Federal, State Officials Mark Clarksburg River Restoration

USDA Deputy Undersecretary Ann Mills called the Briggsville Dam project 'a model of 21st century conservation.' Below, Peter Cote, president of Cascade School Supplies, said the company couldn't afford to fix the dam.

 

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The fish weren't biting on Friday despite the sure-fire flies from Trout Unlimited.

Maybe the trout and long-nosed suckers were taking it easy amongst the eddies and pools created along the Hoosic River, ignoring the the yellow lines being ceremonially cast from the bank by a bunch of government types. 

A year ago there were no pools, no riverbank and few fish, if any, in the slight elbow of the North Branch. There was an old dam and a river so silted up there were trees growing in the middle of it — nice shade for the picnic table some enterprising explorers dragged out there.

Now the water runs free — thanks in large part to those very government officials, environmentalists, educators and the old dam's owners who gathered on Friday to mark the Briggsville Dam's demise. It was a coalition of 18 diverse partners committed to restoring a river in the name of safety, ecology and economics that removed the obsolete dam and restored a wildlife habitat for fish and wildlife along 30 miles of river.

"I think you are a model for what 21st century conservation looks like going forward," said Ann Mills, deputy undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who added that this "is exactly the kind of story that I will be proud to tell."

Mills oversees USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, which provided nearly $400,000 toward the more than half-million-dollar project. The balance was made up by Cascade School Supplies, the town of Clarksburg and public and nonprofit agencies.

The project is part of the Obama administration's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, which was launched two years ago with a meeting of some 500 leaders in business, ecology and education and other fields. Some 50 listening sessions across the nation has resulted in 100,000 comments and a plan of action that will encourage communities to leverage their natural resources with the help of federal and state agencies.

Mills said what was taken from the listening sessions was that "Americans deeply care about their natural resources and they want to preserve them and they understand the connection between a healthy environment and a strong economy."

This project was a "classic story of success" because it saved both the river and a local business, Cascade School Supplies, which had a direct affect on some 150 jobs.

"This was the literal breaking down of a barrier that's going to usher in a really healthy and important era," she said. "This is a good example of how in working together to protect a resource you can also protect — literally in this case — a number of jobs in communities across the country."

Fish & Game Commissioner Mary Griffin presented National River Month proclamations to the project's leaders.

The dam hadn't been used for power in decades when Cascade purchased the mill building several years ago.

"When Cascade first learned we would be faced with the financial challenge of repairing or removing the dam, we were quite concnered about how we could possibly fund such a large endeavor and still remain a fiscally viable company," said Cascade President Peter Cote. "Thanks to all the people and organizations here today, that became a reality."

There are some 3,000 aging dams in Massachusetts and 26,000 in the Northeast, said Brian Graber of the nonprofit American Rivers, which has been spearheading river restoration through dam removal.

"These dams are deteriorating, and as they deteriorate, they are becoming financial burdens to their owners and in many cases they're becoming public safety hazards," said Graber who with Nick Wildman, priority projects coordinator for the state Division of Ecological Restoration, was instrumental in moving the project along. "We've recognized that there's really no better, or faster, more effective way to bring rivers back to life than to remove a dam."

The project almost didn't happen when the complex plan of grants and donations ran into deadline issues and drying up resources last spring. But the 160-foot-long dam that dated back to 1848 was finally removed last November, the channel dredged, boulders put in place and the restored banks re-seeded. All that's left of the detiorated concrete structure is a rusting set of gears made by Rodney Hunt Machine Co. in Orange to provide mechanical power to the former Strong-Hewat Woolen Mill.

Town Administrator Michael Canales described the gears and chutes "as a bookmark" as the area turned a page from the mills and businesses that flourished with the power of the river back to what it was like hundreds of years ago.

Joe Overlock of the Hoosuck Chapter of Trout Unlimited, who later gave Mills tips on fly casting, said the river was stocked with brown, brook and rainbow trout. He envisioned benches in the newly created park area and a catch-and-return month as a way to foster use of the restored fishing spot.  

	Briggsville Dam Deconstruction at Halfway Mark CLARKSBURG - 11-04-2010 - "It's been six years coming to fruition and now that it finally has, it's a tremendous relief." —
	Clarksburg Dam Demolished Thursday CLARKSBURG - 11-02-2010 - The project involves removing the dam, stabilizing and vegetating banks, protecting an upstream bridge, and restoring...

Dredging Begins at Clarksburg Dam CLARKSBURG - 10-25-2010 - Some 11,000 yards of rocks and sediment behind the dam will be excavated before the concrete structure is removed.

