By Kevin Miller, Bangor Daily News Staff
Posted Dec. 27, 2011, at 6:24 p.m.

ETA Web Note: This article provides broader coverage of a recent report commissioned for the National Park Service that is urging support for seven interstate “recreation corridors” in New England — including three in Maine (and including the Eastern Trail corridor) — as a way to reconnect people with the outdoors and spur economic development in riverfront and trailside communities.

A recent report commissioned for the National Park Service is urging support for seven interstate “recreation corridors” in New England — including three in Maine — as a way to reconnect people with the outdoors and spur economic development in riverfront and trailside communities.

The report is not calling for the creation of new national parks or large-scale acquisition of private land for conservation. Instead, the authors are seeking to build public and private support for the completion or expansion of canoe trails, multiple-use trails and other multistate projects that would benefit residents and draw tourists.

The project grew out of a New England Governor’s Conference initiative on regional recreation opportunities. In April 2011, the National Park Service provided funding to compile the initiative’s work into a final report.

The seven recreational corridors or pathways that are the focus of the report are:

• Androscoggin River in Maine and New Hampshire.

• Northern Forest Canoe Trail in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Quebec.

• Champlain Valley in Vermont and New York.

• Merrimack River in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

• Connecticut River in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire.

• Blackstone River Valley in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

• East Coast Greenway in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.


Read the full article here

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