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PHOTOS: Solo paddler on Androscoggin River and First Mountain, upriver from Meadow Bridge (below). (Larry Ely photos)
BETHEL — The Mahoosuc Land Trust has received grants from two state of New Hampshire programs to acquire the 853-acre Shelburne Riverlands.
A $125,000 grant from the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program and a $761,668 grant from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Aquatic Resource Mitigation Program were recently announced. With additional support from dozens of individuals and foundations, MLT hopes to close on the purchase early in 2021.
The Riverlands will permanently conserve 22 islands and 12 mainland parcels along an 8.7-mile stretch of the Androscoggin River.
“We are truly appreciative of the significant investments of LCHIP and ARM,” said Kirk Siegel, Executive Director of MLT. “The wild and scenic nature of this section of river makes it a favorite of paddlers and anglers, while the wetland resource is outstanding.”
The project includes silver maple floodplain forests braided with oxbow and flood channel wetlands, and interspersed grasslands along miles of river and stream shoreline. The natural communities host wildlife species of conservation concern and connect hundreds of thousands of acres of intact forests across the Androscoggin. The ARM Fund Program was particularly appropriate for the Riverlands project, because of the important wetland values, land trust officials said.
