Upper Assabet Riverway Plan

 The 2003 Upper Assabet Riverway Plan is finished and available in both hard copy and here on https://experience.tripster.ru/experience/Moscow/8912-misticheskie/ and our web site.

Located along the upper Assabet River, Westborough, Northborough, Marlborough, Berlin, and Hudson form part of the I-495 corridor, one of the fastest-growing areas in Massachusetts. Because of growing interest in these communities in both river conservation and river protection, a group of volunteers and staff from these communities began to meet regularly with OAR and Sudbury Valley Trustees staff two years ago to improve regional cooperation around river conservation and recreation.

Inspired by the 1986 Assabet Riverway Plan, this group created the Upper Assabet Riverway Plan to help municipal governments, planning agencies, town volunteers, conservation organizations, and others meet these challenges. The Plan contains general chapters on the river corridor’s biodiversity, recreation, the health of the Assabet River, the regulatory environment, and general recommendations. Chapters about Westborough, Northborough, Marlborough, Berlin, and Hudson provide community-specific information, including high priority lands for conservation. The Plan provides bylaw comparisons for the upper Assabet communities, a series of maps showing protected and high priority lands, and recommendations to help communities take advantage of recreational opportunities and strengthen environmental protection.

The Plan has already spawned at least one project - this spring we will work with the communities on an Upper Assabet Habitat Survey in an effort to make sure that river recreation is managed with minimum impact on wildlife habitat.

OAR and our partners wish to thank our funders, Intel Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management Greenways Grant Program for their support.

Copies of the plan have been distributed to communities along the river corridor.

The plan is available in PDF format below. We have broken it up into sections to make it easier for most people to download (the maps are pretty big).