LEARNING & EXPLORING
Wild & Scenic Program Overview
A Brief History
(Excerpt from the Watershed Management Plan, page iii)
In the mid 1990’s, a broad group of local citizens came together
with the goal of protecting the Eightmile River and the intact watershed
landscape that surrounded it. They knew it to be a rural watershed with
clear and uncontaminated waters, virtually no polluting industry, large
areas of untouched natural landscape and a bucolic quality of living
that was rapidly disappearing in many areas of the state.
This
initial group of local citizens, supported by The
Nature Conservancy and the University
of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System, recognized that the
watershed’s exceptional resources could quality it for Congressional
Wild and Scenic Designation. They also sought the Wild and Scenic process
as a powerful tool for bringing multiple communities together to shape
and implement a collective vision for protection of the watershed. A
local campaign by members of town boards, area land trusts, The Nature
Conservancy, river-fronting landowners and other residents was undertaken
to initiate the Wild and Scenic process. Congressman Rob Simmons and
Senator Chris Dodd helped secure authorization and funding from Congress
to undertake a Wild & Scenic River Study.
After
the Study bill was passed by Congress, a local Wild and Scenic Study
Committee was formed. Charged with carrying out the Wild and Scenic
Study and developing a river management plan, the Committee's membership
included the First Selectman from the communities of Lyme, Salem and
East Haddam, representatives of the three area land trusts, representation
from a land use commission in each town, the CT River Estuary Regional
Planning Agency, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Connecticut
Department of Environmental Protection, and The Nature Conservancy.
National Park Service provided staff support and overall coordination.
Sub-committees on management, natural resources, cultural resources
and outreach and education helped guide and implement the study process.
Finding that the Eightmile Watershed contained a wealth of outstanding resource values and was both eligible and suitable for Wild and Scenic status, the Study Committee focused on drafting this Watershed Management Plan and the accompanying Study Report which recommends to Congress official Wild and Scenic designation.
Committee members brought a wealth of knowledge and experience in governmental,
ecological and organizational processes. These credentials, along 
with
much collaboration with independent researchers, local supporting agencies,
professional contractors and the general public helped ensure the study’s
success.
In late 2005, the Study Committee released the draft Watershed Management Plan and received endorsements from all of the land use commissions and boards of selectmen from the three primary towns within the watershed (East Haddam, Lyme and Salem). In early 2006, each of those towns held a public meeting vote on endorsement of the Management Plan as well as Wild and Scenic designation at which time the endorsements were passed by a wide margin. As this document goes to the presses, the Eightmile Wild and Scenic Study Committee is transitioning to the Coordinating Committee which will be charged with implementing the plan contained in this documents.