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Mission & Vision
Bear-Paw Regional Greenways is a land trust with a mission to conserve a network of lands that permanently protects our region’s water, wildlife, forests, and farmland. Established by resident volunteers, Bear-Paw works to conserve open space through outreach, education, and land protection project assistance. We envision a region of scenic beauty and rural character where diversity and quality of life are sustained. Bear-Paw primarily serves an eleven-town region that includes Allenstown, Barnstead, Candia, Deerfield, Epsom, Hooksett, Northwood, Nottingham, Pittsfield, Raymond, and Strafford, New Hampshire. Our goal is to safeguard water resources, native wildlife and plant habitat, travel corridors, working farms and forests, the region's inherent beauty, and local recreational opportunities. Our volunteers and staff work with landowners, communities, and the public to identify opportunities for conservation, promote available conservation options, and assist with the completion of land protection projects. |
Bear-Paw has been protecting the places you love since 1995. |
Programs
Land Protection Project Assistance
Bear-Paw's primary focus is to work with landowners interested in land protection and to assist them in accomplishing their land conservation goals through the use of reliable, voluntary techniques such as conservation easements. Conservation easements restrict the future development of land but allow it to remain in private ownership. Bear-Paw provides impartial, technical assistance to landowners and often serves as an intermediary between landowners, town officials, and other conservation partners (conservation organizations, grant programs, etc.). Bear-Paw also works with our member towns to promote conservation planning, to identify valuable natural resource areas, to expand protected land, and to locate funding sources for land conservation projects. We encourage member towns to provide funding for conservation projects in their municipalities through a variety of ways (land use change taxes, warrant articles, etc.).
Outreach and Education
Bear-Paw uses a variety of ways to identify and educate landowners, town officials, members, and potential members about land conservation issues, the value of land protection, and our organization. Each year Bear-Paw hosts estate planning and land protection workshops, "community roundtables," fieldtrips, guided walks on conservation lands, other educational events. We also distribute a newsletter twice a year to over 1,300 landowners, town officials, members, and potential members. We generate additional funding and build awareness through our Down-from-the-Hill blue grass concerts, our annual meeting, a "Biothon," and other events that are open to the community.
Stewardship
Bear-Paw also operates a Stewardship program for monitoring the conservation easements that it holds - these properties are monitored annually to ensure that the natural resources that the easements were designed to protect are conserved.