Pioneer Valley
Planning Commission

Eric Carle Museum, Amherst, MA

Press Release

CONTACT: Christopher Curtis, PVPC Chief Planner, (413) 781-6045

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2009

Connecticut River Byway Grant Awarded, Designation Sought

The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) has been awarded a National Scenic Byways grant of $976,000 for work to protect scenic lands along the Connecticut River Scenic Farm Byway in Hadley and South Hadley. The grant, which was provided by the Federal Highway Administration in a highly competitive grant program, was the only National Scenic Byways grant awarded in Massachusetts and the fifth largest grant in the United States, out of 221 grants awarded. The total project funding will be $1,220,000, including matching funds provided by communities, state agencies, and land trusts. The project was supported by the Hadley and South Hadley boards of selectmen and conservation commissions, Congressman John Olver, and the Porter Phelps Huntington Foundation.

The Connecticut River Scenic Farm Byway follows Route 47 from South Hadley center through Hadley, and continues north through Franklin County and into Vermont and New Hampshire, traversing a historic pastoral landscape with views of the Connecticut River. The grant funds would be used to work with landowners who volunteer to protect important scenic land parcels along the byway through selling agricultural preservation restrictions or conservations restrictions.
 
PVPC has also applied, with the support of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments and the towns of Hadley, South Hadley, Sunderland, Montague, Northfield, and Erving, to have the Connecticut River Scenic Farm Byway designated as a National Scenic Byway. The designation would extend to state Routes 47 and 63, which are already designated as state scenic byways. The national designation would improve opportunities for grants to protect the byway, but would not impose any new regulations along the byway.

For more information, please contact Christopher Curtis, PVPC Chief Planner, or Anne Capra, PVPC Principal Planner, at (413) 781-6045.