CONCORD, NH – The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and the Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) have announced $832,815 in grant awards from the Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund. Grants were awarded to five different projects across the upper Connecticut River watershed.

A twelve-person advisory committee, made up of representatives of environmental organizations, state and federal agencies and local community groups, recommends grants from the fund to support restoration, protection and enhancement of the river, wetlands and shore lands within the Connecticut River watershed. This is the sixth round of grants awarded from the fund.

The advisory committee reviewed eight applications totaling more than $1.3 million in combined funding requests for a wide variety of projects in the watershed.

The fund was created as part of the settlement agreement between the parties involved in the federal process to award a new operating license for three hydroelectric dams on the Connecticut River at Fifteen Mile Falls near Littleton, NH and Ryegate, VT. The Charitable Foundation and the VCF administer the fund, with grant recommendations provided by the advisory committee.

Over a 15-year period, the fund is expected to provide approximately $17 million for restoration, protection and enhancement of the river, wetlands and shore lands.

The settlement agreement, signed in 1997, involved a collaborative process in which representatives of state and federal agencies, environmental organizations, the local community and the dams’ owner worked to accomplish a settlement to define the new license for Fifteen Mile Falls. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a new license to operate the dams in April of 2002.

Grants were awarded to the following organizations:

Connecticut River Joint Commissions received $81,942 for engineering design and project implementation to restore the alluvial fan at the Mohawk River mouth and stabilize the riverbank at the Colebrook Business Park near Colebrook, NH.

Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests received $500,000 toward the permanent conservation of a 2,100-acre parcel in Clarksville, NH that would protect five miles of Connecticut River frontage, numerous streams, wetlands, important wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.

Town of Lisbon , NH received $3,900 to complete soil-sediment analysis at the Pearl Lake Brook Dam, which is slated for removal

Upper Valley Land Trust received $178,973 to permanently conserve two parcels involving 676 acres and 13,200 feet of Connecticut River frontage, in continuation of its Connecticut River Farmland Protection Initiative.

White River Partnership received $68,000 to implement the Ayers Brook Corridor Restoration Project along five miles of the brook, including stream-bank restoration and land conservation.

The next application deadline for the Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund is Friday, November 28, 2008, with concept papers for funding requests of more than $25,000 due by Tuesday, September 30, 2008. Copies of the grant application guidelines can be found at www.nhcf.org under “Applying for a Grant.” Also in that section, you can view a list of “exemplary projects” supported by the fund. For more information, contact Kevin Peterson of the Charitable Foundation’s Upper Valley Region at (603) 653-0387 ext. 1270 or kp@nhcf.org.