Captain Planet protected Earth by fighting off those evildoers who would harm our precious mother Gaia, but he could only do so after the Planeteers combined their specific powers.

A similar powerhouse will be coming to the aid of Seacoast conservation efforts in the guise of the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire, the result of a merger of the Rockingham Land Trust and the Seacoast Land Trust. The merger should be complete by October, and then the new organization can start foiling the forces of habitat loss.

“By coming together, we’ll be able to do more with the resources we have now,” says Brian Hart, the executive director of the Rockingham Land Trust and executive director of the new organization. “In this situation, one plus one doesn’t equal two; it’s more like three or three and a half.”

By combining staff and resources, the new organization hopes to better accomplish their goals of protecting open land in the Seacoast. Eliminating duplicate administrative functions—such as newsletters and office space—will allow the new organization to hire at least one additional staff member, according to Richard Adams, the president of the Seacoast Land Trust and vice-president of the new organization. In consolidating conservation efforts in Rockingham County, the new land trust will be able to better serve those interested in land conservation. And, as Hart notes, the new organization will reduce confusion within the general public and among landowners and communities.

“By combining our supporters, we’re going to end up with a very substantial number of people who are interested in land protection,” Adams says. “I think they’ll now see we have a very common goal and a much better capability of achieving that.”

The combined annual budget of the two land trusts is approximately $300,000, according to Hart. The Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire will devise a new budget plan after the merger is complete. The larger organization will have an increased ability to apply for and receive federal grant money and funding from private organizations, like the Nature Conservancy.

“We still will have to look for external funding sources, but I think we will be a much more respected entity that will have greater access to major funding,” Adams says of the new organization’s spending ability.

Adams hopes that the new land trust will better be able to complete current acquisition projects of both the Rockingham Land Trust and the Seacoast Land Trust. The Seacoast Land Trust has been working on the Coastal Headwaters Initiative, involving close to 1,000 acres of land spread throughout Greenland, North Hampton and Rye. The Rockingham Land Trust recently completed the preservation of the Piscassic Greenway in Newfields.