The Nation's River: A report on the Potomac / From the U.S. Department of the Interior

by United States. Department of the Interior

1. Prompt legislative authorization, funding, and establishment of a Potomac National River complex consisting of Federal, State, and local components to provide a "green sheath" of varying width for the main stem of the river from Washington to Cumberland, Maryland. The preservation of this portion of the river and its banks, and their accessibility, are clearly of importance and warrant such treatment. The National River, studied and refined in the light of much government and public comment received since its initial mention in the Potomac Interim Report, is detailed in the legislative proposal now being considered by Congress.

2. Completion of the long-deferred restoration and improvement of public facilities along the C. & O. Canal, a project which can be begun immediately and will mesh with the Potomac National River proposal, since the Canal will be a part of the proposed River. Certain of the old C. & O. feeder dams should be rehabilitated or rebuilt, sections of the Canal rewatered, and better public access provided.

3. Studies of the Cacapon, Shenandoah, and South Branch Potomac Rivers to determine the most feasible way to preserve all or portions of these scenic and important tributaries in a relatively unspoiled state. Possibilities here are protection under State legislation, or the establishment of a new Federal category of pastoral or scenic rivers as a protective measure for streams in settled regions such as would be authorized under legislation pending in the Congress.

4. Encouragement of local action to preserve the banks of smaller free-flowing streams by zoning, park acquisition, or other means.

5. Provision, under auspices of State fish and wildlife agencies or otherwise, or better facilities for public access to all main streams—including, where appropriate, roads, trails, parking areas, boat launching ramps, and public transportation.

C. The historic Potomac estuary, with nearly a quarter of a million acres of water surface and hundreds of miles of varied and scenic shoreline, is a rich recreational and wildlife asset as well as a fisheries resource of enormous value. Even after water quality programs rescue its upper reaches from the heavy pollution to which they are presently subject, however, more knowledge will be needed than presently exists to make certain that its intricate processes continue to function productively; protection of its shores against growing inappropriate encroachment will be an urgent problem; and the possibility of its use by the public for recreation will need to be assured:

1. A cooperative study should be undertaken by Federal agencies, the States of Maryland and Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, coordinated through the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, to identify recreational and other open space and specific resources along the tidal Potomac downstream from Chain Bridge that should be established as estuarine units of a Potomac National River, as State or county parks, or as units of a system of recreation areas for the District of Columbia and its metropolitan environs. The Department of the Interior is assisting the Department of Defense to determine how military establishments along the Potomac might contribute toward meeting regional recreational needs, including public access and use where feasible. These studies should be completed and the findings reported to the Congress and to State and local governments at the earliest possible time.

2. As an initial measure toward achieving protection of the concentrated productivity of the estuary's marshes and wetlands, Federal, State and local agencies, and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, under the leadership of the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, should undertake a study, to be completed within three years, to identify key areas of this sort; where possible, acquisition of such areas should proceed under existing programs. In view of the recreation potential generally associated with marsh and wetland areas, this study should be coordinated closely with the study recommended under item 1 above. The Department of Defense should examine its land holdings along the estuary to determine if zones of conservation for fish and wildlife in the marshes and wetlands can be established immediately.

3. Action should be taken as quickly as possible to acquire the National Wildlife Refuge on Mason Neck in order to consolidate the protection of vital open space on that peninsula. Fiscal year 1969 appropriations for the Department of the Interior include funds to begin such action.

4. It is urgently to be hoped that legislation aimed at protecting American estuaries and increasing human knowledge of their processes, currently before Congress, will be passed in the most meaningful possible form, to the benefit of the Potomac estuary as well as all others.