The Official Website of the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game
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- Commissioner Mary B. Griffin
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March 31st, 2006 In this issue: Riverways' New Approach to Restoration: Priority Projects Dear River Advocates, As we move into the spring season, we rejoice in the return of anadromous fish, the sight of rivers running, the thoughts of once again being out on the rivers. This 20th edition of NewsNotes highlights Riverways’ new restoration initiative, Priority Projects, a process that we find has energized our and others’ efforts to achieve tangible progress in revitalizing riverine habitat, amenity and other values. In addition, this NewsNotes also brings a request for your 2006 Massachusetts Rivers Month Calendar events, a “ Legislative Update” section and an announcement about our “Rain Barrel Demonstration Project” that provides, on a competitive basis, rain barrels for watershed groups to use to educate neighbors about the link between summertime water use and river health and to promote better water conservation practices. Just as we look forward to 2006, Riverways has recently completed its 2005 Annual Report, giving us an opportunity to reflect on our work and ways that Riverways has adapted to changes and opportunities. Riverways is a true partnership program, we are all enriched by working with you--and it’s always exciting for us when staff return from being in the field with new knowledge and new stories about what you are all doing. We feel very fortunate in having great partners in working on behalf of the Commonwealth’s riverine ecosystems. The Annual Report includes “Highlights of 2005” as well as descriptions of each of our intersecting focus areas: (1) restoration; (2) technical assistance; (3) policy and (4) advocacy and constituency building. Briefly, some highlights include: Stream Restoration: Working with partners, Riverways piloted a River Continuity project on Tower Brook in Chesterfield, to retrofit a culvert to restore fish passage on this high-quality, cold-water stream. Riverways is also working on two other River Continuity pilots, one in Worthington and one in Somerset. Riverways has continued to participate with Plymouth and other federal, state and local partners (including EOEA’s Coastal Web Initiative) on the Town Brook Restoration that restored stream bank and enhanced smelt passage. Riverways is working with the National Park Service and the Town of Lincoln on a stream daylighting project in Minuteman National Park, and, with the Town of Becket , federal, state and local partners on a dam removal project on Yokum Brook, continuing the restoration begun by removal of the Silk Mill Dam in 2002. Once again, working with partners, Riverways has a lead in promoting an integrated watershed approach to restoring the Neponset River. As we move ahead in our restoration efforts, we are delighted with our new “Priority Projects”, and we thank the Wetlands Restoration Program and NOAA for their support and guidance as we launched this approach. We also thank you for the submission of great projects--it was very difficult to narrow it to the eleven we selected. Advocacy and constituency building for rivers continue to be the foundation of everything we do. Highlights of the year included two conferences relating to instream flow: the Massachusetts Streamflow Conference and the Beyond Sewering Conference. Other highlights included working with stream teams, River Instream Flow Stewards (RIFLS) groups, River Continuity monitors, watershed associations, land trusts and individuals. [The RIFLS Program has its own 2005 Annual Report; click on http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/river/pdf/rifls_annual_report_2005.pdf to read it.] Through a §319 grant, Adopt-A-Stream has completed (1): with a consultant, a social marketing research study to determine ways to broaden acceptance of storm water BMPs; and (2) with over 50 volunteers in two communities, local stormwater mitigation through neighborhood planting projects and demonstration gardens. Riverways staff have worked with many groups and hundreds of individuals through technical assistance. As part of our policy work, we participated in the development of the Massachusetts Stream Crossing Standards , later incorporated into the MA Army Corps Programmatic General Permit, which means that all culvert replacements will have to be fish and wildlife friendly. (See our web page for Riverways Stream Crossings Handbook and poster, which provide an overview of continuity issues at stream crossings. Hard copies of these documents were sent out to every DPW and Conservation Commission in the Commonwealth, accompanied by a letter from EOEA Secretary Stephen Pritchard.) Working with partners including the Weir River Watershed Association, Riverways staff initiated the addition of the Weir River to the state’s list of highly stressed basins. Riverways participated in writing the Taunton River Stewardship Plan with the Wild and Scenic Committee; the communities have approved Wild and Scenic status for the river and are awaiting Congressional designation. As we move into 2006, we are participating on the Secretary’s Dam Streamlining