 |
||
|
American Heritage Rivers |  |
 |
||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
| Rio Grande River
Signs Memorandum of Understanding |
 Photo by John H. McShane |
| Congressman Silvestre Reyes signing the American Heritage Rivers Rio Grande MOU at a ceremony at the White House on January 27, 1999. Looking on is George Frampton, Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality and Elizabeth Flores, Mayor of Laredo. |
Vol. 1 No. 2
December 14, 1998The past few months have been exciting ones for the American Heritage Rivers Initiative. We had a symposium in Atlanta in October that was attended by more than 250 people, including representatives of about 80 of the rivers that were nominated to the President last year. It was a great way to share experiences as well as information, and to meet with our many partners inside and outside the government.
Throughout the Fall, river communities along the 14 designated American Heritage Rivers have been holding numerous meetings to develop partnership agreements that describe how they will work together with other entities--governmental and non-governmental -- and to prepare position descriptions for their River Navigators. The hope is that most of these can be in place by early next year.
Below are updates on activities along the 14 designated rivers. If you want information directly from any of them, we've added a list of the contacts on our Talent Bank web page Contacts for 14 Designated Rivers.
River Updates
Updated December 10, 1998BLACKSTONE and WOONASQUATUCKET (RI/MA)
Meetings have been held with agency and community representatives on both rivers. The Enviromental Protection Agency is tentatively identified as the sponsoring Federal agency. The New England Federal Partners for Natural Resources, an interagency committee representing agencies in New England, will coordinate Federal assistance.
A general Memorandum of Understanding has been drafted and reviewed by each river's American Heritage River committee. It will be signed by all participating Federal agencies and representatives of both rivers. A signing ceremony is being planned for the first week in January. A more specific agreement will be developed to deal with the details of the River Navigator, and a position description has been drafted.
The Connecticut River Watershed Council submitted the nomination, culminating more than 20 years of activity in the four states bordering the Connecticut River. A draft Memorandum of Understanding between the Connecticut River community and Federal agencies is being circulated for review. Plans are underway for signing ceremonies that will include the Governors of New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The river navigator position description, developed by the community over the Fall, has been submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency for classification.
The Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization (CRCPO) is functioning as the lead agency of the American Heritage River Task Force and has submitted to the American Heritage Rivers Chair in Washington, D.C., their draft cooperative agreement for a Sponsoring Federal Agency, a draft Partnership Agreement between the American Heritage River Partners, and a draft position description for the River Navigator. CRCPO has requested that these documents be routed to three specific Federal agencies for review and consideration for sponsoring the River Navigator--Departments of Interior (National Park Service), Agriculture (Natural Resources Conservation Service) and Housing and Urban Development. Local Congressional representatives have been notified of the upcoming recruitment and asked for support. The Task Force desires to post the position description and conduct the hiring process in early December, but feels it would not be appropriate until the cooperative agreement is negotiated and executed by a Sponsor Agency.
The Ohio & Erie Canal Association, an American Heritage Rivers Task Force partner, is designing a Management Plan for the 87-mile long National Heritage Corridor and is conducting public workshops to solicit input. These meetings began on November 10 and continued through November 23. The American Heritage River Initiative is an ongoing point of discussion at these meetings.
The City of Detroit, Wayne County, Downriver Community Conference and Peter Stroh, representing the business community, nominated the Detroit River. The Detroit/Wayne County American Heritage River Transition Team is currently receiving and analyzing proposals for development and/or implementation along the 32-mile Detroit River corridor. The City of Detroit, County of Wayne, the Downriver Coordinating Council and the business community have initiated discussion with the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition to act in a secretariat and coordinating body type capacity for implementation of American Heritage River related initiatives. On November 19, 1998, a Wayne County Soil Survey Meeting was held to discuss soil mapping strategies for selected areas in Michigan, including soil areas along the Detroit River.
The University of Hawaii nominated the Hanalei. The US Forest Service has agreed to be the Sponsoring Federal agency and is looking into an Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) agreement plus annual grants to cover the costs of the local coordinator, American Heritage River office, and office assistant. The draft Partnership Agreement will be reformatted into a general Memorandum of Understanding among all participating Federal agencies and the University of Hawaii. This will be supplemented with a grant application and agreement between the University and the US Forest Service. The grant portion may require a 50% non-federal match. The American Planning Association is organizing the next community American Heritage River planning session and workshop.
Federal agencies in the area met on November 20 and reviewed the second drafts of the Partnership Agreement and River Navigator position description. They also discussed potential contributions of each agency to the action plan for the Hudson. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) expressed an interest in being the lead agency and providing a River Navigator for the Hudson River. The agencies agreed to the following: 1) changes in the Partnership Agreement and River Navigator position description, 2) language describing the Federal coordinating committee 3) filling the River Navigator position using the lead agency's normal process for filling positions, 4) that all agencies would help provide administrative support for the River Navigator, and 5) to seek office space from the Hudson River Greenway or other state agencies.
The next meeting will be held with representatives of the state agencies on the Hudson River Heritage Council. The agenda will include final review of the draft Partnership Agreement, identify who in each agency will sign the agreement, and agree on agency roles to support the River Navigator.
This designation encompassed two nominations, one from the City of Memphis, Tennessee, which covers the immediately adjacent area plus two small river tributaries, and the City of New Orleans, which includes that portion up to Baton, Rouge, Louisiana.
An outreach planning meeting for the New Orleans/Baton Rouge region was held on November 20. A meeting with the Memphis community organizations and federal agencies was held December 2. A position description for the River Navigator position has been negotiated and a cooperative agreement between the two cities has been drafted. The agencies being considered as Sponsoring Federal Agency are the Departments of Transportation, Interior, and Housing and Urban Development, and the Corps of Engineers.