Clarksburg OKs Funds for Dam Removal CLARKSBURG - 10-06-2010 - Nick Wildman, priority projects coordinator of the state's Division of Ecological Restoration, said the work could...

Clarksburg Officials Look For Voter Guidance on Dam CLARKSBURG - 09-22-2010 - "It's your money folks. We need your vote; we need you to tell us what to do." — Selectman Carl McKinney

Clarksburg Sets Vote on Dam Spending CLARKSBURG - 09-17-2010 - The town meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. at the Clarksburg Elementary School.

Clarksburg Looks For Dam Removal Alternatives CLARKSBURG - 08-25-2010 - The town may turn to the Pentagon to get rid of the deteriorating Briggsville Dam.

Clarksburg Could Vote on Dam Removal CLARKSBURG - 08-02-2010 - "It's either going to have a lot of support and pass or it's going to go down in flames but it won't be for lack of...

Clarksburg Selectman Suggests Town Vote On Funding Dam... CLARKSBURG - 06-24-2010 - "You can basically expect the mill to go out of business and to remain vacant and no longer pay property taxes. And...

Clarksburg School Asks Town to Help Close Shortfall CLARKSBURG - 04-16-2010 - "You were at last year's town meeting. I really don't want to ask for more." — Chairwoman Debra Lefave.

Briggsville Dam Slated for Removal This Summer CLARKSBURG - 02-25-2010 - "From a fish standpoint, we didn't want to come into this and pump the stream down." — Nick Wildman

Prospect Meadow Farm Opens New Vocational Barn

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:40AM / Thursday, June 18, 2026

A charcuterie board at the event displays fare from some of the regional producers.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Prospect Meadow Farm last week officially opened a new barn to sell plants and other goods it produces.

Prospect Meadow Farm Berkshires is an expansion of ServiceNet's first farm in Hatfield that has provided meaningful agricultural work, fair wages, and personal and professional growth to hundreds of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities since opening in 2011. 

The Berkshires farm opened on Crane Avenue two years ago and has now introduced a new vocational and unwinding space for the more than 25 farmhands who get paid a minimum wage.

"This is a facility for our folks who work on the farm to learn additional skills and do additional work," said Vice President of Vocational Services Shawn Robinson at the Friday event. "So we have a food packaging space, we've got a walk-in cooler space, we've got a floral design space, we've got a farm store room for staff, lunch room, and then a meditation room that we're standing in now, which is when you're having those hard moments and you need to get away from everything.

"This is going to be a peaceful place you can find and sort of find some comfort, and then hopefully get back to work."

The barn was built by funds from the state Executive Office of Economic Development and the state Department of Agricultural Resources that equated to around $600,000, with ServiceNet contributing around the same amount. The structure took over a year to build.

The state's Department of Developmental Services Commissioner Sarah Peterson spoke on how meaningful this farm and ServiceNet is to her and that this place is important to those who need it.

"Places like this are so crucial because they create opportunities for people living with disabilities that aren't plentiful," she said. "People living with developmental and intellectual disabilities have an unemployment rate over 25 percent five times the rate for people without disabilities, even more jarring is under appointment, which is at 80 percent. That means that four out of every five people with disabilities earn below market rate wages and have limited upward mobility.

"The building itself is really impressive, but what you're really seeing here is the result of vision. It's about opportunity, it's about community, and it's founded in the belief that every person deserves the chance to learn and work and contribute to thrive under the leadership of ServiceNet."

One aspect of the barn will be the market where produce from the farm and other local growers will be sold as well as keeping the tradition of Jodi's Seasonal, which previously occupied the location, alive with plant sales. The market will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"Everything you see in terms of the tomatoes, the fresh produce, that's all done with the hands of our farm hands here, individuals with disabilities who get out every single morning, get in those greenhouses, put their hands in the dirt, and make all of this happen, and this is just the start," said Robinson. "This farm is a little over a year old at this point, but give it another two years, and we hope to be growing enough food to share throughout the Berkshires."

Robinson said the farm is focused on local food security, recently partnering with the Hatfield Council on Aging and planning to work toward making enough food to partner with places in the Berkshires.

He said the barn serves the Hatfield farm and what the employees here needed.

"We've been able to learn the needs of the farm hands who work there and so we have learned that they need a comfortable break space for those times where it's hard to be out in the fields, we've learned that a quiet space for when you're going through something you need to be away from people are key, and then also we have a small farm store in Hatfield, but we've seen increasing interest in retail work from our participants, so we thought it was time for a larger-scale farm store," he said.

Robinson noted that Prospect Meadow Farm has helped the individuals working there feel valued and head.