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We have succeeded in getting a put-in area and some designated parking spots for the Parker River when the new bridge is constructed- the engineer in charge confirmed this with me during a phone call, and Russ Cohen from the State's Riverways program also confirmed it with me in a conversation. I know that Russ went personally to speak with the appropriate person at the State on behalf of the access. Many, many people and groups wrote letters to support the river access and should feel that they were part of the reason for this success.

The Parker River has both a tidal and a freshwater section. It is tidal from Central Street in Byfield (a part of Newbury) and flows out to sea behind Plum Island (home of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge) into the Plum Island sound, with the Rowley and Ipswich Rivers joining it in the sound. The route 1A bridge crosses the river where the Town of Newbury has a landing/parking which can only be used by Newbury residents with a permit. This landing area is right across from Fernald's Marina where many people have bought canoes.

For nonresidents there has been no good access to the tidal portion of the river....you can put in upstream near Gov. Dummer Academy off Middle Road in Byfield and paddle downstream, but then there is no place to take out because of lack of access/egress at the Route 1A bridge a logical and geographically appropriate place. The section from Middle St down to the bridge is appropriate for families and novices, educational groups etc....

One can paddle from the bridge downstream and up behind the Refuge and take out at the bridge over the Plum Island Turnpike, but this requires significantly more skill (current, power boats, understanding of tide times or you will be on a mudflat...) or you can paddle out to Plum Island sound towards Cranes beach, hang out until the tide turns back in a very interesting paddle...all of this can connect to the Merrimack River also where you must be able to paddle in strong tidal current. See the AMC guidebook.

The bridge has been crumbling away and is dire need of repair. Working fishing boats and motorized pleasure craft use the area from the sound to just the other side of the Route 1A bridge. Car top boaters- kayaks and canoes- have been out of luck with a put in here for years. The engineers designing this project tell me that the design is 75% done and they hope to go out to bid at the end of this year with construction starting in 2003. The number of parking spaces is likely to be from 3-5 or so for nonresident boaters utilizing a designated water access site.

This area is a naturalists paradise...The Refuge draws 250,000-400,000 visitors annually. It is regarded as one of the 10 best birding areas in our country because of the variety of habitat. Many other environmental groups have an interest or property in the area....Audubon, The Trustees of Reservations property at Old Town Hill in Newbury, Essex County Greenbelt, State owned and managed wildlife areas (Kents Island, Martin Burns, and Crane Pond wildlife management areas, and Newbury town owned Great Meadows Farm are all in this area.

I and the Parker River Clean Water Association, a watershed group that I am active in, have been working for a long time to get public access to this area. The bridge construction has been our first (and probably last) chance to obtain this. When I learned about the bridge project, I called other interested environmental groups, other gov. agencies, including the Mass Riverways program out of the Mass Office of Environmental Affairs where Russ Cohen, long time access advocate really helped a lot. AMC boaters wrote many letters of support. The response for comments to the Transportation Department was huge....people really stepped forward.

The permits for this area are extensive since it falls in what is called an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. In addition to many State permits, it also requires a Federal permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.

That is about the gist of it....through everyone's help an opportunity to keep our rivers accessible to the public will happen.

Mary and Al Bachelder on the Androscoggin River

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