Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Encyclopedia
The Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve encompasses a diversity of land and water areas around Great Bay
, an estuary
in southeastern New Hampshire
. Protected lands include salt marsh
es, rocky shores, bluffs, woodland
s, open fields, and riverine systems and tidal waters.
Great Bay has a rich cultural history and was the first major commercial waterway developed by the early settlers.
The National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) is a nationwide network of state-owned and -managed coastal protected areas. These are designated and supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the United States Department of Commerce.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department under the Marine Fisheries Division manages the Great Bay NERR. Designated in 1989, the reserve's primary purpose is to promote the wise use and management of the Great Bay estuary.
Great Bay (New Hampshire)
Great Bay is a tidal estuary located in Strafford and Rockingham counties in eastern New Hampshire, United States. The bay occupies over , not including its several tidal river tributaries. Its outlet is at Hilton Point in Dover, New Hampshire, where waters from the bay flow into the Piscataqua...
, an estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
in southeastern New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. Protected lands include salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
es, rocky shores, bluffs, woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
s, open fields, and riverine systems and tidal waters.
Great Bay has a rich cultural history and was the first major commercial waterway developed by the early settlers.
The National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) is a nationwide network of state-owned and -managed coastal protected areas. These are designated and supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the United States Department of Commerce.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department under the Marine Fisheries Division manages the Great Bay NERR. Designated in 1989, the reserve's primary purpose is to promote the wise use and management of the Great Bay estuary.