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Examples of How the Initative Can Help Communities Revitalize Their Rivers
An Example of What An American Heritage River Designation
would mean for an Urban Riverfront
"The Urban River"
Note: This is a fictitious scenario constructed for example purposes only.
Description
The nominated Urban River segment includes rural upstream and downstream segments. The
city segment of the Urban River has been shaped by decades of urbanization followed by population
declines. Junk yards and brownfields line the riverbank. Water quality is poor due to failing septic
systems and urban runoff. An abandoned rail line separates the city center from the river. The city
itself was settled 125 years ago. Subsequent westward settlement hinged on this city, and evidence
of this part of America's heritage is reflected in original sections of town.
Why the Urban River was designated an American Heritage River
The Urban River and its sponsoring community were designated an American Heritage River because
there were notable resource qualities, including historic buildings and open space. Just as important,
the community had strategies to re-introduce both citizens and visitors to the river's legacy and its
resources.
The community's goals
The community agreed that both recreation and small business opportunities were priorities.
Moreover, the community wished to improve water quality and encourage both the urban and rural
areas to plan for sustainable development and redevelopment.
Projects
Reconnect the city to the riverfront and make the riverfront attractive to new industry and non-motorized transportation.
Provide recreational opportunities for all people along the rural stretches of the river.
Save and celebrate historic downtown, strengthen local economy.
Getting it done
- River Navigator helps local chamber of commerce find experts to design a community visioning process and helps
identify best tools.
- National Park Service (NPS) Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA) technical assistance helps
local chamber of commerce subcommittee on downtown redevelopment build constituency, organize public workshops, and hold
a design charrette.
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Sustainable Development Challenge Grant provides funding for community to
identify development opportunities that provide for environmental, economic and community benefits.
- RTCA provides technical assistance for greenway planning.
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant funds a design plan for an urban riverfront plaza.
- U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds a greenway plan.
- Local Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students design the greenway with technical assistance from
NRCS conservation operations and plant materials center.
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS) jointly help community plan for and implement flood damage reduction measures, including new flood wall in parts
of riverfront, and enhanced wetland restoration to absorb flood waters and provide wildlife habitat and recreational
opportunities.
- Army Corps of Engineers provides technical assistance for redevelopment of unprotected floodplain lands through the
Floodplain Management Services (FPMS) Program, Section 206 of the Flood Control Act of 1960, as amended. Clean Water Act 319
grants from the state/EPA fund wetland restoration activities.
- HUD CDBG funds riverfront plaza construction.
- Department of Transportation (DOT)/state ISTEA dollars, community foundation, and corporation partner to support and
fund greenway construction. A five-mile greenway runs from downtown riverfront past the urban fringe and ends up following
a tributary into a nearby county park.
- Small Business Administration (SBA) loan guarantee program: Local bank gives low interest loan to a local entrepreneur
who employs 30 people in construction and subsequently 20 people in the service sector.
- Abandoned warehouse renovated into a microbrewery: HUD CDBG, NPS Historic Building Tax Credits, EPA Brownfields program.
- National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and NEA fund a Riverway Arts Festival celebrating the historic downtown and
the river's legacy to the city.
- EPA/state provides technical assistance to assess pollutant loading to the river and determine which potential solutions
may result in the greatest improvement of water quality.
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Farmland Protection program assists with the purchase of development rights
to reduce unplanned urban sprawl.
- Community groups receive a grant from the Urban and Community Forestry Fund in the Forest Service to plant trees and
gardens to beautify downtown areas.
An Example of What An American Heritage River Designation
could mean to a Suburban River
"The Suburban River"
Note: This is a fictitious scenario constructed for example purposes only
Description
The nominated Suburban River flows 20 miles through eroded riparian areas and small
towns. Town leaders are eager to win over businesses planning to settle in the area, but these
businesses are looking for inexpensive raw land suitable for their needs. The surrounding land
remains agricultural, but real estate prices are escalating. Successful farmers have always
depended upon the river for irrigation. The river and its banks are inaccessible to fishing and
boating.
Why the Suburban River was designated an American Heritage River
Yesterday's community of farmers and traders was composed of a diverse mix of people settling
from other countries. The same is true today. The hamlets in this community are no different
from those surrounding them in this part of America, an area rich with pioneer heritage.
However, these neighboring towns came together and decided, in partnership and as a
community, to nominate the Suburban River, a resource they think will be just as important to
their community's future as it was to its past.
The community's goals
The community agreed that both recreation and small business opportunities were priorities.
Moreover, the community wished to encourage both sustainable development and redevelopment.
Projects
Protect and preserve a landscape that has remained essentially unchanged since the Civil War.
Protect the high levels of water quality.
Establish paddle sports and fishing opportunities to respond to the public's interest.
Diversify the economy with tourism and new products while maintaining the infrastructure
and surrounding landscape diversity.
Prevent flooding.
Getting it done
- Planning assistance comes from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the
U. S. Forest Service (USFS) Landowner Assistance Program, and the National Park Service
(NPS) Historic Preservation Services.
- NPS American Battlefield Protection Program and county combine funds to restore and preserve battlefield.
- NPS, U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Defense (DOD), and
NRCS identify and secure funds to purchase conservation easements from willing landowners.
- DOT Intermodel Surface Transportation and Enhancements Act (ISTEA) funds save a historic train depot.
- Historic buildings are restored and builders enjoy tax credits authorized by the NPS.
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), involving local university, boating groups, and
neighboring schools, provides pollution prevention grants and technical assistance.
