The Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild & Scenic Committee (LFSWS) proudly presents its Annual Report for the fiscal year October 2024 through September 2025.
Representatives of the 9 partner towns and 6 partner organizations, the LFSWS members, work as a team of appointees. LFSWS’ charge is to protect and enhance the federally recognized outstanding resources of the lower Farmington River and the Salmon Brook: Water Quality, Biological Diversity, Recreation, Cultural Landscape, and Geology. This report summarizes what we have done to fulfill our mission. We have spent our federal funding to benefit the two watercourses and reached out to the riverfront communities, explaining our mission and involving our neighbors in protecting the streams.
LFSWS supported three major projects in 2025. Because good water quality is especially critical to biological diversity and recreation, water quality monitoring is a high priority in our work. We continued providing funding to the Farmington River Watershed Association for its expansion of the scope, quality, and frequency of water monitoring. Appreciating the desire of Farmington Land Trust (FLT) to remove its well-intentioned but unfortunately located fishing pier, LFSWS provided financial support for the removal and for FLT’s careful bank restoration at the pier’s former site. In the project, FLT also benefited from technical assistance through the National Park Service (NPS), available at no additional cost because of the Wild & Scenic designation. Finally, LFSWS was proud to support the hemlock woolly adelgid control effort again, which promotes healthy forests for the watershed along the rivers and its tributaries. These projects are discussed in more detail in our report as are other smaller efforts, also significant in benefiting our local communities.
As I write this message in 2026, LFSWS is well into its 2026 fiscal year. We are optimistic that we will continue to receive federal funding going forward to support our conservation and education projects. We are also pleased to have a new NPS representative, Jackie Dias, on our committee. Welcome, Jackie. LFSWS is determined to remain focused on its mission and looks forward to continuing to work cooperatively with its partner towns and organizations
On behalf of the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild & Scenic Committee,
Mike Krammen, Chairperson
Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild & Scenic 