The Fort River Watershed Association

A tributary of the Connecticut River Conservancy

The Fort River Watershed Association is a group of watershed residents volunteering their time, sharing their voice and lending their talents to study, enjoy and advocate for a healthy Fort River watershed.  We welcome you to join us. The Fort River is the longest free-flowing (or, un-dammed) tributary of the Connecticut River in Massachusetts, supplying drinking water to the residents of Amherst, and flowing through the towns of Amherst, Belchertown, Hadley, Pelham, and Shutesbury. Our mission is to preserve and protect the Fort River and its entire watershed area, as well as to make the river more easily accessible for low-impact recreation, education, and ecological research.

The Fort River Watershed Association has received a grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust to install trail stations and an online trail guide for the Emily Dickenson Trail in Amherst. These funds are made available through the sale of the State’s 3 environmental license plates. We wish to thank the thousands of individual plate holders who voluntarily contribute their support to protect and preserve the waters and related resources of the Commonwealth. For more information on this project, please visit the Trail’s page on our website.