and federal agencies and nonprofit organizations, such as the Audubon Society of New Hampshire and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. So far, the partnership has protected more than 5,800 acres of critical habitat around the bay and its tributaries. The partnership continues to work with surrounding towns and organizations to identify additional conservation priorities.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in New Hampshire. |
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| Conservation Profile |
targets
Osprey, eagles, great blue heron, alewife, terns, glossy ibis, Atlantic white cedar, green-winged teal, hooded and common mergansers, black ducks
stresses
Pollution, residential development, oil spills, development of dock piers and moorings
strategies
Build conservation alliances, acquire land, secure conservation easements, remove dams, influence land-use planning, combat invasive species, restore ecosystems, improve oil spill prevention measures
results
More than 5,800 acres protected | | | | |
