Blackstone river protects nature in a changing cultural landscape--National Park Service--WASO-INFO





					by Nancy Brittain
					The national heritage area movement began chiefly as a method for protecting regional landscapes of historic significance in places where the National Park Service could not or would not be expected to own and manage land—places where people live and where their history is still unfolding. Several of the 16 designated national heritage areas, such as the Hudson River Valley and the Delaware and Lehigh Navigation Canal in Pennsylvania's coal region, commemorate areas of historic significance that are directly tied to natural resources. In the Blackstone River Valley, which was designated a national heritage corridor in 1986, the explosion in water-powered manufacturing, which signaled the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, was predicated on a river powerful enough to fuel the dozens of mills springing up along the corridor's 46-mile course. Today, as yesterday, a tension exists in this historic setting in Rhode Island and Massachusetts between the forces of change and the resource base from which change often draws. Now in its second decade and one of the first NPS heritage areas, Blackstone River faces the great challenge of shaping growth through an integrated resource management approach: balancing historic preservation, environmental conservation, and economic development. This new-style “park" emphasizes management and stewardship through partnerships, which can become complicated when the agendas of different partners conflict. For the first time, in 1997 a Natural Resources Inventory and Assessment was developed for the corridor. The advisory committee, composed of many partners active in natural resource protection throughout the valley, agreed early in the assessment process that management recommendations could not relate solely to ecological functions of the landscape. As a result, protection strategies for the corridor tend to focus on actions that are likely to gain the broadest support. However, they also take into account regional impacts of growth and transportation and the area's overall conservation purpose. A key to natural resource protection in the valley is influencing local decision making and even the thinking of the local populace. A prime example occurred in Grafton, Massachusetts, in 1998 when the Grafton Land Trust sought to protect 124 acres of hay fields, pasture, wetland, and woodland amid a much larger landscape. Miscoe Brook, constituting a significant portion of the Grafton watershed and aquifer, also runs through the property. The town had the first option to buy the land through a Massachusetts farmland protection program, but residents needed to be convinced. With help from the corridor's staff real estate specialist and a key partner in the management of the corridor, Donna Williams of the local land trust, residents voted to approve $1.5 million to purchase the land. The town of Grafton will eventually allow a small, clustered development on a portion of the property to offset some costs, but the net result is protection of critical resources and wildlife habitat, which might not have happened without a compelling argument. Incrementally, these small successes add up to greater protection of the cultural landscape and survival of natural systems and habitat. The challenge of working in an ever-changing environment has broad applications for traditional national parks, too, as they grapple with growth and infrastructure along their boundaries.

		The view from Lookout Rock in Northridge, Massachusetts, is representative of the scenic character of portions of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. Numerous partners, including the National Park Service, strive to manage area growth in ways compatible with historic and natural resource conservation. The entire scene from this spot is protected thanks to the efforts of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management. E-mail: nancy_brittain@nps.gov Community Planner, Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Rhode Island Back to Chapter 1: A Spectrum of Challenges Commercial Fishing Issues In Glacier Bay Resolved Through Legislation by James Tilmant and Chad Soiseth Mining and power generation along the Natchez Trace Parkway by Kerry Moss and Mark VanMouwerik Personal watercraft use to be regulated in the parks by Chip Davis The politics of prescribed fire at devils tower by Chas Cartwright and Kurt Pindel Agencies search for reasons for amphibian decline by Kathy A. Tonnessen and Gary Williams Home

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Last Updated: 07/22/99
Direct comments on this website to jeff_selleck@nps.gov
This article is from Natural Resource Year in Review--1998, published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, in June 1999 (publication D-1346)