Economic Development

For the first time in more than fifty years the people of Berkshire County are looking at the Housatonic River as an economic resource and not as a liability.

"The reason why Pittsfield was founded was the presence and the layout of the river," Pittsfield Conservation Commission Vice Chairman Michael Makes said. "The river will take the city into the next century as old industries fade and new ones emerge."

Two hundred years ago, the original settlers of Berkshire County used the Housatonic River to power its first industrial mills. From Hinsdale to Sheffield, dams and mills dotted the Housatonic, providing communities with an industrial base on which to build permanent settlements, noted Dicken Crane of Holiday Farm.  People, however, eventually polluted the river, depriving it of its allure as a natural resource, particularly with the advent of fossil fuels as the preferred source of power. 

The advent of the Clean Water Act of 1972, Massachusetts Rivers Protection Act of 1996, and now the PCB cleanup agreement have laid the groundwork for a cleansed river. Now that the pollution is being removed and the river is losing the stigma of being a poisoned river, business and community officials are increasingly looking to it as an economic opportunity.

"River restoration will be part of the entire mix of what will make Pittsfield and the Berkshires attractive for newer, smaller businesses," said Pittsfield Mayor Gerald Doyle, Jr.

A clean river will enhance opportunities for tourism, downtown revitalization, fishing, and paper companies, officials said. Further, it will improve the region’s quality of life, considered to be an essential ingredient in the Berkshires’ allure for new, emerging businesses.

"Whatever we’re going to do is going to affect people for 100 years," Makes said. "When Husky came here they were looking for green opportunities, and we didn’t have any. Now we can do it. People have to understand that the river is what got us here, and it is what will get us into the future."

Berkshire Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Colby said public access to the river adds to the quality of life in the Berkshires.

"Having it as a beautiful river is in our interests in attracting people, so long as it’s economically practical," Mead Specialty Paper Division President Cindy Niekamp said. "It only has an upside."

Historically, clean water has been important to the region’s paper industry. It remains so today. Officials at Crane & Company and Fox River Paper Company have said that the purity of their water sources is key to manufacturing their high-quality products. Niekamp said it is in the interests of Mead to keep the river as clean as possible.

"The cleaner the water, the better. It is the essence of our product," Niekamp said. Paper manufacturers expressed their strong support of the river restoration process as integral to their own business needs.

"We as a group can add to the restoration effort," said Crane & Company Vice President James Manning at a Berkshire Paper Industry Alliance meeting. "We have an interest in this and will add our voice to the process. Clean water is important."

The most frequently mentioned economic attribute of a restored river by both the business and environmental communities, however, was the potential it offers to bolster the region’s growing tourism industry.

"The river can make a difference between three-day and seven-day stays in the Berkshires by increasing the recreational opportunities," Colby said.

Visitors to the region could use the river for canoeing, fishing, picnics, nature hikes, and other purposes.

"It would make a terrific addition to tourist uses, so long as it is presented as a natural experience," said environmental botanist Pam Weatherbee. "The recreational possibilities should be very attractive to some tourists. New commercial uses of the river should be river-related, such as outfitters and canoe rentals. Other sites that have already been built on can be used as restaurants that look out on the river. There should be an effort to make the use connect with the river." 

Eileen Mooney suggested that the Housatonic mills overlooking the river could be converted into a permanent retail-commercial use. She noted that there is adequate parking and the setting is very picturesque. "It would also raise awareness about the river," she said.

The revitalization of Main Street in Great Barrington has been closely integrated with the Great Barrington River Walk, said downtown Great Barrington developer Richard Stanley. The River Walk is working with the Housatonic River Museum and the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce to develop a new trail entrance, an overlook, and a small river park to tighten the relationship further.

Berkshire County Historical Society Director Susan Eisley suggested that a grant be sought from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism to design river-based programs to attract people to the region. Steve McMahon, Western Regional Director for the Trustees of Reservations, said a strong case could be made for this. Publicity about the PCB pollution of the river discouraged some tourists from visiting the Berkshires, thereby causing recreational and economic damage. The programs would help restore that damage by gathering and publicizing interesting information that demonstrates the value of the river for both visitors and the community.

Despite the pollution, the Housatonic already has a good reputation among dedicated fishermen. "I find people from Boston on my property who fish every year," said HRI Director Tim Gray of Lee. Fast-moving water below Woods Pond is very good for trout, he observed.

In addition to fishing, Nick Peck of Stockbridge added fiddlehead fern farms and lemonade stands to his written list of desirable commercial activities on the river, reflecting his belief that economic development along the river should be decidedly sparse.

Discussions about commercial activity along the river frequently moved to expressions of caution.

"Commercial development would be awful," said Frances Paddock.

John Zuber said there should be no commercial use of the river because it could do further permanent damage to a fragile system. He, like many others, was concerned that the active promotion of the Housatonic River as a place for canoeing could release an uncontrollable force on the river.

"What happens if there are 250 people an hour going down the river, then what?" an unidentified person at the Lee meeting asked.

HRI board member Benno Friedman warned against inviting commercial activity on the river: "The last thing the trustees are going to want to see is the idea of this money being used for river development."

Nevertheless, most participants, including Friedman, envision a role for commercial activities on the Housatonic. "I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be some commercial uses for the river, but you have to tread carefully. You have to be careful about where to place commercial activity," Friedman said.

The New England Log Homes property in Great Barrington, he said, would be an appropriate place, given it is an existing and dilapidated industrial site in the center of town. Commercial activity on Woods Pond, however, may not be. Many fishermen and hunters use it regularly and would object to commercial intrusions. "All I really mean is that we should not get into the market of redeveloping the river," he said. 

Finally, the health of the river is also closely tied to the economic viability of existing farms along the river’s floodplain, particularly in Sheffield. "Some of the best farmland in the state is along the river," Sheffield Selectmen Chairman Janet Stanton said. 

Jim Larkin, who owns a farm in Sheffield, said he was concerned that the PCB threshold level not increase as a result of actions or inaction upstream. "What scares me is the perception that we have PCBs in Sheffield." He was concerned about the long-term plans for Risingdale Dam, which serves as the last barrier to hold back PCBs from going downstream to Sheffield. "It bothers me. My assets are in Sheffield. This is some of the best farmland in Massachusetts in the Sheffield floodplain."

On many levels, participants agreed, there are mutual economic and environmental benefits to be had through a restoration of the river with appropriate precautions and restrictions to ensure that commercial interests do not overwhelm the river’s natural assets.

"A healthy river, a healthy community, and a healthy economy all tie together," Frank Lowenstein said.

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