Blackstone River Valley Special Resource Study

In October 2006, Congress passed legislation to reauthorize the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission for an additional five years. While the Blackstone River Valley was designated a National Heritage Corridor in perpetuity by Congress, the federal management presence will only exist as long as the federally created Corridor Commission continues to operate. The reauthorization legislation also required the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a Special Resource Study (SRS) to explore the potential for a permanent National Park Service (NPS) presence in the Blackstone Valley. A possible result of the study could be Congressional action creating a new unit of the National Park System in the Blackstone Valley. The SRS, which is being managed by staff from the NPS' Northeast Regional Office, will focus on sites and landscape features that contribute to the understanding of the Blackstone Valley as the birthplace of the American industrial revolution.

Contact Information

Ellen Carlson
Project Manager
National Park Service
NER Boston
15 State Street
Boston, MA 02109

(617)223-5048 Ph.
(617)223-5164 Fax
ellen_carlson@nps.gov