Envision the James

The community meetings tour ends but the process is only beginning!

 

Envision the James is a multi-year, collaborative project that invites communities and individuals to get involved in creating a common vision for the river to benefit present and future generations.  From March 28 though April 26, 2012, The James River Association (JRA) held meetings up and down the James River watershed hoping people from their area would take ownership of their communities and contribute a local vision to the riverfront planning.  JRA joined forces with the National Geographic Society and the Chesapeake Conservancy for this unique visioning process.  Overall, the community meetings were invaluable in the data we were able to collect using interactive survey tools.  The data collected included local opinions regarding the use of the riverfront and the agencies that should oversee these uses.  This data will be included in the Envision the James website that is currently being developed by National Geographic.

Each meeting began with an introduction to the Envision the James project and the Expedition program that Gabe Silver, Education Coordinator for JRA, began in summer 2011.  Following the anonymous survey, an open forum was held for community discussion among the attendees regarding specific issues or concerns.  During the open forums, it was interesting to hear about the different types of concerns in the different regions of the watershed.  The Envision the James watershed tour began with two meetings in the Lower James, held in Hampton at Fort Monroe and in Williamsburg at the Kingsmill Resort Center.  The issues discussed at these open forums included concerns about gaining additional public access to the James River.  The National Park Service attended both of these meetings and openly discussed the challenges involved, but also the process for gaining more public access.

Community meeting in Hampton

Community meetings in Williamsburg

On April 4^th the Envision the James community meeting was held in Richmond at the Maymont Carriage House.  The guest speaker at this meeting was Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau, who spoke of the importance of community planning to protect local resources. This meeting boasted the largest attendance throughout the Envision the James tour and we were able to collect quality data from a diverse audience, including those with a vested interest in the James River for tourism and business reasons and those that were interested in local conservation and planning. Visit Blue Legacy's Blog for another look at Richmond's Envision the James meeting.

Alexandra Cousteau and Bill Street, Director of JRA

The last three meetings of the watershed tour were located in the Upper James region in Scottsville, Lynchburg, and the Town of Buchanan.  The meetings were all well attended with audiences from diverse sectors of society.  As we reached areas closer to the headwaters of the James, it seemed more focus and discussion was on river outfitter concerns and always public access.  Throughout the whole tour, water quality and pollution concerns remained top priorities for those living within the watershed. 

Lynchburg Community Meeting             

Town of Buchanan Community Meeting

If you were not able to attend a meeting, please visit www.EnvisionTheJames.org and sign up to get updates on the project and learn about National Geographic Maps tools as they are launched.