Congress approves creation of Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park

U.S. SEN. JACK REED STANDS on a large map of the Blackstone Valley during a July 2011 event highlighting the effort to designate the Blackstone River Valley corridor as a national park. Congress, on Friday, approved designating the area as a national park. / COURTESY OFFICE OF U.S. SEN. JACK REED
U.S. SEN. JACK REED STANDS on a large map of the Blackstone Valley during a July 2011 event highlighting the effort to designate the Blackstone River Valley corridor as a national park. Congress, on Friday, approved designating the area as a national park. / COURTESY OFFICE OF U.S. SEN. JACK REED

WOONSOCKET – Rhode Island will soon have the country’s next national park.
A project that has been decades in the making, the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, now only needs the president’s signature. Congress passed the plan on Dec. 12 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
The multisite park includes areas of the Blackstone River and Old Slater Mill in Pawtucket, as well as sites in nearby mill towns, including Slatersville in North Smithfield and Ashton in Cumberland in Rhode Island, and Northbridge and Hopedale in Massachusetts.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., wrote the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park Establishment Act to establish a new unit of the National Park System within the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.
“We are preserving a piece of American history, our cultural landscape and the natural beauty of the Blackstone River Valley,” Reed said in a statement. “We’re also bringing greater recognition to Rhode Island’s history and creating new opportunities for tourism, education, and recreation.
“The Blackstone Valley is a national treasure that deserves to be preserved,” he added. “It is the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution and this new park will be a place where people can come and explore the roots of modern-day America.”
Said Charlene Perkins Cutler, executive director of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Inc., “The story of the Blackstone Valley is as iconic and important to the American identity as that of Plymouth Rock and Independence Hall. I am so glad that the region will have this special recognition as a new National Park.”
Designated as a National Heritage Corridor in 1986 by Congress, the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor links 24 communities along the Blackstone River from Providence to Worcester, Mass.
Once legislation designating the park is signed into law, the National Park Service will develop a general management plan to guide long-term management of the park and determine boundaries with the input of the states, local communities and stakeholders. Congress must also appropriate federal funding for the park.
According to the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, more than $25 million has been spent to date on preserving historic buildings, creating museums, constructing visitor centers and building permanent exhibits in the Heritage Corridor.
Robert D. Billington, president of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, thanked Reed, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Democratic R.I. Reps. James Langevin and David Cicilline for working to make the national park effort a reality.
“This new national park will enliven the stature of the Blackstone Valley with its place-based economic standing. It will enhance our opportunity to attract more manufacturing, commercial and high-tech businesses that choose to establish themselves in a place with a soul,” Billington said.
Whitehouse said the National Defense Authorization Act passed the Senate by a vote of 89 to 11.
“This bill takes several big steps forward for Rhode Island. Thanks to the leadership of Jack Reed and David Cicilline, and with my and Jim Langevin’s enthusiastic support, it helps preserve some of the Blackstone Valley’s most significant natural and historical places,” Whitehouse said in a statement. “It funds key submarine programs that will create hundreds of jobs in Quonset and benefit our state’s economy as a whole. And it also makes important progress in readying our armed forces to address cyber threats today and into the future. I look forward to seeing the benefits it will bring to the citizens of Rhode Island.”
The vote also included passage of the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Protection Act, which will require that the National Parks Service complete a three-year study to assess whether the Wood, Pawcatuck, Beaver, Chipuxet and Queen Rivers meet the standards to be included in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

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