Committee. Rather than continuing to summarize Riverways’ Riverways’ 2005 Annual Report here, I encourage you to click on http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/river/pdf/riverways_annualreport_2005.pdf and take a look at the version posted on our web page so you can enjoy the extensive photos and maps that accompany the text. We are interested in finding out if there is interest in resurrecting (from the early 1990s) the “Watershed Brown Bag Suppers” to discuss river issues. We would like to have a brief meeting with some of you to investigate whether there is interest in this and what the content should be. Suggestions so far have included: (1) brainstorming sessions to help come up with solutions to thorny issues that some groups are confronting--and other groups have solved (the focus of the 1990s suppers); (2) technical sessions on various aspects of river protection, restoration and/or stewardship; or (3) a combination of issue-sharing, problem-solving and technical sessions. These “brown bags” could be both centrally- and/or regionally located. Please let me know if you have ideas or interest! Last but not least: following the lead article, this edition of NewsNotes includes the customary and extensive Resources and Grants section, with a special section on Fundraising Resources. You may want to skim the Grant and Award Opportunities and Calendar sections of Resources and Grants first to make sure you don’t miss any fast-approaching events and deadlines. See you on the rivers- Joan Kimball , Director P.S.: The Mass. Watershed Coalition (MWC)’s “mwc-list” listserv is a great source of information on river- and watershed-related funding and job opportunities, upcoming events, recent articles and more. Many of the posted items are time-sensitive and can’t wait until the next edition of NewsNotes. You can access the mwc-list listserv at http://lists.topica.com/lists/mwc-list@igc.topica.com, where you can subscribe to receive the posted messages to your e-mail address, or simply read them on-line. Highly recommended! While there’s some overlap, you might also want to join and/or read prior postings to the “NEWatersheds” listserv maintained by River Network – see http://rapids.rivernetwork.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/newatersheds.
Your Events Wanted for 2006 Massachusetts Rivers Month Calendar Hi Folks – it’s that time again. As you (may) know, Riverways has each spring since 1988 put out an annual Massachusetts Rivers Month Calendar as part of the national celebration of Rivers Month each June. As many of you also organize great river-related events in May and July as well, we typically expand the “Rivers Month” concept a bit to include river-related events from mid-May to the July 4th weekend. So this year we intend to include all river-related events we hear about that will take place from Sat. May 13th to Tues. July 4th. If you haven’t already got one or more events planned for that period, there’s still time to organize something. Rivers Month is a great opportunity for river and watershed groups, stream teams and all other river enthusiasts to schedule activities that promote public awareness of the importance of clean, flowing rivers and protected riparian lands to the Commonwealth’s environmental and economic well-being. In order to list the events in the Calendar we need to know about them, so please send them in (via e-mail, fax, snail mail or the telephone – whichever form is most convenient to you). To include all river-related events (canoe trips, river festivals, river art exhibitions, etc.) taking place in Massachusetts between Sat. May 13th to Tues. July 4th, 2006, we are requesting that all event sponsors submit the necessary information (look under “What’s New” at http://www.massriverways.org to see what info we’re seeking for the Rivers Month Calendar) by Saturday, April 22nd (Earth Day), 2006. (NOTE: If you can’t make this deadline, send the info in to us anyway, and we will try to squeeze your event in to the Calendar – no promises, though.) Please feel free to circulate this message to anyone you feel is appropriate. We look forward to learning about and publicizing your events. Riverways Spring 2006 Rain Barrel Demonstration Project To highlight the connection between water use and streamflow, Riverways is calling for proposals from watershed groups, stream teams, towns, and others working on stream protection to receive free rain barrels for use in demonstration projects. Proposals are due Monday, May 1st. The request for proposals and application forms are available on our homepage (look for “Rain Barrel Demo Project” under “What’s New”). For more information, contact Riverways’ Tom Warhol at thomas.warhol@state.ma.us or (617) 626-1595. [Additional discounted rain barrels are available in some communities; go to http://www.nerainbarrel.com and click on “Shop on Line” to see a partial list, or contact Ann McGovern at DEP at (617) 292-5834 or ann.mcgovern@state.ma.us.] Riverways' New Approach to Restoration: River Restoration and Revitalization Priority Projects In keeping with its mission to protect and restore the ecological integrity of rivers and streams throughout the Commonwealth, Riverways has been focusing its efforts on river restoration and revitalization. In 