The protection of 215 acres of land in Durham is among 18 conservation and preservation projects to receive funding through the Land & Community Heritage Investment Program.
The program this week announced it would be awarding $475,500 in grants, spread out in various amounts among the 18 projects.
"The Board of Directors had to make very difficult choices in selecting from among the many worthwhile projects that applied," said LCHIP Board Chair Rusty McLear. "The applicants did a fine job limiting their requests because of the modest amount available."
Funding for the program was eliminated in the most recent two-year state budget. The program had to rely on funding that came back from previous projects for this most recent round of grants.
The largest grant of $100,00 is going to the Oyster River Initiative in Durham, a two-part project that will protect the 39-acre Amber Acres Farm and the 176-acre Sprucewood Forest. The $5.7 million project is intended to help protect the drinking water for Durham and the University of New Hampshire.
There were 51 applications received for the public funding, which became available when money from several earlier awards was unexpectedly returned to the program.
Among the other projects receiving money are the Green Hills Conservation Project in Conway and restoration of the 1772 Meetinghouse in New Durham. The grant amounts range from $100,000 to $5,000.
Among the projects that didn't receive funding were restoration of the town hall in Bradford, the Notre Dame Senior Housing Project in Berlin, the Dearborn Memorial Building Redevelopment in Manchester, and restoration of the Millyard chimney in Nashua.
