FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 13, 2006

LARSON APPLAUDS PASSAGE OF BILL TO PROTECT LOWER FARMINGTON RIVER AND SALMON BROOK

WASHINGTON � U.S. Congressman John B. Larson (CT-1) today welcomed passage of the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic River Study Act (S. 435) in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, introduced by Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT), would commission a feasibility study to evaluate whether the Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook, a major tributary, qualifies as a Wild and Scenic Partnership River within the National Park Service�s National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

�I commend Senators Dodd and Lieberman for their efforts to pass this legislation,� stated Larson. �I would also like to praise the efforts of Congresswoman Nancy Johnson, who I worked with in the House on this legislation that is so important to the Farmington River Valley. The lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook host a wealth of natural beauty, a variety of wildlife, and a cultural past important to our state, region, and nation. We owe it to future generations to protect these valuable natural resources.�

The bill passed the House by a voice vote. It was passed in the Senate on December 16, 2005 and will become law once signed by the president.

The lower Farmington River crosses through the First Congressional District and is defined as the forty mile stretch between the lower Collinsville Dam in Burlington and the Rainbow Dam in Windsor. Larson was an original cosponsor of a similar bill (H.R. 1344) introduced by Congresswoman Nancy Johnson (CT-5) to evaluate the lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook as a Wild and Scenic Partnership River which passed the House on September 25, 2006.

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