FINDINGS.

SEC. 102. FINDINGS. The Congress finds that— (1) the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley in the State of Connecticut is one of the last unspoiled and undeveloped areas in the Northeastern United States and has remained largely intact, including important aboriginal archaeological sites, excellent water quality, beautiful rural landscapes, architecturally significant mill structures and mill villages, and large acreages of parks and other permanent open space; (2) the State of Connecticut ranks last among the 50 States in the amount of federally protected park and open space lands within its borders and lags far behind the other Northeastern States in the amount of land set-aside for public recreation; (3) the beautiful rural landscapes, scenic vistas and excellent water quality of the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers contain significant undeveloped recreational opportunities for people throughout the United States; (4) the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley is within a two-hour drive of the major metropolitan areas of New York City, Hartford, Providence, Worcester, Springfield, and Boston. With the President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors reporting that Americans are taking shorter “closer-to-home” vacations, the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley represents important close-by recreational opportunities for significant population; (5) the existing mill sites and other structures throughout the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley were instrumental in the development of the industrial revolution; 108 STAT. 4753 (6) the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley contains a vast number of discovered and unrecovered Native American and colonial archaeological sites significant to the history of North America and the United States; (7) the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley represents one of the last traditional upland farming and mill village communities in the Northeastern United States; (8) the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley played a nationally significant role in the cultural evolution of the prewar colonial period, leading the transformation from Puritan to Yankee, the “Great Awakening” religious revival and early political development leading up to and during the War of Independence; and (9) many local, regional and State agencies businesses, and private citizens and the New England Governors’ Conference have expressed an overwhelming desire to combine forces: to work cooperatively to preserve and enhance resources region-wide and better plan for the future.