About the Blueways Alliance:
The Blueways project began in 2006 when the Rhode Island Rivers Council and the National Park Service Rivers & Trails program brought together diverse interests from throughout the state to discuss and plan a comprehensive water trail network. The trails would link Rhode Island's rivers, lakes and ponds to Narragansett Bay and to the rivers in Massachsuetts that flow into the bay, and be used to promote safety, conservation, recreation and economic development. The Rhode Island Blueways Alliance incorporated in the state of Rhode Island as a non-profit corporation in late 2007 and now manages the Blueways project and this web site.
The Board of Directors of the Rhode Island Blueways Alliance, with organizational affiliations:
- Keith Gonsalves, President. Ten Mile River Watershed Council
- Bruce Hooke, Vice President
- Meg Kerr, Treasurer. Narragansett Bay Estuary Program
- Terry Meyer, Secretary
- Chuck Horbert
- Denise Poyer. Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association
- David Stewart
The Rhode Island Blueways Alliance's current work is funded by our members (see below) and by the following (listed alphabetically):
- Narragansett Bay Estuary Program
-
New England Grassroots Environmental Fund
- REI
- The Rhode Island Foundation
- Rhode Island's RC&D Council
We would also like to the thank the following member organizations (listed alphabetically), whose contributions help make this project possible. We encourage you to patronize these businesses and support these organizations, and thank them for their support! We also encourage you to join us! For information on business, organization, family and individual membership in the RI Blueways Alliance, please see our membership page!
Eastern Mountain Sports - Kayak School
Kayak School Address: Lincoln Woods State Park, Lincoln, RI Telephone: 401-762-8587
Cranston Retail Store: Garden City Shopping Center, 176 Hillside Road, Cranston, RI 02920 Telephone: 401-944-5500
Middletown Retail Store: Middletown Square, 1313 West Main Road Middletown, RI 02842 Telephone: 401-762-8587
Services: Kayak School: lessons, guided trips throughout New England and Maryland, boat rentals (on the water location), kids and special needs camps, American Canoe Association and British Canoe Association instructor certification training. Sporting goods stores.
The Kayak Centre of Rhode Island
Address: 9 Phillips Street, Wickford, RI 02852
Telelphone: 888-732-5292
Services: Sporting goods store, lessons, guided trips, adventure travel, boat rentals (on the water location)
Queen's River Kayaks / Kenyon's Grist Mill
Address: 21 Glen Rock Road, Usquepaugh, RI 02892
Telelphone: 401-667-0434
Services: Boat rentals (on the water location) and guided trips
Address: 22 Chapel View Blvd., Cranston, RI 02920
Telephone: 401-275-5250
Services: Sporting goods store, adventure travel
Rhode Island Canoe/Kayak Association (RIC/KA)
Address: 100 Save the Bay Dr., Providence, RI 02905
Telephone: 401-272-3540
Address: 4808 Tower Hill Rd. Suite 101, Wakefield, RI 02878
Telephone: 401-789-4422
The Rhode Island's Blueways network came into being through the contributions of the following formative partners and contributors (listed alphabetically):
- The Blackstone River Heritage Corridor for assistance with compiling the data on the sites on the Blackstone River.
- The Blackstone Valley Tourism Council for their advice, input and support for the project and especially for working with us on developing the paddle tour packages.
- The Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) for sharing their coast access and Daytripper's Guide to Rhode Island data sets with us and for other support and assistance along the way.
- The Greenways Alliance of Rhode Island, which has partnered with us in this effort and generously allowed us to publish numerous articles about the Blueways project in their quarterly newsletter Trail Mix.
- Mike Krabach for generously allowing us to use the data from his website in compiling the data on access sites on this website.
- Ed Mullen for generously allowing us to use the data from his book Kayaking Narragansett Bay in compiling the data on access sites on this website.
- Narragansett Bay Estuary Program: The Narragansett Bay Estuary Program (NBEP) works with local partners on science, restoration and conservation throughout the Narragansett Bay watershed. NBEP's Meg Kerr has worked on the Blueways project since it began.
- National Park Service Rivers, Trails & Conservation Assistance Program: John Monroe assisted during the start-up and launch of Blueways with coalition building, outreach and events. Rivers & Trails staff across the country provide technical assistance for conservation and recreation projects.
- The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management for providing a great deal of data that provided the foundation for many of the boat launching listings on this website, and for their general support of this project.
- The Rhode Island Rivers Council, which provided the original funding for the website.
- Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association. WPWA's mission is to promote and protect the integrity of the lands and waters of the Wood-Pawcatuck watershed. WPWA promotes sustainable recreational use of the river and other natural areas in the watershed and has been an active supporter of Blueways.
- Taunton River Watershed Alliance is helping us gather data on the many boat launches and paddling opportunities in the Taunton River Watershed.
- Plus many other individuals, businesses, tourism organizations and other who have been generous with their time and resources!
News
- Read the national feature release about Rhode Island Blueways sent out by the Rhode Island Blueways Alliance in partnership with the National Park Service Rivers & Trails Program and Rhode Island Tourism Division.
- PaddleRI 2008, our statewide series of paddling events on Rhode Island's fresh and salt waters was a great success! Read more about it in this report (PDF format). 2009 was a great success too and we are looking forward to Paddle10 in the summer of 2010.