I used to think of a river as a place to go fishing with my pals. Now I have a much broader sense of rivers. A few years ago I became a member of the planning board in my community. One duty of the board is to protect the natural heritage of our community.

The Winnipesaukee River flows along the northern boundary of the town into Franklin and joins the Pemigewasset River to form the Merrimack River. As it flows downstream, the Merrimack forms the western border of our town. So we in Northfield feel a double obligation to the flowing waters that need our care and concern.

The Winnipesaukee is an interesting river. It finds its source in the big lake by the same name. It flows over many dams and through several lakes before it reaches the Merrimack in Franklin. Just as it enters Northfield from the east, it crosses a giant aquifer shared by Belmont, Tilton and Northfield. The aquifer furnishes fresh drinking water for the three town region.

As a member of the planning board, I was asked to be a part of three town committee to study the aquifer and its future adequacy. While serving on that committee, I became aware that what happens on the land surfaces in our towns has a direct effect on what goes into the aquifer and the river as well.

One of the activities we undertook was a survey of all the potential contamination sites in the three towns. That was certainly a learning experience. We identified a former asbestos plant site, a battery manufacturing site, two closed town dumps and a junkyard containing several barrels of an unidentified oily liquid. We also discovered that all parking lots and roads in the towns produce contaminated runoff.

One outgrowth of our work was the compilation of a best management handbook for use by present and potential industries in the three towns, a document extolled as a model by the N.H. Department of Environmental Services.

Although I still approach the river with fly rod in hand, I now also pay attention to what's growing on the bank and what's in the water besides fish. I know a lot more about the ecology of the stream because I joined a group called the Upper Merrimack Local Advisory Committee. We serve as a sort of watchdog committee on development planned on or near the banks of the rivers in our area. In addition, we monitor stream flow and the types of plants and insects found in or near the streams.

My interest in the river has also led me in another related direction. About a year ago I attended a UNH Cooperative Extension training to become a Community Tree Steward. The training had a lot of content related to the trees that grow along or near the river.

“Invasive species” are a concern of many New Hampshire conservation people, plants that have been imported into our ecosystems on purpose or by accident, but that are now crowding out native species. Other invasives have been brought in by migrating birds, in the case of water plants, by boats towed in and launched on the water.

I recently began working with a N.H. Fish and Game Department project called Wonders of Wildlife (WOW) to educate the next generation about wildlife habitats and how they should interact with it. The project teaches citizen volunteers like me to go into elementary school classrooms and present programs as an adjunct to the curriculum units developed by their teachers. There is no directive to be brilliant. My job is to communicate sincerely to the children that the environment needs them to help monitor and save their natural home.

Buried, not too deeply, are my own feelings and understandings about the river that runs through their town. One activity in the presentation is a game that requires them, as a group, to evaluate a group of pictures of animals that might be found in a wetland, a forest or a grassland habitat.

After the classification exercise, I remind them about the river trail that begins about 100 feet from their classroom. Along that trail they can find all three habitats. I usually offer to guide them and their teacher on hikes in the spring.

By Bill Dawson, Community Tree Steward