In the fall of 2013, the Warner Conservation Commission (WCC) approached the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission (CNHRPC) for assistance in an effort to nominate the Warner River to NH’s Rivers Management and Protection Program. CNHRPC reached out to each of the watershed communities to get a positive nod from all the selectboards to allow a diverse, multi-town group to explore and pursue the RMPP program. In the fall of 2015, a seed grant from the New England Grassroots Foundation enabled the nomination committee to form and receive assistance from CNHRPC to compile the documentation required for the nomination.

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​The process involved many steps with the details outlined here. The Warner River's nomination is a detailed description of the river's characteristics and its value to the region, both from an ecological perspective and a human perspective. You can read the completed 71-page nomination here. After hearings at the state level, the river was formally designated in 2018.

 

Many thanks to the dedicated local citizens who contributed so many hours to this process!