Ecosystem Restoration

Part of the NRCS mission is to help people improve our natural resources and environment. This includes assessing and restoring degraded ecosystems. The objective of ecosystem restoration is to restore and maintain the physical, chemical, and biological conditions necessary to allow a natural and native ecosystem to function and evolve over time. 

The Natural Ecosystem Restoration Procedure is:

1. Understand the ecosystem under natural conditions

2. Understand the human-caused stressors that have degraded the system

3. Figure out how to relieve the stressors

The ecosystem restoration efforts in New Hampshire NRCS have been primarily with wetland and salt marsh restoration, and pine barren restoration. Most of these projects have been done under our Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program or our Wetlands Reserve Program. Find out more about our ecosystem restoration efforts by visiting the links below.  

Salt Marshes

• How healthy is your salt marsh?
• Salt Marsh Restoration in New Hampshire
• NH Cooperative Salt Marsh Restoration Projects
• Little River Salt Marsh Restoration Project

Wiswall Fish Passage Project, Environmental Assessment - new

The following documents on ecosystem restoration are available for download.  These documents require Adobe Acrobat 

Managing and Restoring Native Ecosystems: A Guide for New Hampshire Towns (1.4MB)
Evaluation of Restorable Salt Marshes in New Hampshire (1.9 MB) 
Ecosystem Restoration Planning Guide for Salt Marshes (4.5 MB)
Ecosystem Restoration Guide for Pine Barrens (Drylands) (1.4 MB)
Pine Barrens Restoration Brochure (196 KB)
Salt Marsh Restoration Brochure (200 KB)
Awcomin Salt Marsh Environmental Assessment (197 KB)
Little River Salt Marsh Restoration:  Plan and Environmental Assessment (2.0 MB)
Native Ecosystem Map for Rye, New Hampshire (565 KB)
New Hampshire Method Document (5740 KB)  Appendices (1620 KB)