I had the joy of running beside the beautiful Lamprey River this last weekend while visiting my folks in New Hampshire. The Lamprey originates in the Saddleback Mountains, Northwood, New Hampshires and flows 47.3 miles to the Great Bay. It has the largest quantity of anadromous fish (fish born in fresh water, spending most of their lives in the sea and returning to fresh water to spawn. Salmon, smelt, shad, striped bass, and sturgeon are common examples.) in the Great Bay watershed and hosts substantial numbers of freshwater mussels. The segment of the Lamprey from the Bunker Pond Dam in the town of Epping to the confluence with the Piscassic River in the vicinity of the Durham-Newmarket town line is part of the Wild and Scenic River system. 11.5 miles were designated on November 12, 1996 and another 12 miles were designated May 2, 2000. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 states:
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress declares that the established national policy of dams and other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes.