National Estuaries Day: A Time to Appreciate Vital Seacoast Natural Resources
By Dave Kellam, New Hampshire Estuaries Project
September 19, 2007
Saturday, Sept. 29, is National Estuaries Day and opportunities
abound around the Seacoast for people to appreciate local estuaries
and to learn what is being done to protect these valuable natural
resources.
The Great Bay Estuary is the focus of three guided tours:
two by boat and one by bus. In the morning, NH Sea Grant will
lead a hands-on, educational Discovery Cruise from Portsmouth
to Great Bay to help participants learn about estuarine ecology
and science. The five-hour cruise is open to the public at
the cost of $20 per person, however pre-registration is required.
Register on-line at http://www.unh.edu/marine-education/programs/great-bay.html or call 603-749-1565 for information
In the afternoon, the New Hampshire Estuaries Project is sponsoring
a V.I.P. tour of the Great Bay Estuary for planning board members
and conservation commissioners of communities in the coastal
watershed. This three-hour tour outlines the threats to our
estuaries, the efforts underway to protect these natural resources,
and the assistance available to help communities protect estuarine
systems. The tour is free, however participants must be a land
planning official from a coastal watershed community and pre-registration
is required. Call 2-3403 for details.
In the middle of the day, the Society for the Protection of
New Hampshire Forests (Forest Society), in cooperation with
the Nature Conservancy and the Southeast Land Trust of New
Hampshire, is hosting a six-hour bus tour to showcase scenic
farms, forests, and salt marshes surrounding Great Bay and
its tributaries to show the wide range of resource and public
and private partners of the Great Bay Resource Protection Partnership.
Expert staff will provide interpretation on a few short walking
trails. The bus departs and returns to the Wentworth Coolidge
State Historic Site in Portsmouth. The tour fee is $30 per
person and includes light refreshments. For details, call 603-224-9945.
The bus tour is part of a larger set of field presentations
for the 106th Annual Meeting of the Forest Society that includes
a tour of Hampton salt marshes with NH Coastal Program Director
Ted Diers, a presentation on invasive species at Creek Farm
Reservation in Portsmouth, a discussion of the Land Conservation
Plan for New Hampshire’s Coastal Watersheds by Forest
Society Research Director Dan Sundquist, and a kayak excursion
on Sagamore Creek in Portsmouth. For details on all nine Forest
Society presentations in the Seacoast, call 603-224-9945.
A healthy environment and a healthy body go hand in hand at
the Treasure Your Breathing Hampton Beach Seacoast Walk organized
by Breathe New Hampshire (formerly the American Lung Association
of New Hampshire). Starting in the morning, this 3-mile walk
begins and ends at Hampton Beach State Park, next to the mouth
of the Hampton/Seabrook Estuary. An entrance fee of $10.00
per person is required and a light lunch is provided. For details,
call 800-835-8647.
The Seacoast Science Center in Rye will be conducting public
programs on the hour that draws attention to environmental
monitoring of the oceans and estuaries, including the network
of data collection buoys positioned throughout the region.
A small entrance fee is required. Call 603-436-8043 for details.
The Great Bay Discovery Center in Stratham is providing two
estuary programs on National Estuaries Day. The historic gundalow,
Captain Edward H. Adams, will be docked at the center and free
guided tours will be provided to the public during most of
the day. A salt marsh ecology workshop for municipal board
members and decision makers will occur in the morning that
examines ecological function and values of salt marshes, current
conservation concerns, and actions that municipalities can
take to protect salt marshes. For details on both events, call
603-778-0015.
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