H. R. 1348
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-four
An Act
To establish the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor
in the State of Connecticut, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
TITLE I—QUINEBAUG AND SHETUCKET
RIVERS VALLEY NATIONAL HERITAGE
CORRIDOR
SECTION 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers
Valley National Heritage Corridor Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 102. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley in the
State of Connecticut is one of the last unspoiled and undevel-
oped areas in the Northeastern United States and has remained
largely intact, including important aboriginal archaeological
sites, excellent water quality, beautiful rural landscapes,
architecturally significant mill structures and mill villages, and
large acreages of parks and other permanent open space;
(2) the State of Connecticut ranks last among the 50 States
in the amount of federally protected park and open space lands
within its borders and lags far behind the other Northeastern
States in the amount of land set-aside for public recreation;
(3) the beautiful rural landscapes, scenic vistas and excel-
lent water quality of the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers
contain significant undeveloped recreational opportunities for
people throughout the United States;
(4) the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley is within
a two-hour drive of the major metropolitan areas of New York
City, Hartford, Providence, Worcester, Springfield, and Boston.
With the President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors
reporting that Americans are taking shorter ‘‘closer-to-home’’
vacations, the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley rep-
resents important close-by recreational opportunities for signifi-
cant population;
(5) the existing mill sites and other structures throughout
the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley were instrumental
in the development of the industrial revolution;
H. R. 1348—2
(6) the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley contains
a vast number of discovered and unrecovered Native American
and colonial archaeological sites significant to the history of
North America and the United States;
(7) the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley represents
one of the last traditional upland farming and mill village
communities in the Northeastern United States;
(8) the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley played
a nationally significant role in the cultural evolution of the
prewar colonial period, leading the transformation from Puritan
to Yankee, the ‘‘Great Awakening’’ religious revival and early
political development leading up to and during the War of
Independence; and
(9) many local, regional and State agencies businesses,
and private citizens and the New England Governors’ Con-
ference have expressed an overwhelming desire to combine
forces: to work cooperatively to preserve and enhance resources
region-wide and better plan for the future.
SEC. 103. ESTABLISHMENT OF QUINEBAUG AND SHETUCKET RIVERS
VALLEY NATIONAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR; PURPOSE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established in the State
of Connecticut the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National
Heritage Corridor.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this title to provide assistance
to the State of Connecticut, its units of local and regional govern-
ment and citizens in the development and implementation of
integrated cultural, historical, and recreational land resource
management programs in order to retain, enhance, and interpret
the significant features of the lands, water, and structures of the
Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley.
SEC. 104. BOUNDARIES AND ADMINISTRATION.
(a) BOUNDARIES.—The boundaries of the Corridor shall include
the towns of Ashford, Brooklyn, Canterbury, Chaplin, Coventry,
Eastford, Franklin, Griswold, Hampton, Killingly, Lebanon, Lisbon,
Mansfield, Norwich, Plainfield, Pomfret, Preston, Putnam, Scotland,
Sprague, Sterling, Thompson, Voluntown, Windham, and Wood-
stock. As soon as practical after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a detailed
description and map of boundaries established under this sub-
section.
SEC. 105. STATE CORRIDOR PLAN.
(a) PREPARATION OF PLAN.—Within two years after the date
of enactment of this title, the Governor of the State of Connecticut
is encouraged to develop a Cultural Heritage and Corridor Manage-
ment Plan. The plan shall be based on existing Federal, State,
and local plans, but shall coordinate those plans and present a
comprehensive historic preservation, interpretation, and rec-
reational plan for the Corridor. The plan shall—
(1) recommend non-binding advisory standards and criteria
pertaining to the construction, preservation, restoration, alter-
ation and use of properties within the Corridor, including an
inventory of such properties which potentially could be pre-
served, restored, managed, developed, maintained, or acquired
based upon their historic, cultural or recreational significance;