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Canoe race on the Concord River, MA. NPS Photo J.Fosburgh
In This Issue
Partnership Rivers
Eye of the Beholder
A Tip of the Hat...
Endangered Rivers
Keep Connected
Get Involved
Events

Let's Work Together
Links

Sidebar-2Keep Connected
Network with the Pros:
River Management Society

Free-flowing information at
Rivers.gov;
Kids page, too

Sidebar-GetInvolvedGet Involved
Deadline: Aug. 1 for RTCA help in 2011. Application info is all here:
www.nps.gov/rtca

Shutterbugs:
Enter the Federal Recreation Lands 2011 Photo Contest

Sidebar-1In the News:
Attention flows to
American Rivers' 'Endangered Rivers" List

EventsEvents
Speak up on "America's Great Outdoors"
-- 7/15 in Asheville, NC

7/16 in Grand Junction, CO

Meet new partners + learn new tools

Conservation + Recreation: July 2010
FeatureArticle"Partnership" Rivers
A chat with Charlie Stockman, National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program Manager
 
C+R: Tell me about
Photo: Eightmile R. Wild & Scenic Coord. Comt.
Concrete Plant  Park--After
the NPS and river protection.
Charlie:
Through RTCA (our agency's community assistance arm for recreation and conservation) we can help a community identify values and a vision for a river.  Our primary role is to build capacity in a community and to share the conservation and recreation mission of the National Park Service.  We may help study the river's history and current uses, offer information on how to reduce impacts on its natural resources, share proven plans for sustainable boat launches, and explain how the Wild and Scenic River Act is one tool for protection.  When recreational use is a primary goal for a community, we try to remind them that you can put a lot of canoes on the river, but if you degrade the quality of the river, people won't keep coming.
C+R: The Taunton and Eightmile were recently added to the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System.  What is special about these designations?
Charlie: 
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is a powerful tool made even more useful when applied with a partnership management approach.  Communities near these rivers advocated to Congress for designation, and in the case of twelve rivers in the Eastern U.S., these river communities accepted the day-to-day role of assuring that the outstanding and remarkable values of these treasured rivers remain.  The Taunton and Eightmile, like the other 10 "partnership rivers," have local coordinating groups that keep all the interested parties involved in making sensible management decisions for these local treasures.
 
C+R:
Got any more wisdom about caring for rivers?
Charlie: 
We see advocacy for rivers as a kind of a generational thing.  The effort to add a river to the National Wild and Scenic River System, for instance, has a lot of energy and excitement around it.  That excitement wanes and the next generation might not remember how special these rivers are and why they should care about them.  We are challenged to find ways to renew and refresh that excitement in order to motivate the next generation of stewards

Learn More... About the Taunton River
The 40-mile long Taunton River is the only major coastal river in the region that is without a dam or obstruction over its entire length.  It is the largest freshwater contributor to the Narragansett Bay estuary in Rhode Island.  Taunton River Stewardship Council

Learn More... About the Eightmile River
The Eightmile River flows through a pristine 62-square-mile watershed in rural Connecticut, joining the Connecticut River eight miles upriver from the Long Island Sound.  25.3 miles of the river are designated as Wild & Scenic.  Eightmile River Wild & Scenic Coordinating Committee
ArticleAThe Eye of the Beholder Wekiva River
They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  That's what makes the "outstandingly remarkable" scenic value of a wild and scenic river hard to define.  Plans that help people enjoy a river's beauty can sometimes change that beauty for others.

On the Wekiva River in metropolitan Orlando, Florida, a canoe dock figured in the plans to help homeowners in a new subdivision enjoy the river.  But if built as first planned, the dock would jut out about 25 feet into a river that is only 100-150 feet wide at that point -- possibly affecting the free flow of the river and its aquatic life, and definitely changing its scenic value.
 
The Acuera subdivision needed a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which triggered the federal assistance component of the project and brought the Wild and Scenic Rivers team into the picture.  Jeff Duncan, the NPS Wild and Scenic Rivers Coordinator for the region, consulted with the developer.  (This was the first "Section 7"* analysis to be performed on this partnership river, which was designated in 2000 and is managed by the Wekiva Advisory Management Committee.)
 
During the consultation, Duncan provided Acuera's consultants with RTCA's Logical Lasting Launches to help them get some ideas for a canoe launch that would meet the requirements and not adversely affect the river.  In fact, a dock is not the only good way to launch a canoe, so the group looked at some historic docks farther down the river, went through some redesigns, and ended up with a plan for an elevated boardwalk across the floodplain to the river.  Since the boardwalk ends at the edge of the water, it no longer impacts the view or the flow of the river.  Those involved are pleased with the result.
 
"This project succeeded because of the early informal consultations we had with the developer," says Duncan. "The landowner was able to add an amenity to their property without harming the river.  This is the first one of these we've done on the river and it was a success.  That's a best-case scenario."
 
Learn More About the Wekiva River
The 41.6-mile Wekiva River is an Outstanding Florida Water Body, an Aquatic Preserve, a State Canoe Trail, and a Wild and Scenic River.  The spring-fed river is one of the most ecologically significant areas in Florida outside the Everglades.  It is formed from the confluence of the Wekiva Spring Run and Rock Spring Run.  Friends of the Wekiva River

*Section 7 of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act sets standards and procedures to evaluate the effects of proposed water resources projects. [pdf]
ArticleBA Tip of the Hat to... Sharon Meeker
Sharon Meeker, Chair of the Lamprey River Advisory Committee (NH)

Sharon lives along the river she loves.  Brimming with new ideas, Sharon also is willing to jump in to make them happen.  She has been an active member of the Advisory Committee from the beginning and is currently the chair.  As a long-time environmental educator, Sharon has been the mastermind and workhorse for countless public events and the creator of educational tools that help others get to know and love the Lamprey. 

"Sharon is always ready to host a lunch meeting, go out in rubber boots to cut knotweed, testify before the legislature, write a budget, run a meeting, send out a press release, or whatever is needed to get the job done and protect the river.  She is one of the most devoted and hard-working volunteers ever, and I want to put her in the spotlight!" says Julie Isbill of the NPS RTCA program in nearby Maine.
LetsWorkLet's Work Together
Could your project benefit from collaboration with a National Park Service specialist?
 
If you're restoring a river, building a community trail, or making an urban park flourish, we'd love to talk with you about ways we could work together.
 
Call or email your regional representative today.
Like what you read?  Please copy or forward this newsletter.
Have a story idea?  We're happy to consider story ideas or news items for future publication.
Want to use a story for your own publication?  We would be pleased to help you. To submit an idea or request information about adapting a story, please contact Alan Turnbull: 202-354-6930 or Alan_Turnbull@nps.gov

Conservation + Recreation
is written to support and inform our organizational partners, friends of the program, potential partners, and Department of the Interior staff. It's our chance to share activities and successes and those of our partners. For details on specific projects, please contact the staff person involved with each project.

Images courtesy National Park Service