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2025 Jaffrey Natural Resources Inventory
The natural resources inventory is an interactive map that allows you to see different natural resources across our entire town. Because the town property lines are shown, you can easily zoom in to see natural resources on your own property as well as on town property and conservation land. The data is drawn from public information compiled by the State of New Hampshire and other organizations.
What Information Can I See?
The following table lists the different layers of information you can display.
Note: You can have more than one layer on at a time.
The Base Map is the layer on which other layers are shown.
The Parcels layer shows property boundaries.
| Layer Type / Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Town Boundary | Displays the town boundary as a heavy dashed line. |
| Roads | Displays all public and private roads in Jaffrey, including recreational roads. |
| Wetlands | Wetlands are nature's filters, and they are critical to maintaining water purity both in the environment and in our drinking water (which comes from wells). Wetlands also support many plants and animals. This layer shows the type and extent of different wetlands, including swamps, bogs, and other wet environments found in Jaffrey. |
| Conserved and Public Lands | Identifies land that is conserved, such as Monadnock State Park, and land that is owned by the Town of Jaffrey for public use, such as Children's Woods and Carey Park. |
| Groundwater Resources | All our drinking water in Jaffrey comes from groundwater aquifers. There are three sublayers that show aquifers (blue) and gravel wells, which yield 150 gallons per minute (red) and 75 gallons per minute (yellow). Use the pull-down menu (arrow by checkbox) to see the different sublayers. |
| Watersheds | Jaffrey includes land that drains into 7 different watersheds, with the primary two being the Contoocook River and the south branch of the Ashuelot River. |
| Wildlife Corridors | Different species of animals prefer to travel through different kinds of environments. This layer shows pathways through which animals might move through Jaffrey. |
| Wildlife Action Plan Tiers | The State of New Hampshire ranks habitats in three tiers. The highest rank (Tier 1) includes the top 15% of each different type of habitat in NH, such as alpine or salt marsh. Tier 2 includes habitats ranked within an ecological region, and Supporting Landscape includes the remaining important habitat areas. |
| Wildlife Action Plan Habitat Types | Shows the different types of NH habitats such as Appalachian Oak-Pine Forest, Northern Swamp, or Grassland... |
| Forest Soil Group | Shows different soil types that occur in NH by type, including types 1A, 1B, and 1C. |
| Farmland Soils | Shows areas that are used or suitable for farming ranked by importance. |
| Unfragmented Habitat Blocks | Wildlife diversity is best protected by larger blocks of land that are not separated by major roads. This layer shows areas of land in Jaffrey between major roads. |
| FEMA Flood Hazard Zones | A Flood Hazard Zone is an area that was judged by FEMA in 2020 to have more than a 1% chance of being flooded in any given year. This is commonly called a "100-year flood," meaning one flood in an average 100-year period. Note that FEMA flood zones are now being updated due to climate change. |
| Resilient and Connected Networks | The nature conservancy defines Resilience as the ability of an ecosystem to maintain its biodiversity despite the effects of climate change. This layer shows land areas that are the most important for maintaining future biodiversity. |
| NH Aerial Imagery (2021 to 2022) | This layer shows satellite photographs of the land taken during the period from 2021 to 2022. Note: To access the images, you need to open a drop-down menu (arrow left of the checkbox) and also check the box in the drop-down menu. |
| LIDAR Bare Earth Hillshade | LIDAR is a special kind of radar that can see the ground through the trees. This map is so detailed it shows individual stone walls and old foundations even if they have been buried by forest for centuries. |
| LIDAR Bare Earth Slope | LIDAR is a special kind of radar that can see the ground through the trees. This layer shows the ground surface shaded by the slope. Areas that are flat show up as black. Areas that are vertical (very steep) show up as white. |
This guide was created on February 9, 2025, by Dr. Tom Ahborn-Hsu, Chair, Jaffrey Conservation Commission.