Celebrate Rhode Island's ONLY wild and scenic river
By Colleen Cronin /
ecoRI News staff
Glen Rock Brook in South Kingstown, R.I., is part of the Wood-Pawcatuck watershed. (Colleen Cronin/ecoRI News)
Rhode Island is known for its miles and miles
of Atlantic coastline, but that’s not the state’s only draw, or even its only
aquatic attraction. The Ocean State is also home to miles of creeks, streams,
and rivers, including the Wood-Pawcatuck
watershed, which will be celebrated this weekend at the inaugural 7
Rivers Festival.
The Wood-Pawcatuck Wild and Scenic Rivers
Stewardship Council, in collaboration with local communities and
businesses, is hosting the celebration. The
activity-filled weekend will highlight the recreational, scenic, and economic
importance of the rivers.
From categorizing nighttime insects in
Hopkinton, to land-based fly-fishing lesson in Westerly, to free kayaking in
Pawcatuck and South Kingstown, the wide range of
activities and locales for the event mirror the size and
diversity of the watershed itself, said Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association
Wild & Scenic Rivers coordinator Kassie Donnelly.
Donnelly grew up on the Wood River, where she said she discovered her passion for environmental issues. She said she hopes the festival will be the weekend’s “hot spot, or should I say cool spot?”
With the darkest night sky between
Washington, D.C., and Boston, and dozens of miles of “wild” rivers, the
watershed encompasses 300 square miles, and its waterways travel through 12
towns, crossing the Rhode Island border in the south into Connecticut.
Congress bestowed the special Wild &
Scenic designation, only given to 1% of the nation’s rivers, on the watershed
in 2019. 
The first 7 Rivers Festival will celebrate the Wood-Pawcatuck
watershed, including the Queen River. (Colleen Cronin/ecoRI News)
The designation doesn’t put the land and waterways in federal control but allows communities around the watershed to devise a stewardship plan to conserve it.
Before the designation, the watershed was
already central to life in the western part of the state, but the rivers’ uses
have shifted over time, something local stakeholders hope to highlight.
In Westerly, which will host several 7 Rivers
Festival events this weekend, businesses have become more Pawcatuck
River-facing, according to Southern Rhode Island Conservation District manager
Gina Fuller.
During the turn of the 20th century, the
rivers had often been a “dumping ground” for waste rather than attractions,
Fuller said. But over time, and as a testament to the work of the
Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association, Save The Bay, and other organizations,
Fuller said the river has become much cleaner.
The attitude used to be, “‘The river is
something we don’t look at and that we don’t enjoy,’” she said. “What we’re
seeing with the economic revitalization of downtown Westerly is that many of
these businesses want to embrace the river. They want their customers to be
able to sit and overlook the river.”
Ben Drumm, owner of Kenyon Grist Mill in
South Kingston, agreed that the watershed is important to his business and
community.
Drumm grew up in and around the
Queen-Usquepaugh River, where he said he learned how to fish and where his
family has run the grist mill since 1972. Though the mill no longer runs on the
river’s power, it is a central part of the mill’s property and history, he
said.
“We’ve seen a huge bloom of fish population,
and we have blue herons now and bald eagles coming in the winter to fish
through the ice and everything,” he said. “So, it’s definitely, definitely
taken on a very wild, natural feel.”
The Wood-Pawcatuck watershed includes seven
rivers and 12 towns. (Wood-Pawcatuck Wild and Scenic Rivers Stewardship
Council)
Drumm said the grist mill has worked with the
Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association for years, so he was happy to raise
awareness about the river by participating in the festival. Kenyon Grist Mill
will be offering free kayaking and tours of the 19th-century mill
Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“There’s definitely, you know, a lot of
tourism, obviously, in Rhode Island, and a lot of it is centered around the
coastline areas,” Drumm said. “However, a lot of people don’t realize that
they’re driving over bridges with the Wood-Pawcatuck River Watershed
underneath.”
“Tourism is already here,” Drumm added, “we
like to facilitate positive enjoyment of it.”
The stewardship council’s vice chair Chip
Heil wants the festival to set off a positive feedback loop. Heil, who lives in
Hopkinton and represents the town on the stewardship council, explained that by
bringing people to the watershed area and getting them engaged with the
environment through all the weekend’s activities, visitors will hopefully come
to respect the wildlife and ecosystems they interact with.
“By encouraging that appreciation,” Heil
said, “people will be more receptive to conservation activities.”
Colleen Cronin is a Report for America corps
member and writes about environmental issues in rural Rhode Island for ecoRI
News.