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Wild & Scenic River Study Committee April 10, 2002
Bridgewater Academy Building
Committee Chairman Jim Ross called the April 2002 meeting of the Taunton River Wild and Scenic Study Committee to order at approximately 7:00 PM.
Committee members attending: Frank Bibbins, Kitty Doherty,
Tricia Cassady, Bridgewater, Jack Traynor, Halifax Francis Pereira, Bill Taylor,
Middleboro, Ray Brierly, Steve Cote, Bob Davis, Burke Fountain, Jim Ross, Raynham
Aria Brissette, Jasmine Tanguay, Taunton, Jamie Fosburg, National Park Service,
Maisy McDarby-Stanovich, SRPEDD, Pat Rogers, EOEA Taunton River Basin Team Leader,
Joan Kimball, DEM Riverways Program, Scott MacFaden, Wildlands Trust
Also attending was Chris Simmons of Dighton, a representative of the Lower Taunton River Working Group (see Agenda Item #2 below).
Review of Agenda Items Discussed
1 (1) Minutes for the previous committee meeting on March 13 were
approved with no discussion.
2 (2) Introduction of Lower Taunton River Working Group Representative:
Chairman Ross and Pat Rogers introduced Chris Simmons, a Dighton resident who
is a member of the Lower Taunton River Working Group, a recently formed entity
created to study the possibility of pursuing Wild and Scenic designation for
the lower Taunton. Chris' primary purpose for attending the Wild and Scenic
meeting is to gain insight into the Wild and Scenic study process.
3 (3) Overview of Federal and State Programs Active on the Taunton
River: Jamie Fosburgh provided a brief overview of National Park Service involvement
with the river, which began with a riverfront project in Raynham and has continued
with the Wild and Scenic study.
4 Pat Rogers offered a summary of the Watershed Team's efforts across
the state and within the Taunton River watershed.
5 Joan Kimball of DEM's Riverways Program discussed the Taunton
River Heritage Program, detailing its origins as a grant program conceived by
Senator Marc Pacheco for which the Taunton River would serve as the pilot for
the program. As currently structured, the Heritage River Program has two phases,
a small grants round offered last fall and a Visioning Workshop designed to
help facilitate a marketing logo for the river.
6 Two other river-related endeavors received mention, the Taunton
River Stewardship Program and the Taunton River Watershed Alliance. The Stewardship
Program was formed six years ago to promote the preservation of the upper Taunton
River corridor as an intact resource, and includes representatives from the
five communities in the Wild and Scenic Study area and from SRPEDD, Massachusetts
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, TRWA, and The Wildlands Trust. The Program's
efforts have helped to directly or indirectly facilitate the protection of almost
600 acres of land along the Taunton River system since its inception.
7 The Taunton River Watershed Alliance concentrates its efforts
on outreach and advocacy, which includes sponsoring river action focus teams,
clean-ups, canoe races, and water quality monitoring teams.
8 (4). Sub-Committee Updates: Maisy McDarby reported on behalf of
the Website Subcommittee, and indicated that the website was proceeding toward
completion and should be done by the end of April. Remaining tasks include developing
a strategy on how to market the site and how to make optimum use of links to
other sites. Among the site's many currently available features is a posting
of the minutes for each Wild and Scenic Committee meeting. The website subcommittee
will schedule its next meeting as soon as possible, location and time to be
determined.
9 Aria Brissette offered a synopsis of the most recent GIS Subcommittee
meeting. The subcommittee has compiled paper copies of assessors maps for Taunton
and Halifax, whereas Raynham expects to have its parcel data completed soon.
For Bridgewater, the issue is the imminent end of the town's contract with its
GIS subcontractor-it is unclear as to who will carry forward with the town's
GIS work. The GIS subcommittee will make a presentation summarizing the status
of all GIS issues to the Wild and Scenic Committee at one of the next three
full committee meetings.
10 Chairman Ross reminded the committee that two defined but as yet
inactive subcommittees, the Landowner Subcommittee and the Natural Resources
Subcommittee, should schedule meetings as soon as possible. The task of scheduling
these meetings, and with organizing and staffing a Recreation Subcommittee,
was delegated to Bill Napolitano.
11 (5). Update on BioDiversity Days Speaker: A representative of
the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program will make
a presentation on May 15 at Middleboro Town Hall, time to be determined. This
presentation will occur several weeks prior to and be in support of "Biodiversity
Days", an ongoing state effort to facilitate public interest in and support
for protecting our state's biodiversity. This presentation will occur in place
of the monthly Wild and Scenic Committee meeting, and all members are encouraged
to attend.
12 (6). Presentation by Town Reps. on Tributaries: Since the inception
of the Wild and Scenic study, considerable interest has been evidenced in evaluating
the Taunton River's major tributaries for inclusion in the study. Jamie Fosburgh
explained the Park Service's criteria for evaluating tributaries, which includes
assessments of their cultural, historical, recreational, geological, aesthetic,
and wildlife habitat values, and also addresses the question of whether the
tributaries' inclusion in the study is critical to the mainstem designation.
Committee members from Halifax, Bridgewater, Middleboro, and Raynham nominated
tributaries in their towns for potential inclusion in the study, summaries of
which appear below.
13 · Halifax: Jack Traynor nominated the Winnetuxet River,
and read a prepared statement in support of this nomination that referenced
the Winnetuxet's scenic, historical, archaeological, and wildlife habitat values.
It was also noted that a significant core of protected conservation land along
the lower Winnetuxet has been established.
14 · Bridgewater: Kitty Doherty spoke in favor of nominating
the Town River, which originates in the Hockomock Swamp and flows for over 14
miles to its confluence with the Matfield. Four public parks currently exist
along the Town, including three in Bridgewater and one in West Bridgewater.
15 · Middleboro: Pat Rogers nominated the Nemasket River,
which rises from Assawompsett Pond in Middleboro and Lakeville. The Nemasket's
features include a high-quality herring run, a soon to be restored Oliver Mill
Park, and several publicly owned parcels along its scenic lower reaches.
16 · Raynham: Although Bassett Brook and Damlot Brook were
mentioned as possible candidates, Raynham's delegation seemed to coalesce in
favor of nominating the Forge River. Numerous rare and endangered species occur
along the Forge, and its lower reaches have historical significance, as one
of, if not the first, ironworks ever built in colonial America was located along
its banks.
17 The Taunton delegation offered several tributaries as potentially
worthy of nomination, including the Three-Mile, Furnace, and Cotley, but did
not formally nominate any of these.
18 Following these nominations, discussion ensued about the merits
of including tributaries in the study, and the concern was expressed that doing
so would dramatically expand the scope of the initial study, and perhaps divert
energy and resources from the original purpose of studying the mainstem of the
Taunton. Jamie F. emphasized that several options are available short of including
the tribs. in the study, such as including them in the river management and
conservation plan.
19 Following Joan Kimball's suggestion, those who nominated each
tributary will schedule trips to obtain more information, and will report back
to the full committee at the next regular meeting.
20 (7). New Business: Ray Brierly, Maisy M, and Bill N. have discussed
inviting a Native American onto the full committee. Although the committee structure
and staffing has already been established, it was unanimously voted to invite
Dave Garcia to attend all committee meetings.
The meeting adjourned shortly after 9:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Scott MacFaden Secretary,
Taunton River Wild and Scenic River Study Committee