2005, in response to the increasing need throughout the state for assistance with river restoration, Riverways formalized a selection process to prioritize projects modeled after the strategy of other successful restoration-based programs, such as the Wetlands Restoration Program administered by the Mass. EOEA’s Coastal Zone Management office, and the federal NOAA Restoration Center Programs. River and stream restoration assists in the recovery of the natural processes of a riverine ecosystem that has been degraded, altered, or destroyed. Riverways’ objectives for restoration include projects that restore natural processes, remove ecosystem stressors, and increase resilience of the ecosystem. Riverways focuses on projects that improve connectivity and passage for fish and wildlife, restore natural streamflow patterns and volumes, daylight underground stream segments, enhance in-stream habitat, stabilize banks, or improve water quality. Additionally, preference is being given to projects that are part of a larger watershed restoration plan and have an ecosystem approach to recovery. For example, when considering dam removal—probably the most effective way to restore the connectivity and overall health of a river—an ecosystem approach considers whether there are other dams or barriers downstream that would block fish and wildlife passage and if there are plans to allow passage at those barriers. Before instituting Priority Projects, Riverways, through a competitive process, selected seven consulting firms, experienced in river restoration and dam removal engineering, that could provide technical services. To prioritize projects that meet restoration criteria, Riverways issued a Request for Response (RFR) to the general public in the fall of 2005 for nominations of restoration projects. Once selected, priority projects are eligible to receive a range of technical assistance by staff, technical services by consultants and, in some cases, funding. Thus far, Riverways technical assistance has included site visits, geomorphic assessment, community organizing, and grant and permit writing assistance. An important element critical to the success of restoration projects is collaboration with partners. Each of the priority projects represents a diversified partnership between local, state, and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, cities, towns and private entities. In response to the RFR, Riverways received 34 project nominations from a variety of applicants and selected 11 of them for priority project status. Of the selected projects, seven sites are examining feasibility for the impending or prospective removal of one or more dams on the project site. Several of the projects will examine the feasibility of stream daylighting; others will be improving the in-stream habitat and fish passage or modifying a stream channel. Some of the successful proposals had multiple ecological benefits such as the Eel River in Plymouth, which will restore the natural channel of the Eel River through abandoned cranberry bogs in the headwaters of the Eel River with wetland, in-stream and riparian restoration, trout habitat improvement and water quality improvements using a variety of methods such as culvert retrofits, small dam removals and in-stream habitat improvements. Riverways is providing the technical services of a consultant as well as technical assistance from Riverways staff. The Town of Plymouth is also the proponent of a multi-phase project to restore the herring run in Town Brook. As part of this long-term project, Riverways is working with the Town and partners to determine the feasibility of daylighting a portion of the brook and removing two dams. Here again, funding is shared by federal, state and local partners. Nearby Red Brook is the site of another priority project, submitted by Trout Unlimited, which will restore this coldwater stream that drains into Buzzards Bay. The Red Brook Reserve includes the 210-acre Theodore Lyman Reserve, owned and managed by The Trustees of Reservations, and the 428-acre Red Brook Wildlife Management Area, owned and managed by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Red Brook supports a unique fisheries resource that includes anadromous fish populations as well as several common freshwater and estuarine fish species. In addition to technical assistance by Riverways staff, Riverways’ consultant will provide a sediment management plan to prepare for a small dam removal on this site. Other dam removal projects include one, submitted by Mass. Audubon, near the headwaters of Galloway Brook on Mass Audubon’s Cook’s Canyon Wildlife Sanctuary in Barre, which will restore natural stream function, improve water quality and enhance habitat for aquatic organisms. In Pittsfield , feasibility studies are being conducted for the removal of the Mill St. (a.k.a. “Tel-Electric”) Dam on the Housatonic River , and in the Town of Millbury , dam removal options are being explored for the already partially-breached “Mass. Electric” Dam on the Blackstone River . The Pioneer Valley Trout Unlimited project along the Swift River in central Massachusetts will remove a collapsed rock structure – the remains of an old bridge abutment – which currently constricts the flow and causes slow-moving, impounded