Senator Chris Murphy and 5th District Congresswoman Jahana Hayes held a roundtable discussion yesterday with conservation leaders and local stakeholders.  They discussed the possibility of 41 miles of the Housatonic River being designated as part of the National Wild and Scenic system. 

The pair are working on legislation for this protective designation, which will make a stretch of the Housatonic River through Canaan, Cornwall, Kent, Salisbury, Sharon, New Milford and North Canaan eligible for federal funding to support conservation efforts.

Among those who took part in yesterday's discussion were Kent First Selectwoman Jean Speck and State Representative Maria Horn, representatives from the Kent Land Trust, Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust in Woodbury, Housatonic Valley Association, FirstLight Power, CT Audubon Society, Audubon Connecticut, Northwest CT Trout Unlimited, Northwest Conservation District, Northwest CT Land Conservancy, and Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area.