The Great Bay Partnership has undertaken a comprehensive, landscape-scale approach to conservation and habitat protection.  Conservation priorities are identified and delineated through an ongoing series of detailed scientific assessments including field inventories, data integration, and GIS modeling.  

Identifying Significant Habitat Areas
The Great Bay Partnership’s The Habitat Protection Plan of the Great Bay NH Focus Area, Atlantic Coast Joint Venture of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (1997, 2000) provides information about the important habitat resources and priority conservation lands within twenty-four (24) town, 272,000 acre Great Bay Focus Area. The grassroots planning process involved representatives from the local conservation community and experts from the federal, state and regional public and non-profit sectors.  Based on a habitat analysis of over 50 species of birds, fish and reptiles utilizing Geographic Information System mapping and field knowledge, 25 Significant Habitat and Associated Land Areas ranging in size from 860 acres to 10,600 acres were identified.  Ten priority Significant Habitat and Associated Land Areas were further selected.  A total of 14,200 acres were identified as high-value habitat.  The Plan has served over the years as a blueprint for Partnership decision-making. 

Conservation Project Area Planning
Habitat Studies and Management Plans are completed for select, smaller conservation areas within the Significant Habitat and Associated Land Areas. These geographic areas containing concentrations of high-quality habitat are referred to as Conservation Project Areas (CPA.) 

The conservation planning work completed for CPAs assists in identifying the highest value conservation lands; informing the appropriate funding sources for protection and management efforts; providing habitat information for stewardship considerations in the CPA as well as for individual property management plans; and providing natural resource information to municipalities and other regional organizations for conservation planning purposes.

Habitat studies have been completed in the following Conservation Project Areas: Crommet and Lubberland Creeks (1997, 2000, 2005); Tuttle Swamp (2005); Piscassic River and Lower Lamprey River Watersheds (2002); and Follet’s Brook and the Cochecho River (2003).  In addition, the Partnership’s conservation priorities are informed by other studies including the New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan (2005) and Land Conservation Plan for New Hampshire’s Coastal Watersheds (2006).