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Franklin County Regional Council of Governments: An Outdoor Recreation Tourism Study of the Deerfield River Corridor

The Deerfield River is one of Massachusetts’s great natural resources. For the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG), Cambridge Econometrics led an outdoor recreation tourism study of the Deerfield River corridor stretching from the Vermont border to Deerfield where the river meets the Connecticut River.

This study examines existing conditions and recommends strategies to establish a sustainable river-based outdoor recreation industry that takes multiple stakeholders in consideration. Topics in this report include: river access; parking for both recreation companies and individuals; tourism infrastructure (such as public bathrooms, transportation and accommodations); signage; marketing; public safety; and new business development. The study findings and recommendations are broadly grouped into two categories for the Deerfield River Corridor: Operational and management issues related to existing and current river users, access, safety, over-crowding, communications, etc. Forward-looking economic development opportunities to capture more economic value from visitation; improve infrastructure, collaboration, and marketing; and improve year-round visitation and facilities to better accommodate visitors.

Deerfield river
Franklin County Regional Council of Governments

An Outdoor Recreation Tourism Study of the Deerfield River Corridor

Management challenges of the Deerfield River include: 

1. Lack of river facilities

2. Safety Concerns

3. River access and management

Opportunities include: 

1. Creation of more accommodation options 

2. Expansion of land-based recreation 

3. Packaging of recreation activities

4. Improvement of town infrastructure and business support

Key Findings

Based on these challenges and opportunities as well as the feedback collected from the online surveys and interviews, we produced recommendations to meet eight distinct goals, which are: 

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1 Coal could be phased out completely from power generation, as wind and solar increase their market shares to 55%.

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1 Coal could be phased out completely from power generation, as wind and solar increase their market shares to 55%.

1

A high level of disaggregation, enabling detailed analysis of sectoral and country-level effects from a wide range of scenarios

1

A high level of disaggregation, enabling detailed analysis of sectoral and country-level effects from a wide range of scenarios

1

A high level of disaggregation, enabling detailed analysis of sectoral and country-level effects from a wide range of scenarios

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Dan Hodge

Executive Vice President

t: +1 413 206 4001

e:dh@camecon.com

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