MISSISSIPPI, Upper (MO/IL/IA/WI/MN)
Fifty-eight mayors along the Upper Mississippi submitted the application. The Upper Mississippi communities had a very successful meeting Oct. 27 in Davenport, IA. Thirty seven mayors or their designees participated. Representative Jim Leach (R-IA) and Jerry Lack from Representative Lane Evans (D-IL) office attended to hear about the river front revitalization projects. Qualities for the river navigator were discussed and a consensus of attendees agreed that the navigator must influence discussion about Federal funding, remove internal obstacles to implementation of projects, have a strong understanding of public and private funding to link different funding sources, work effectively with local organizations, and have a strong attachment to the Upper Mississippi, thus building a consensus among the communities.
A steering committee of 12 Mayors or their designees was named at the meeting and priority projects were discussed. Mailings were sent to Federal agencies in the four State areas in early November naming projects that could be of interest to them. Items pending at this time before the steering committee: 1) Final position document and 2) Cooperative Agreement. A telephone conference is planned for the week of December 14 with American Rivers, mayors, facilitators, and sponsors.
The nomination was submitted by The Conservation Fund. A number of committees have been formed to develop a comprehensive work plan and schedule and a draft partnership agreement and River Navigator position description. Although the initial efforts were focused on North Carolina, communities in Virginia and West Virginia are also becoming increasingly involved. A general meeting will be held on December 9 in Independence, VA at the 1908 Courthouse Building, 2-3:30 p.m. A final version of the partnership agreement and revised work plan is expected to be available at that time.
A tree planting event to celebrate the designation of the Potomac River as an American Heritage River was held at Mt. Vernon, home of George Washington, on the bank of the Potomac, on November 6. Attendees included U.S. Senators Paul Sarbanes of Maryland and Charles Robb of Virginia, U.S. Representatives James Moran of Virginia and Steny Hoyer of Maryland, and Director of the National Park Service (NPS) Robert Stanton. American Forests donated the historic Tulip Poplar tree with genetic ties to a Tulip Poplar planted by George Washington.
Organizational subgroups of the Friends of the Potomac continue to review and edit the draft River Navigator position description and partnership agreement. The Friends have sent a preliminary letter to CEQ stating their interest in having the NPS serve as their sponsoring Federal agency. A list of potential candidates for the River Navigator position is also being compiled.
Coalition building is underway to create an action plan for sustaining the environmental, cultural and economic resources of the Texas Rio Grande. The Consortium of the Rio Grande (CoRio) has been working with local jurisdictions along the Texas/Mexico border to develop a voluntary action plan and to create a partnership with federal, state and non-governmental bodies. CoRio is a nonprofit Texas corporation governed by a board that currently consists of the mayors of Brownsville, El Paso and Laredo. A General Secretary functions as CoRio's equivalent of a chief executive officer. A 250-member advisory council provides support and guidance.
CoRio has secured a grant from the economic Development Administration and opened a Secretariat with two full-time professionals. It has negotiated a memorandum of agreement to facilitate cooperation with Federal agencies and open the door to diplomatically-sanctioned cooperation with the Mexican sister cities along the Rio Grande. Local and regional projects are being developed. They range from wastewater treatment systems to involving high school students in water quality testing; from restoration of Spanish missions to organization of a binational Rio Grande film festival; from assisting city/county self-assessments of infrastructure needs to forming a private/public partnership for a ground station to receive and process satellite-generated data on natural resources and weather events.
The first of twelve project planning workshops and seminars was held in early November at the Indian Hot Springs Ranch, facilitated by Rio Grande Restoration Inc. A CoRio web page is in development.
Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney hosted a meeting of members of the executive committee for the Lower basin and Federal agency representatives on November 2, 1998. Federal agency representatives briefly discussed ways that they might be able to support the St Johns River plan. Several agencies are following up on early success opportunities such as potential work in a national park in the basin, use of new Clean Water Act section 319 (nonpoint source pollution control) funds as a result of the state targeting the basin as high priority under the Clean Water Action Plan, and possible application for a Sustainable Development Challenge Grant.
Comments were shared on the draft Partnership Agreement, which includes the River Navigator position description. The community has indicated that it would like EPA to serve as the lead Federal agency and for the River Navigator to come from EPA. December 11 was set as the goal for final concurrence on the partnership agreement.
UPPER SUSQUEHANNA- LACKAWANNA WATERSHED (PA)
Congressman Paul Kanjorski submitted the nomination, which covers 12 counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. Four public outreach meetings were held last month to discuss the designation and seek additional project ideas. A "town hall" meeting is being planned to take place in the next month or so to present the results of the four smaller meetings to a larger group representing the watershed. Regional directors from the participating Federal agencies will be invited to attend as well.
A partnership agreement has been drafted and is being circulated to an ad hoc steering committee. Specific project assistance is being sought from several organizations to jumpstart some smaller projects. The River Navigator position description is being drafted.
The first meeting to discuss the designation of the Willamette River was held on November 24, 1998 near Salem, Oregon. The meeting was hosted by the Willamette River Initiative (WRI), charged by Governor Kitzhaber with improving watershed conditions in the valley. The meeting participants -- representatives from the WRI board of directors, city governments, nonprofit organizations and federal agencies -- believed that the American Heritage Rivers designation was a logical tool for WRI to implement its broader vision. This will be presented to the next WRI board meeting on December 16. If approved, work will then begin on drafting the partnership agreement and the River Navigator position description.
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
American Heritage River News