Mill River Greenway Initiative

A community-based steward for the Mill River

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Part 3 of a Mill River History

Scouting for Invasive Plants July 24th

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We are partnering with the Connecticut River Watershed Council and Grow Food Northampton to survey a portion of the Mill River off Meadow Street for invasive plant species.  MRGI members are more than welcome to join in the beginning of this effort to manage invasives along the Mill River from Look Park to Meadow St.

Meet at the Florence Organic Garden on Meadow St. in Florence at 9:00 AM on Wednesday July 24th.  Gaby Immerman, plant expert extraordinaire, will introduce you to the subject and the area.

Trash In Leeds

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Please read today’s front page of the Gazette with Bob Dunn’s lead article on the trash problem along the Mill in Leeds.  We hope that MRGI will be able to work with the Leeds Civic Association and the City to help alleviate the problem.  We’ll keep you up to date on our progress.

New Williamsburg Mill River Greenway Study

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Here it is!  After a year’s study, Williamsburg’s Mill River Greenway Committee has published its Mill River Greenway Feasibility Report that focuses on ways to link Haydenville and Williamsburg Center along the river.  It’s well worth a look, and congratulations go out to the committee and the town.

“Our study established conceptual path corridors and documented public comments, which serve as a basis for the next physical planning phase. The report identifies a number of strategic phases for competitive grant applications in order to combine our local objectives with ongoing regional planning processes to achieve the economy of scale needed to obtain economic feasibility.

The Mill River Greenway Committee concludes that such a Greenway within the Mill River Corridor is feasible, and would be of great benefit to our Town and the surrounding communities. We have refined the goal, identified community support, and affirmed the physical, ecological, technical, and economic feasibility of implementing alternative transportation linkages.”

You can find the full report here.

 

June 1st Launch of MRGI’s First Riverwalk Brochure — Paradise Pond to Old South St.

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Come help us launch the first of MRGI’s series of self-guided historic riverwalks, this one from Paradise Pond on the Smith College campus to Old South Street in downtown Northampton.  You will be walking through more than 350 years of history on this riverwalk, which focuses on the centers of Northampton’s early industries as well as the history of the river itself.

John Sinton, MRGI’s co-moderator, will lead the tour, which includes stops at early mill sites, at the 1940 diversion, then a walk alongside the former bed of the “Hidden Mill River” and an endpoint where the first bridge across the Mill was built in the 17th century.

Everyone will get a copy of the beautiful brochure with its map and text, along with historic maps and photos.

Time & Date: 10:00-11:30  Saturday, June 1st

Meeting Place: The Boathouse across from the Greenhouse on Paradise Pond

Heavy rain cancels the event.