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Eightmile
River, CT
Farmington
River, CT
Great
Egg Harbor, NJ
Lamprey
River, NH
Lower
Delaware River, NJ/PA
Maurice
River, NJ
Musconetcong River, NJ
Sudbury,
Assabet & Concord Rivers, MA
Taunton River, MA
White
Clay Creek, DE/PA
Wekiva
River, FL
Westfield River, MA
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Partnership
Wild & Scenic Rivers
What are "Partnership" Wild & Scenic
Rivers?
In the 1960s, the country awoke to the fact
that our rivers were being dammed, dredged, diked, diverted and
degraded at an alarming rate. To lend balance to our history of
use and abuse of our waterways, Congress created the National Wild and Scenic Rivers
System in 1968. With this act it became the policy
of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation,
and their immediate environments, that possess outstandingly remarkable
scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural
or other similar values, should be preserved in free-flowing condition.
Rivers in this national system are protected for the benefit and
enjoyment of present and future generations.
As a subset of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers are preserved and managed through a partnership of adjacent communities, state governments and the National Park Service. Communities protect their own outstanding rivers and river-related resources.
Twelve Wild and Scenic Rivers are currently managed though this collaborative approach. The Farmington (Connecticut), Great Egg Harbor (New Jersey), Lamprey (New Hampshire), Lower Delaware (New Jersey/Pennsylvania), Maurice and tributaries (New Jersey), Muscontcong (New Jersey), Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers (Massachusetts), Wekiva (Florida), Westfield (Massachusetts),
and White Clay Creek (Delaware/Pennsylvania) and the recently designated Eightmile (Connecticut) and Taunton River (Massachusetts).
(Click on the navigation bars to the left for links
to each Partnership Wild & Scenic River)
Congress proposes additions to the National Wild and Scenic River System and now in two cases the National Park Service is providing staff support and overall coordination to study these rivers. Community leadership and involvement in the study process is critical for proposed partnership rivers. The studies provide an important opportunity for towns to work together at a watershed-scale.
Two studies are currently underway: Seventy miles of the Lower Farmington River & Salmon Brook in Massachusetts (study initiated in 2007) and 70 miles of the Upper Missisquoi and Trout Rivers in Vermont (study initiated in 2009).
For additional information on these studies go to http://www.lowerfarmingtonriver.org/?page_id=2
and http://www.vtwsr.org/
In 2008, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act marked its 40th anniversary. This offered an important opportunity to celebrate the successes of the Act and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
Learn more about the act at www.rivers.gov |
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Last
Modified 07-12-10