On April 3, 2018, at 7 p.m. at the start of the Board of Selectmen meeting there will be a public information session and presentation on the significance of Wild and Scenic River designation of the Nashua River and its associated Stewardship Plan, which are to be voted on at the May 5 Annual Town Meeting.
For the last three years, I have represented Harvard on the Nashua River Wild and Scenic River Study Committee, a partnership endeavor composed of nine communities in Massachusetts, two communities in New Hampshire, the National Park Service, and the Nashua River Watershed Association. The purpose of the committee was to determine if the Nashua River and its main tributaries, the Squannacook and Nissitissit rivers, had resources that justified designating the rivers as Wild and Scenic under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. We have studied and documented the exceptional biological, scenic, recreational, historical, and cultural resources associated with the mainstem of the Nashua (from Lancaster to the New Hampshire border), the Squannacook, and Nissitissit rivers, and have developed a plan to steward their preservation for our and future generations.
We are nearing completion of our work. All of the partnership towns will be voting at their 2018 annual town meetings to accept the voluntary Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Stewardship Plan, which includes the recommendation that these rivers be designated Wild and Scenic Rivers under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
If you would like to learn more about our work and review the Stewardship Plan, please visit our website, www.WildandScenicNashuaRivers.org.
I hope to see you at the April 3 presentation and the May 5 Annual Town Meeting
Lucy B. Wallace
Orchard Hill Road
Editor’s note: Lucy Wallace is chairwoman of the Nashua River Wild and Scenic River Study Committee.