water upstream. Riverways is also working with the Nature Conservancy in Western Massachusetts to restore an aquatic and riparian ecosystem in the headwaters of Coles Brook. In the northeast, Riverways is providing technical assistance to the Town of Gloucester on a project that will restore the Little River by removing and replacing an antiquated concrete channel and sludge lagoon with a natural streambed. Multiple aquatic species stand to benefit from the restoration and a more natural stream configuration will greatly enhance the flood capacity and aesthetic conditions of the river. Some priority projects are located in more urban settings. The City of Fitchburg is working to improve in-stream habitat within a segment of the North Nashua River currently contained within flood walls in an effort to contribute toward the restoration of the river and the enhancement of the river as an amenity for the City. This project is part of Fitchburg ’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which, along with Riverfront Park, resulted in part from a river corridor master plan partially funded by Riverways. In downtown Adams , a similar effort is being made to reconnect people to the Hoosic River which flows north through the town. A feasibility study will be conducted to examine the possibility of daylighting Hoxie Brook, a coldwater stream running from the slopes of Mt. Greylock into town, which is currently submerged beneath a parking lot before it re-emerges to join the Hoosic River . This particular project is part of the Adams Downtown Development Plan; its location between the new northern terminus of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, the new Discover the Berkshires visitors center and the currently channelized Hoosic River is an effort to reconnect people to the rivers running through and the natural areas surrounding the Town. For more information about individual projects, project partners, and photos of project sites, go to the Priority Project webpage. To learn more about the support available from Riverways for restoration projects, click here. Pending funding and resource availability, Riverways intends to re-issue the RFR soliciting restoration projects on an annual basis in the late summer or early fall. Riverways encourages prospective applicants to contact us prior to the posting of the RFR to discuss project ideas. As you (may) know, the current session of the Massachusetts State Legislature is scheduled to end at midnight on Monday, July 31st. Any bills not acted upon by then will need to be re-filed for consideration in the next legislative session, which commences after the Fall 2006 election. Our partners have requested that we provide a brief update on the status of several bills still under consideration by the Massachusetts House and/or Senate that are relevant to river/watershed protection, restoration and/or stewardship, along with links providing more background information. Senate Bill 537, “An Act Relating To The Distribution And Sale Of Household Cleaning Products Containing Phosphorus”, proposes to restrict phosphorous content in automatic dishwashing detergents to prevent excessive nutrient loading to rivers and other surface waters. The bill received a favorable report from the Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (JENRA) in March and is currently before the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The Organization for the Assabet River (OAR)’s web page at http://www.assabetriver.org/nutrient/detergents.html provides additional information on this issue. Senate Bill 2376 (formerly numbered S.543), “An Act to Encourage and Promote Water Conservation”, seeks to more explicitly authorize municipalities to establish “water banks”, in which a fee collected as part of approvals for certain water and land use activities is applied to water efficiency, recharge enhancement and/or other actions that help replenish streams and aquifers and restore natural hydrology. This bill also received a favorable report from the JENRA in March and is awaiting action at Senate Ways and Means. The Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM)’s water issues page (http://www.environmentalleague.org/Issues/Water/Issues_Water.html) contains a fact sheet on this proposed legislation. Senate Bill 2393 (formerly numbered S.542), entitled “Relative to the Repair, Removal, and Replacement of Dams”, a bill that would amend Chapter 253 of the Mass. General Laws to facilitate the removal of obsolete and/or structurally-deficient dams that are problematic from a public safety or environmental perspective (see discussion of this issue in Riverways’ NewsNotes 19), also received a favorable report from the JENRA in March and is currently awaiting further action at Senate Ways and Means. ELM’s water issues page also provides a fact sheet on this proposed legislation. Senate Bill 2392 (formerly numbered S.541), entitled “To Protect Natural Streamflows in the Rivers and Streams of the Commonwealth”, which directs the Mass. Water Resources Commission to develop streamflow standards that provide for flows of water sufficient to sustain healthy riverine organisms and habitats, also received a favorable report from the JENRA in March and is currently awaiting further action at