Section 1 - Lewis County Soil and Water Conservation District

Black River Watershed Stakeholder Outreach Plan
critical to the watershed region. A total of five working groups participated in this activity. While there
was consistency among some topics, such as inter-municipal cooperation and recreation, other focus
areas, such as lack of public transportation, were identified by only a single group. The geographic
diversity of the three meeting locations also impacted the identification of the priority topic areas. For
example, Old Forge meeting attendees identified area-specific topics as most important, including the
Villages location as the Gateway to the Adirondacks and the benefits associated with the Science / Arts
Complex.
The top rated opportunities and constraints associated with the Black River Watershed region for each
of the working groups at the Visioning Workshops are summarized in Section Two of this report. Two
of the groups also discussed potential action items associated with their prioritized list of opportunities
and constraints. The action items are also presented and discussed in Section Three. All comments
generated at the Visioning Workshops in association with the Opportunities and Constraints Analysis
are included in Appendix 3 of this report.
1.2.3 Focus Group Meetings
Following the Visioning Workshops, six focus groups were identified for an additional level of meetings
which concentrated on specific topic areas of particular importance and relevance to the Black River
Watershed planning area. Topic areas and contact lists were identified by the Steering Committee
based on feedback generated at the first round of Visioning Workshops with the public. The focus group
meetings, held on July 30 th and July 31 st, were facilitated by members of the Bergmann Associates team
and were geographically spread out through the watershed planning area in an effort to maximize
attendance and diversity in the people involved in the process.
The following table identifies the focus group topics, meeting locations, and meeting date and time:
Focus Group Topic Location Date and Time
Forestry Old Forge, NY July 30 th, 4:00 PM
Tourism & Recreation Old Forge, NY July 30 th, 6:30 PM
Environmental Lowville, NY July 30 th, 4:00 PM
Agricultural Lowville, NY July 30 th, 6:30 PM
Economic Development Carthage, NY July 31 st, 4:00 PM
Outdoor Recreation Carthage, NY July 31 st , 6:30 PM
Each of the focus group sessions was slated for a two-hour period and included a series of topic-specific
questions, as well as six general questions that were asked at each of the different focus group sessions.
Meeting attendees were asked to respond to each of the questions posed and the meeting facilitators
from Bergmann Associates took extensive notes to document the verbal dialogue. A facilitator from
Bergmann Associates, in addition to members of the Steering Committee, directed the focus group
meetings and maintained the same format and questions among all groups to ensure consistency.
BERGMANN ASSOCIATES Page 3