The
mission of the Massachusetts Riverways Program is to promote the restoration
and protection of the ecological integrity of the Commonwealth's watersheds:
rivers, streams and adjacent lands. The Riverways Program was established
within the Mass. Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife in 1987 in recognition
that river and stream corridors are a crucial component of the state's
ecological infrastructure and that protection of these watershed resources
could not be accomplished through land acquisition alone. The Riverways
Program was created to encourage and support citizen, community and
other local river protection initiatives as a vital complement to
state action.