Collaboratively Restoring the Hardest Working River in America

The Blackstone River’s health and history are inextricably intertwined with its role as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Plans at all levels prioritize restoration in this heavily impacted watershed. In addition, advocates have worked for decades to create fish passage, and there is finally traction with The Nature Conservancy creating permit-ready designs. However, without local capacity or training available, we lack practitioners to advance these complicated projects and there is little outreach or community buy-in to ensure lasting success. This project has two primary goals: (1) the Blackstone Watershed Collaborative will host a dam removal training workshop for ~150 participants, to share best practices, resources, and funding opportunities, and (2) the Collaborative will organize a series of technical stakeholder working group meetings for tribes, federal agencies, dam owners, and others working to advance fish passage.