Five Rivers Celebrates $88,250 LCHIP Grant Award
December 2023 – The Town of Hopkinton, in collaboration with Five Rivers Conservation Trust, has been awarded a $88,250 grant to support the David and Kathleen Dustin Warner River Conservation Easement project. The 36-acre parcel has been in the Dustin family for approximately 200 years, featuring a promontory overlooking the Warner River and silver maple flood plain forest.
“We are grateful for LCHIP’s support of this important project,” said Jeff Evans, Five Rivers’ Director of Conservation. “This award from LCHIP will allow Five Rivers to protect the City of Concord’s public drinking water supply, conserve important floodplain forest habitat, and ensure public access through expanded trails that connect to neighbouring conserved lands.”
Governor Sununu joined the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) on December 12th in announcing $3.7 million in matching grants to support twenty-five land conservation and historic preservation projects across the state. The grants will support efforts to rehabilitate 12 historic buildings and permanently conserve more than 4,300 acres of farm, timber, and ecologically significant land in all 10 counties of the state.
The David and Kathleen Dustin Warner River Conservation Easement project is part of a focus area upstream of the City of Concord’s water supply intake on the Contoocook River. A few former farming and logging access roads provide walking access on the property and connect seamlessly to trails on the abutting conservation easement protected Bohanan Farm (413 acres) and D&B Dustin (36 acres) properties, both previously conserved by Five Rivers. Not only do trails link the three properties, but years of friendship and neighbourly cooperation connect the Dustin and Bohanan families. The landowners currently allow recreational use, including hunting in season. Once conserved, the easement will guarantee public access to the land for hunting, fishing, and low-impact recreation in perpetuity. These projects, among others, are part of an intentional effort by Hopkinton’s Open Space Committee and Conservation Commission to protect riverfront land in a town where the Warner, Contoocook, and Blackwater Rivers are significant and valuable resources.
In addition to the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program grant award, this project is made possible by funding from the NH DES Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund, NH DES Local Source Water Protection Grant, the Hopkinton Conservation Commission, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation‘s Local Land Conservation Fund, and community support.
