Housatonic River Walk

HOUSATONIC RIVER WALK
DESCRIPTION

River Walk Upstream The Housatonic River in Berkshire County is a "working river" abused by years of industrial waste and neglect. It is also a river of great wildlife beauty. The Great Barrington Housatonic River Walk, a project of The Great Barrington Land Conservancy, brings the river back into our lives by tackling riverbank clean-ups with tangible and immediate results, using community volunteers. In exchange for the clean-ups, property owners grant public access and permission to install a community walking trail. This is the first public greenway trail being installed on the Housatonic River in Massachusetts and has become a model for other local communities. At the same time, its hands-on educational program is a regular presence in the community. The long-range material goal of the project is to extend the Housatonic RiverWalk approximately one-half mile between Great Barrington's two downtown bridges. Since 1988, 2000 local volunteers, with approximately half of them children, have removed over 400 tons of rubbish and construction debris from eight sites on the Housatonic River in downtown Great Barrington, including the remains of a building destroyed by fire and pushed over the bank. Volunteers have restored and landscaped the riverbank and produced a half mile of nature and walking trail. The physical building of River Walk is a means to achieving a far more substantial goal of bringing people back to the river by engaging volunteers in stewardship activities in hands-on ways. To ensure the river's future protection, project organizers use volunteers instead of hired professionals wherever Trail Building possible. If each member of the community picks up one piece of trash from the river, it will never be abused again. As volunteers work to clean and protect the river, they become examples to others who walk along completed sections of trail just feet away. This educational component remains the cornerstone of the River Walk program. Tours and slide-presentations about River Walk are given yearly to area schools and community organizations. Special workdays are dedicated to individual school groups and classes. During regular workdays, adults and children representing dozens of community interests throughout the county volunteer their time and labor to the project. River Walk has become a showcase for simple methods of riverbank protection, inspiring neighbors to become stewards of their own riverbank properties. Volunteers have installed drainage systems to filter oil and sediment from a parking lot's water runoff, "flowforms" to purify water from a municipal storm drain, erosion control materials, irrigation and bioengineering, "compost tea" soil enhancements, native species plantings, and non-toxic and recycled materials and applications. River Walk's tangible step-by-step record of success and its high visibility have made it a model for other local communities. Following Great Barrington's lead, greenway trails are now being realized in the towns of Lee, Lenox, Stockbridge, and Pittsfield, in both town and more pastoral settings. River Walk volunteers gain a unique appreciation of Berkshire County's most precious natural resource and the understanding that ordinary citizens can make a difference.

Donations are tax-deductible and should be made to:

Housatonic River Walk
P. O. Box 1018
Gt. Barrington, MA 01230 USA

Contact person: Rachel Fletcher, Project Coordinator - 413-528-3391 or river@gbriverwalk.org