Vision of the Park discussed 12/6/1971

This writer sees that now is a good time for the Park to look back to the beginning to see the future by looking at the heroic advocacy and leadership of the man, David M Rosser (1899-1975) who in 1971 articulated a vision of an interstate linear park system along the floodplain from Worcester to Providence to become under the aegis of the US Department of the Interior. The Blackstone River Watershed Association advocated for National Park throughout the 1970s.  We substantiate this with historical documentation from contemporaneous newspaper articles.  Bob Bendick was there when the BRWA executive director passed the torch to him at the RI DEM to take the lead in 1979. Clarence Gaudette was Rosser’s successor at the BRWA in the 1970s.  In 1981, the Massachusetts legislature established the Blackstone River  and Canal Commission.  1983 was a year when the NPS did a feasibility study but concluded that the Blackstone River Valley was not yet in a position to be recognized for a Park.  So the Corridor was a good start.  By that point in 1986, it had been already ten years since Clarence Gaudette push for the Park in 1976 was written as a newspaper headline with a question mark.  And one year prior to that was when Dave Rosser died asking Mr Gaudette to make it work, “you gotta lead them to 

clean up the River and build the Park.” His final thought to Mr Gaudette.