- Communities receive technical assistance from NRCS and EPA, as well nonpoint source
funds from the state (Clean Water Act 319 funds), to restore streambanks.
- ISTEA funds construct wharfs and boat ramps on property acquired by town.
- County dedicates funding for vehicle turn-arounds.
- Rural Housing and Community Development Service helps town construct community recreational/meeting facility.
- Small Business Administration (SBA) loan guarantee program: Local bank gives low
interest loan to the son of a local farmer who wants to purchase a local variety store and start
a canoe livery on his land.
- The USFS Landowner Assistance Program helps woodlot owners increase management skills on private property.
- Small business loans from SBA or Economic Development Agency help convert a historic farmhouse into a bed and breakfast.
- Extension Service helps farmers diversify crops and take advantage of the public's growing taste for organic vegetables.
- Educational resources from EPA, the National Science Foundation, USDA and the Department of the Interior are tapped and
adapted to local needs.
- Commerce's Coastal Zone Management program integrates and coordinates a range of
funding and technical assistance programs to enhance aquatic habitats along the river.
Working with the community, EPA Wetlands Grants, US Fish and Wildlife Service's Wildlife
Habitat Incentives, Wetlands Reserve, Wetlands Conservation Grants and an array of Army Corps
of Engineers programs (1135; 204; 206) are applied.
- Local non-profit maintains river side trail developed through National Recreational
Trails Fund of the Federal Highway Administration.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utility Service provides loan assistance for bait
and boat rental shop.
- Models provided by EPA help community to determine the effects of future land uses on
water quality and management practices to help protect these resources.
- NRCS provides farmers and ranchers technical assistance to establish conservation buffer
strips along streams to preserve water quality through the National Conservation Buffer Initiative
(NCBI).
- NRCS Farmland Protection Program (FPP) assists with the purchase of development
rights to reduce unplanned urban sprawl.
- NRCS provides cost-share assistance to install best management practices to ensure high
water quality through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).
- NRCS helps to accelerate the conservation and development and utilization of the natural
resources in the area to make it more appealing for new business (Resource Conservation
districts).
An Example of What an American Heritage River
Designation Would Mean to a Rural Riverfront
"The Rural River"
Note: This is a fictitious scenario for example purposes only
Description
The Rural River flows through 50 miles of mostly private and state land. The primary uses
are agriculture, wood products, subsistence activities and some tourism. The communities want
to balance these sometimes competing needs in an era of increased economic uncertainty,
preserve natural resources, and preserve their multi cultural heritage.
Why the Rural River was designated an American Heritage River
The rural communities on the river have rich Hispanic and Anglo cultural heritages. Generations
of farmers and ranchers have provided fruits, vegetables, beef and wood products for the entire
region. An excellent trout fishery exists, a fact little known outside the area.
The Communities' Goals
Three of the small towns along the Rural River are working together to improve economic
opportunities, including water-based recreation and tourism, while managing agriculture lands in a
sustainable manner. The highway along the river is a popular alternate route to the mountains,
and more could be done to garner tourist dollars. They would like to improve water quality in
the river, which has suffered due to a prolonged drought and agricultural run-off. An abandoned
hacienda near one of the small towns could be restored to provide lodging and interpretive
opportunities for visitors to the area, and a place for local residents to gather. Housing is tight in
one of the small towns, particularly for seasonal workers.
Projects
Diversify the economy with cultural tourism and water-based recreation while maintaining a
strong agricultural economy.
Improve water quality in the river, ensure safe drinking water supply, stabilize streambanks,
and protect riparian areas.
Provide public access for fishing.
Restore abandoned hacienda.
Replace unsafe bridge.
Provide better housing and amenities for seasonal agricultural workers.
Create short-term and long-term employment opportunities.
Improve appearance of highway along river and provide more shade.
Getting it Done
- River Navigator works with the three communities to complete their vision
strategy after the river is designated.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
Urban and Community Forestry program provide funds for planting willows and
cottonwoods along the highway, and for construction of a riverside picnic area.
- DOT Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act (ISTEA) funds and National
Park Service (NPS) Historic Building Tax Credits are used to restore the old hacienda,
which includes lodging, a gift shop, interpretive kiosk, working orchards, meeting rooms,
fishing pier, a swimming area and small park. A Small Business Administration business loan
provides start-up funds for the gift shop, which features wooden crafts, flavored honey, and
jam made from the hacienda's orchards.
- Through the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Watershed Planning
Program, water quality improvements and streambank stabilization efforts are made using the
NRCS National Conservation Buffer Initiative and the Army Corps of Engineers, with support
from the state and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Water Act Section 319
funds.
- U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) and the Rural Housing and Community Development Service fund the
remodeling of several housing units and the construction of a recreation field for
seasonal agricultural workers.
- NPS, DOT, and U. S. Department of Defense provide funds to purchase conservation
easements where people can fish.
- USDA's Timber Bridge program and the state fund a new bridge constructed from
underused woods.
- Models provided by EPA help community to determine the effects of potential future
land use on drinking water and/or fisheries, and what management actions might best protect
those resources.
- NRCS provides farmers and ranchers technical assistance for better grazing land
management and establishment of conservation buffer strips along streams through the National
Conservation Buffer Initiative.
- NRCS provides cost share assistance to address soil, water, and related natural resource
problems through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), establishment of good
forest management practices, developing fish and wildlife habitat on private lands, and installation
of best management practices for water quality improvement (Watershed Operations).
- NRCS helps accelerate the conservation and development and utilization of natural
resources in the area.
- Farm Security Administration (FSA) provides annual rental payments for converting
highly erodible cropland to a vegetative cover.
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