Senate Ways and Means. ELM’s water issues page contains a fact sheet on this bill as well. Senate Bill 2412 (formerly numbered S.549), An Act Establishing A Water Resources Conservation Act And Efficiency Program, provides state funding and staff support to efforts that increase the efficiency of water use, mitigate the environmental impacts of water withdrawals, assess the effectiveness of various water conservation and water resource protection measures, and identify measures needed to protect and conserve water resources and biological resources throughout the Commonwealth. This bill also received a favorable report from the JENRA in March and is awaiting action at Senate Ways and Means. The Ipswich River Watershed Association’s web page at http://www.ipswichriver.org/pressroom/whatsnew.htm#1 provides more information on this proposed legislation. Senate Bill 168 and House Bill 3544, identical bills referred to as the Massachusetts Land Use Reform Act (MLURA), are still awaiting action by the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business. In the meantime, a revised version of MLURA called the Community Planning Act (CPA II) has been drafted and may be acted upon by the state legislature before the close of the session. The Zoning Reform Working Group’s webpage (http://www.massmunilaw.org/zoning.htm?sid=60) has posted a PowerPoint presentation on MLURA/CPA II as well as the text and a summary of CPA II, along with information about a Community Planning Day event scheduled for Wednesday, April 12th at the State House. House Bill 4491, the latest version of a “Bill relative to the development of underused state owned real property and the disposition of state owned surplus real property”, was passed by the House of Representatives in January and is currently before the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities website has more information on this pending legislation, as do the Waltham Land Trust and MetroFuture websites. House Bill 4218 (formerly numbered S.472 and H.1383), also known as the Massachusetts Land Conservation Incentives Act, would create a Massachusetts income tax credit, similar to that already existing in 13 other states, for individuals willing to donate conservation land. The bill is currently before the House Ways and Means Committee. The Massachusetts Chapter of The Nature Conservancy’s web page provides a fact sheet on this proposed legislation. Grant Opportunities (presented in chronological order by deadline) The U.S. EPA’s Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE, http://www.epa.gov/care) Program is a unique, community-based, community-driven, multimedia demonstration program designed to help communities understand and reduce risks due to toxics and environmental pollutants from all sources. CARE helps communities form collaborative partnerships, develop a comprehensive understanding of the many sources of risk from toxics and environmental pollutants, set priorities, and identify and carry out projects to reduce risks through collaborative action at the local level. A total of $2.7 million is available in FY06. Level 1 Cooperative Agreements are designed to help communities form broad-based partnerships dedicated to reducing toxics in their local environment and to help this stakeholder group assess toxics problems in their community and consider options for reducing risks. Level 2 Cooperative Agreements are for communities that already have established broad-based collaborative partnerships and have completed environmental assessments. Level 2 helps identify the combination of programs that best meet the community’s needs and become self-sustaining by attracting new funding and partners and completing new problem assessments. The application deadline is Monday, April 10th. Northeast Utilities (NU)’s Environmental Community Grant Program was created to enable NU to fund local community and grassroots environmental projects that are often overlooked by large grant programs. Grants between $250 and $1,000 are awarded twice a year – in May and November – in Connecticut , Massachusetts and New Hampshire . Applications are reviewed by a team of NU employees. Eligible projects include improving local wildlife habitat, environmental education, organized cleanup projects (such as cleaning up a park, part of a stream or a vacant lot) or reclaiming and rehabilitating damaged environments. Annual application deadlines are April 15th and October 15th. Check out http://www.nu.com/environmental/grant.asp for more info on the grant program. To apply for a grant, contact the NU Environmental Management Department at (860) 665-3951 or view the application, which you fill out and submit on-line, or print out and mail in. International Paper (IP) and The Conservation Fund will provide national recognition and $10,000 cash grants to the winners of two awards. The IP Conservation Partnership Award recognizes an individual who has achieved significant results in the protection of habitat through a cooperative relationship with a business or corporation. The IP Environmental Education Award honors educators who have shown special skills in giving their students a better understanding of the complex relationship between environmental protection and economic growth. Nominations are