The Deerfield River Watershed Association (DRWA), in partnership with the Windham Regional Commission, has been awarded a Vermont Watershed grant from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department to fund a Wild and Scenic River designation study for the Vermont portions of the Deerfield River watershed.
“This momentum reflects years of community building across the entire watershed,” said DRWA President Christopher Bathurst in a news release.
DRWA has accepted the $5,000 state grant, which will be matched by a $5,000 contribution from the association. The grant will support a detailed assessment of the Deerfield River’s Vermont tributaries — including the Deerfield River’s North, East, and West branches; the Green and North rivers — documenting the rivers’ “outstandingly remarkable values” across scenic, recreational, ecological, historic, and cultural dimensions.
This assessment will be an important step toward completing the needed full Wild and Scenic Study for the Vermont portion of the watershed. When completed, the study will be combined with the already completed Massachusetts study and will go to Congress to inform a Federal Wild and Scenic River designation decision on the Deerfield River and its tributaries.
DRWA vice president Chris Curtis is the lead coordinator of the initiative. “The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department’s support is a strong signal that the case for designation is compelling on both sides of the state line,” he said in the news release.
The Vermont study builds on years of work completed in Massachusetts, has broad congressional support from both states’ delegations, and letters of support from seven Vermont municipalities, 11 Massachusetts municipalities, and 12 organizations, including the Vermont Natural Resources Council, Trout Unlimited, the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, Green River Watershed Alliance, and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.
National Wild and Scenic River designation would permanently protect the Deerfield River from new dams and adverse water development, while preserving its free-flowing character, exceptional coldwater fisheries, and world-class recreational values.
For more information or to get involved, visit deerfieldriver.org/wild-and-scenic or contact drwa@deerfieldriver.org.
This Town and Village item was submitted to The Commons.