We want to designate the Blackstone a Wild & Scenic River - and we’d love your help!

According to the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, a river may be designated as Wild and Scenic if it possesses outstandingly remarkable values (ORVs), or something special that most other rivers in the area don’t have.

It could be amazing scenery; great recreational opportunities; unique geological features; abundant fish and wildlife; or important historic and cultural aspects - we believe the Blackstone has all of those!

The goal of designating rivers as Wild and Scenic is to preserve their special values for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. Today, the program covers over 12,000 river miles in 40 states and Puerto Rico, helping to preserve unique values including recreation, fish and wildlife habitat, water quality, and cultural heritage. These rivers also help preserve access for millions of anglers, paddlers, backpackers, hikers, and other visitors, and bring substantial economic benefits to nearby communities.

This partnership relies on collaboration between local stakeholders working with the National Park Service to create a Stewardship Plan. This designation is used in New England where land is mostly privately owned and strong local support is paramount to its success. Local governments, watershed groups and community-based organizations would receive technical support from NPS to collaboratively write and later implement the Stewardship Plan through creation of a Stewardship Committee, made up of local communities and partners.

Designation would provide funding for local groups to collaboratively write a stewardship plan, and offer annual funding for implementing that plan - Congress has to vote on allocations each year, but it’s typically $250,000/year/river. Designation would also provide technical support from the National Park Service to support researching, writing, and implementing the plan, offer national prestige, and improve grant competitiveness to support additional funding invested in our region. Lastly, it would support protection of the river’s values from large-scale projects that may damage it, such as new hydroelectric projects or other federally-funded or managed projects.

No. This designation would empower locally-led, collaborative planning and management of the river, with technical assistance from the National Park Service. It would not include the federal government acquiring land. Instead, protections rely on local bylaws, ordinances, and regulations for protection.

No, local land use and property ownership are not affected by designation, though property values may increase. There are no additional requirements to maintain your land in a certain way and your rights to keep, sell, or transfer your land remain the same. If you choose to develop your land, you’d need to follow existing state and local regulations; designation would not affect local zoning or land use controls.

Designation would only affect federally licensed or assisted water resource projects such as proposing a new hydropower facility, which the federal government would already be reviewing for local impact. Any other type of development that does not already require federal review would continue to be regulated by local and state land use laws.

Absolutely not! Wild & Scenic designation does not give the federal government any authority to infringe on an individual’s privacy or property rights and landowners are under no obligation to even provide access to their property. The river and adjacent parcels would continue to be regulated by the local government. The National Park Service does not want to purchase or take any parcels.

If the Stewardship Plan identifies expanding protected space along the river, property owners would be able to sell or donate land to a land trust or other entity such as the state just as they may do now. A Wild and Scenic designation may help provide more funds for conservation or recreational easements, if those are goals of the Plan.

No, this designation would work through existing regulations and adds no new permits. Existing protections are already in place such as the MA Wetlands Protection Act, RI Freshwater Wetlands Rules, local bylaws/ordinances and regulations around wetlands and waterways, MA Chapter 91 licenses to build docks, and other regulations already work to protect the river, shores, and other resources.

National Park Service or Stewardship Committee review is based on what kinds of projects already require federal review - there is no new trigger. Projects that use federal funding, affect the Waters of the United States, or federally licensed or assisted water resource projects such as new hydroelectric facilities already require federal review, including by NPS. These projects would include NPS working with the Stewardship Committee to consider the potential impacts of the proposed project to the values identified within the Plan to ensure that those resources would continue to be protected.

Designation typically takes at least three years, but in some cases, much longer. So far, we’ve taken steps to build a team, explored eligibility and suitability, and are working to build local support. Next, we plan to work with partners to propose a bi-state Congressional Bill that would authorize and fund a study through both RI and MA representatives. This may take months or years to get a vote. From there, we would create an official Study Committee (including representatives from each river community) and sign a Cooperative Agreement with NPS. This group would then start working to create a stewardship plan, with lots of public engagement throughout the process. Once a final plan is written, the Study Committee would request each municipality along the river vote in support of the plan and that would be sent to Congress to request final designation.

Once designated, an ongoing Stewardship Committee would oversee implementation of the Stewardship Plan. This Committee, made up of representatives from each municipality along the river, tribes, community-based organizations, economic development groups, and others, would decide how annual funds would be allocated, such as supporting staff time or funding projects that support the Plan, including water quality monitoring, land protection, expanding recreational opportunities, or restoration efforts.

The Blackstone Collaborative is simultaneously working to engage with local communities and organizations around their goals to improve recreational access, restoration, and aquatic connectivity on the Blackstone through a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant. This project will run through 2027 and is the perfect opportunity to inform both the restoration and access plans we are creating as well as a river stewardship plan for a Wild & Scenic designation.