A grant from the state’s LCHIP program will help protect a piece of land abutting the Warner River, part of continuing efforts to preserve water quality upstream of Concord’s water supply intake on the Contoocook River.

The $88,250 grant, one of a dozen announced Monday, will help buy an easement on a 36-acre parcel that has been in the family of David and Kathleen Dustin for approximately 200 years, featuring a promontory overlooking the Warner River and silver maple flood plain forest.

According to Five Rivers Conservation Trust, which helped garner the award, the parcel is adjacent to previously protected Bohanan Farm (413 acres) and Dustin (36 acres) properties, both previously conserved by Five Rivers.

“Not only do trails link the three properties, but years of friendship and neighborly cooperation connect the Dustin and Bohanan families. The landowners currently allow recreational use, including hunting in season,” Five Rivers wrote in a public statement. “Once conserved, the easement will guarantee public access to the land for hunting, fishing, and low-impact recreation in perpetuity.”

The work is “part of an intentional effort by Hopkinton’s Open Space Committee and Conservation Commission to protect riverfront land in a town where the Warner, Contoocook, and Blackwater Rivers are significant and valuable resources.”

The New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program’s 2023 awards totaling $3.7 million in matching grants to support 25 land conservation and historic preservation projects across the state. The grants will support efforts to rehabilitate 12 historic buildings and permanently conserve more than 4,300 acres in all 10 counties.

LCHIP grant recipients must match each dollar contributed by LCHIP with at least one added dollar and complete the funded projects according to the program’s standards. The awards will be matched by more than $9.3 million contributed by other public and private sources.

Since 2000 LCHIP has awarded 589 grants, investing $61 million in 200 communities to help conserve more than 241,000 acres of land and rehabilitate 172 historic structures.

LCHIP receives $200,000 per year from the state’s Conservation License Plate program (a.k.a. Moose Plates) for administrative expenses. The remainder of LCHIP’s administrative funding is generated through earned interest and an administrative fee assessed on awarded grants.