NORTHAMPTON — A $4.98 million federal grant will help Massachusetts and three other states improve water quality, wildlife habitat and climate resilience along the Connecticut River.
The five-year grant, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2014 Farm Bill, will bring together dozens of environmental organizations to draw from decades of expertise and data gathered from work along New England’s longest river. The organizations will provide matching money, giving them $10 million to work with over the next five years.
“It’s a way to encourage collaborative work across the landscape on some key threats that NRCS has identified,” said Kim Lutz, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Connecticut River Program, referring to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program.
She added, “The threats we’re looking to tackle are water quality, habitat management and climate change.”
Lutz manages conservation work throughout the 7.2 million acre watershed in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Connecticut. She is helping to coordinate over 70 local, regional and national organizations known collectively as the Friends of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. The group aims to tackle major river restoration projects along the Connecticut River.
“It’s the first time I’m aware of that all the major groups in the watershed that work on dam removal are working together,” Lutz said. “We look forward to drawing on decades of on-the-ground experience to help bring about a healthier and more resilient Connecticut River watershed.”
Using data provided by a regional network of government and private environmental professionals called “Connect the Connecticut,” the grant recipients have outlined 22 ecologically high-priority areas in the Connecticut River watershed.
“It’s a really sophisticated mapping tool that points you to projects that will have the maximum benefit,” Lutz said.
The Conte Refuge was established in 1997 to conserve the abundance and diversity of animals and plants native to the Connecticut River watershed. Named after the late Silvio O. Conte, a Republican congressman who worked to support environmental legislation and fund scientific research, the group aims to carry on his legacy.
Other grant recipients and partners include the Kestrel Land Trust, American Rivers, the Connecticut River Conservancy, Franklin Land Trust, Hilltown Land Trust, Mass Audubon, Massachusetts Department of Ecological Restoration, Mount Grace Conservation Land Trust, Trout Unlimited and Weyerhaeuser.
The Nature Conservancy will serve as a hub for the different organizations involved, managing grant money and coordinating partnerships. The project partners will be matching the grant funds, too, contributing about $5 million collectively toward watershed restoration projects.
“Having this really generous amount of grant funding is a hurdle that is rare to overcome,” Lutz said.
An interesting aspect of the grant, Lutz said, is that most of the money will go to private landowners to secure conservation easements, promote sustainable land management practices or remove dams.
“We’re in the process of looking at the amount we’ve been gifted in gross and figuring out what prospects each organization has,” said Mark Wamsley, a land conservation manager for the Kestrel Land Trust.
Since 1970, Kestrel has conserved over 23,000 acres of forests, meadows and farmland throughout the Valley, representing around 140 distinct areas. Conserving forestland can have positive impacts on water quality, carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat, according to Wamsley, making it a worthwhile investment.
“In terms of addressing a number of environmental issues, land conservation really gives you a lot of bang for your buck,” he said.
Special emphasis was placed on pieces of property that serve as areas of connectivity in the Connecticut River watershed. Among these are floodplain forests, vital for their ability to serve as a buffer from flooding rivers and filter pollutants from the watershed.
“If we can protect floodplains, if we can restore them, it can really have a benefit for water quality and climate resiliency,” Lutz said.
Dam removal is a specific focus of the grant, too, with about 25 percent of the money reserved for those projects, Lutz said. The remaining 75 percent will focus on floodplain and farmland management and restoration.
“Most of these dams are obsolete,” Lutz said. “They haven’t been repaired in many, many decades, and as dams fall into disrepair, an uncontrolled breach of a dam can be a big safety issue.”
Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@gazettenet.com.