X

Oswegatchie Blueway Trail Management Plan awarded, ceremony to be held in Buffalo

Posted 5/27/16

OGDENSBURG -- The Oswegatchie River Blueway Trail Management Plan has been honored with an award for comprehensive planning. The award, presented by the Western New York Section of the Upstate …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Oswegatchie Blueway Trail Management Plan awarded, ceremony to be held in Buffalo

Posted

OGDENSBURG -- The Oswegatchie River Blueway Trail Management Plan has been honored with an award for comprehensive planning.

The award, presented by the Western New York Section of the Upstate Chapter of the American Planning Association is being presented Tuesday, May 10, in Buffalo. The award criteria include the plan’s originality and innovation, implementation and transferability, participation and its effectiveness and results.

“The Oswegatchie River Blueway Trail Management Plan represents the very best in regional planning,” said Ogdensburg Mayor Wayne L. Ashley. “The involvement of so many communities in the process will help ensure that we all continue to work together. The communities have already formed a coordinating committee and executed a Memorandum of Understanding to manage, fund and implement specific blueway projects.”

The purpose of the study was to identify strategies for economic development and sustainable tourism through recreational access to the Oswegatchie River and the many other year-round recreation resources along the river corridor. The study proposes a series of primary and secondary hubs along the river to promoted local communities to tourists and river recreation enthusiasts. Other proposed improvements include amenities such as river access, wayfinding and interpretation and promotion of the river and the unique North Country heritage and culture.

Through the management plan process, implementation was designed to be transferable.

The study area for the plan was the Oswegatchie River watershed. The watershed is about 1,050 square miles and covers almost a third of St, Lawrence County. Among the study’s challenges was gathering public input across the vast, rural study area. In addition to the input of the steering committee three rounds of public meetings were held and an on-line survey encouraged stakeholder involvement.

In addition to the MOU, the communities have also produced a Blueway marketing booklet under the leadership of the Village of Heuvelton. The booklet was funded by a grant from the funded by the St. Lawrence River Valley Redevelopment Agency.

The plan will now be forwarded to the Upstate New York Chapter of the American Planning Association where the local award automatically nominates it for an upstate award. The Upstate Chapter awards program takes place during the annual chapter conference, scheduled this year for Sept. 28-30 in Buffalo.