OARS' Mission and Vision

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Mission
To work to protect, improve, and preserve the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers, their tributaries and watersheds for the purposes of public recreation, water supply, and wildlife habitat.
To increase public awareness about the value of these three rivers, their tributaries and watersheds as important natural resources.

Vision
These watersheds are our home. They embody our sense of place in the landscape. The Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers, their tributaries, and wetlands provide scenic beauty, drinking water, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, agricultural irrigation, wastewater assimilation, and hydroelectric power to the over 400,000 residents of the 400 square mile watershed. A watershed is a complex web of interrelated components--human, plant, animal, soil, air, and water. A change in one part may be reflected throughout the system. The health of the rivers and our communities depends on regaining and sustaining the fragile balance between competing demands placed on our water resources. We all benefit when water resources are protected.

Water
Our vision is a river system in which the water provides a healthy aquatic habitat and is clean enough for swimming, whose flow approximates natural cycles, and manmade impoundments are free of contaminants.

Habitat
The river and tributary corridors of the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord watersheds should support the full range of native species typical for New England rivers with their flow characteristics and surrounding habitat. Healthy ecosystems in the watersheds will directly contribute to healthy rivers.

Recreation
The Sudbury-Assabet-Concord river system offer outstanding scenic beauty and opportunities for recreation and nature-watching. Our vision is watersheds where scenic vistas are protected and recreational opportunities are abundant, accessible, enjoyable, and safe.

Cultural and historic resources
The Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers have a rich literary, historical, and cultural legacy. Our vision is a watershed where this legacy is well-understood, accessible, and integrated into planning decisions.

Stewardship and education
We all share responsibility for the care of our rivers and streams and for the watershed in which we live. Our vision is a community where every resident is a well-informed steward of our natural resources. Land areas contributing to the health and beauty of the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord river system, including flood plains, wetlands, steep slopes, and groundwater recharge areas, should be managed with sensitivity to the effect on our water resources.