The considerable recreational opportunities of the wide and scenic Merimack River in Southern New Hampshire are largely unknown and unavailable to New Hampshire residents because of the lack of public boating access.

Although the need for access to this big stretch of fishable, skiiable “lake” has long been a high priority for the State Public Waters Access Advisory Board (of which I am a member) the State has barely enough funds to maintain existing sites.

The town of Hudson has a unique opportunity to leverage a major new private riverfront warehouse projects by requiring the developer to spend less than 1% of the planned $300M investment to provide a modern public boat ramp.

The Hudson Planning Board, should take note of the accessible site with a low river bank that the developer has already identified for a possible future ramp and insist that the wetlands mitigation funds that have been offered instead be used now for ramp design and development in parallel with the major warehouse project. This would be a real boon to Southern New Hampshire boaters and fishermen, and correct a long-standing deficiency in the public’s access to this major scenic, fishable, swimmable body of water, particularly from the Hudson side of the river.