Atlantic Salmon Restoration
The Connecticut is the focus of a multi-state and federal initiative -- the Connecticut River Basin Atlantic Salmon Compact -- to restore Atlantic salmon to the River. Once abundant, salmon were extirpated over a century ago by dams on the mainstem and tributaries that cut off access to spawning habitat. The salmon restoration effort involves major public investment in research, hatcheries and stocking, and private investment in fish passage at hydroelectric dams.

Threatened and Endangered Species
There are ten known federally listed species within the watershed -- three birds, a fish, an insect, a mussel and four plants. They are: bald eagle, peregrine falcon, piping plover, shortnose sturgeon, dwarf wedge mussel, puritan tiger beetle, Jesup's milk-vetch, Robbin's cinquefoil, small whorled pogonia, and northern bulrush.

Urban Riverfront Revitalization
Riverfront Recapture, a public/private partnership, in Hartford, the capital of the State of Connecticut, has been working for the past 15 years to restore the city's connection with the River that was severed when the Interstate highway system (I-91) was developed through the Valley. This revitalization effort received American Rivers' first Urban River Award in 1996. Another revitalization project is underway in Springfield, MA linked to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Its elements include a visitor and interpretive center and a bikeway connecting with surrounding riverfront communities on both sides of the Connecticut.

Connecticut River Water Trail
An ad hoc Water Trail is in place for several reaches of the River. In New Hampshire and Vermont, the Upper Valley Land Trust has developed a series of primitive canoe campsites. In Massachusetts, boat speeds are limited and jet-powered craft are prohibited on a 13-mile stretch below the Turners Falls dam, making the River more hospitable for canoeists and others to use and experience. At the mouth of the River, the Connecticut River Estuary Regional Planning Agency and several towns have created an interpretive guide for a canoe/kayak trail to explore the estuary and its wetlands.