INTERNATIONAL COUNTRYSIDE STEWARDSHIP EXCHANGE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE 1991 NORTHEAST EXCHANGE

Introduction

The Boquet Valley, encompassing the towns of Westport, Essex, and Willsboro, is a stunning combination of Lake Champlain shoreline, rolling open fields interspersed with wooded hillsides, and the Adirondack foothills. Set within the boundary of Adirondack State Park and part of the Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere, the area contains much of the truly agricultural land in the park. An excellent railroad link and an interstate highway running south to New York City and north to Canada serve the valley.

Observations

The Boquet Valley area has a 200-year legacy as a working landscape. Milling, mining, tourism, forestry and farming are the historic economic forces. Today, milling and mining have virtually disappeared, forestry’s future is uncertain, and agriculture has declined precipitously, threatening the survival of family farming. Gentrification and development arising from increased real estate values in the Champlain Basin, including an increase in second home ownership by outsiders, are new forces of change.

Many groups and individuals in the Boquet Valley share a vision of what they want their communities to be, but they fail to work together toward it. The region has an aging population with strong elements of individuality that creates divisiveness. People compartmentalize themselves as farmers or loggers or downtown merchants or river advocates or public officials or environmentalists or something else, incorrectly implying that “the others” don’t want the same things. The greatest asset in the valley is its quality of life, however many residents have become accustomed to denigrating their own community. Although the valley is alive with energy, the energy is frequently misdirected into unproductive arguing. When outsiders become aware of this, it discourages tourism and business relocation.

The area has many highly qualified professionals working for the government at all levels. This overdeveloped bureaucracy with its emphasis on written regulations impedes new projects. The local government is also facing financial crisis.

Local business people have difficulty finding financial support for enterprises desired by the community. Many local businesses are closing. There is also a loss of family farms to large rural estates, along with an increase in summer residents who don’t appreciate the community as a whole.

Key Issues

• Lack of motivation to attain a shared vision.
• Difficult management and economic issues.

Recommendations

Local residents generally want the same thing for their communities. They seek to develop and maintain a thriving local community, a prosperous economy and a high quality environment. Each community should schedule a special town meeting to create a shared vision and to identify specific projects as well as the mechanisms and coalitions to make them happen. Representatives from each town meeting should meet with their counterparts to compare goals and see how each community can help each other. From this should come a Boquet Valley Action Plan that assigns priorities, allocates responsibilities, and sets schedules for action.

A tourism marketing strategy should be designed with a cohesive theme: the promotion of the Champlain Valley as the “Gateway to the Adirondacks.” A visitor’s center should be created and scenic drives and walking tours designated. Coordinating tourism promotion would increase opportunities for camping and bed and breakfast facilities.

Opportunities for improving agriculture, such as forming discussion groups among farmers to talk about common problems, should be pursued. Investigate opportunities for diversification. Likewise, forestry opportunities should be examined, such as cost-sharing programs for forest landowners who prepare management plans. The proximity of forests should be used to attract secondary processors, and local markets should be developed for locally produced goods.

Opportunities for local entrepreneurs should be promoted based on a community planning process that respects and takes advantage of a community’s cultural, historic, environmental and natural resources. A permit advisory service should be established in the local Chamber of Commerce to help entrepreneurs navigate the bureaucratic straits.

Community improvement can be achieved by following though on the many good ideas valley residents have proposed. Involve schools and clubs in community projects and improve recreational access to the lake. Recognize the many historic and cultural resources of the area.

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©2002 Glynwood Center