CT River Gateway Commission

The Connecticut River Gateway Commission was first established in 1974 as a result of a failed federal attempt in the late 1960s to establish a national park in four separate sections along the entire length of the 410 mile river.  Modeled after the Cape Cod National Seashore park, citizens in the four states through which the river flows – Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont – saw the folly of allowing the federal government to dictate how such a park system would operate.  They also felt that the amount of visitors that would come to the area each year and overwhelm local roads and small town centers, much to the detriment of the area. Further, locals –  hearty New England “yankees” – didn’t want to cede any control of their river to the federal government. Following the failure of this effort, residents in the lower Connecticut River Valley saw the wisdom in developing a “Conservation Zone” that would exist from Haddam and East Haddam south to the mouth of the river at Long Island Sound. A law was passed that formed the Conservation Zone and the Gateway Commission, charging it with overseeing the management of the “natural and traditional river scene” in the lower river valley for the good of Connecticut residents, current and future. The Gateway Commission, through zoning standards and through the preservation of undeveloped land by itself and with partners, has carried out that mission for the past 47 years.