being accepted through April 17th, 2006 :http://www.conservationfund.org/?article=2331. The Portland, OR-based Fund for Wild Nature (http://www.fundwildnature.org) believes that “healthy ecosystems are too essential to be sacrificed. Increasingly rare, wild areas constitute the main reservoirs of biodiversity. They also provide key spiritual and scientific reference points for understanding the planet's wondrous cycles of birth, life, death, and decay. The Board's ideology is rooted in biocentrism and the belief that the human experience has become increasingly distressed because society has disconnected from Nature, and has attempted to control natural systems for short-sighted consumption. We may perceive comfort and convenience, but the waste we leave degrades our quality of life, and inflicts a great deal of suffering on the other life with which we share the Earth. When we realize our kinship with these other life forms, we re-discover our natural, wilder selves”. The Fund provides small grants to small groups engaging in campaigns to save and restore native species and wild ecosystems, including actions to defend wilderness and biological diversity; the next proposal deadline is Friday, April 28th. The Fund also solicits charitable donations (see http://www.fundwildnature.org/contribute.html). The U.S. EPA recently announced that applications are now being accepted for the 2006 (fifth annual) National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This award program recognizes communities that use the principles of smart growth to create better places. This competition is open to local or state governments and other public sector entities. Non-profit or private organizations or individuals are not eligible for the award. However, if a superior project is developed through a public-private or a public-non-profit partnership, EPA will make the award to the public sector entity while noting the other participants in the activity. Go to http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/awards.htm for more info; applications are due May 1st, 2006 . The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Grants Program offers50-50 matching grants offered to municipalities and non-profit groups in Massachusetts communities of all sizes for the purpose of building local capacity for excellent urban and community forestry at the local and regional level. DCRinvites potentially interested applicants to submit an “Intent to Apply” form for a project you might want to complete in the next year. You may submit the form any time during the year, and DCR staff will then follow up with you on your idea. Final full proposals are due twice a year, May 1st and November 1st. Your Intent to Apply form must be received at least one month in advance of these deadlines, and preferably two months in advance if you intend to apply for that round. For the form and more details on this grant program, see http://www.mass.gov/dcr/stewardship/forestry/urban/urbanGrants.htm. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Employees Charitable Campaign (COMECC) is now considering applications from charitable organizations that would like to be eligible for funding from this statewide workplace giving program for Massachusetts state employees. Interested non-profit groups should consult Executive Order 451 (http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/ExecOrders/eo451.txt) which sets out basic eligibility criteria, as well as fill out an application, available on-line at https://www.comecc.net/charity.asp. Organizations can apply to be eligible in the COMECC region(s) benefiting from their charitable activities. If you wish to apply for participation in more than one COMECC Region, you may submit a single complete application form to the Statewide Campaign Manager by checking the Regions where your organization provides services and by providing a separate detailed description in response to section 9. All completed applications must be received by the Statewide Campaign Manager no later than Monday, April 24th, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. Moreover, as the Committee will review applications on a “first received, first reviewed” basis, it is advantageous to submit applications early if you can. If you have any questions, please contact the Statewide Campaign Manager, Duke Hutchinson at (617) 348-6228, (617) 357-0172 or hutchinson@bostonabcd.org. The Mass. Executive Office of Environmental Affairs is now accepting applications from forest landowners interested in participating in the Forest Viability Grant Program. This program provides business planning assistance and implementation grants to landowners wishing to establish or improve forest-based businesses. Eligible landowners may receive up to $5,000 in technical assistance for the preparation of a Forest Viability Business Plan in return for a 5-year covenant protecting the land from development. Landowners with a Forest Viability Plan are then eligible to receive grants worth $250 per acre (up to a total of $20,000) for implementation of the plan in return for a 20-year covenant. Any private landowner with at least 20 acres of forest land that is not currently protected by a deed restriction is eligible to apply. Applications are available at www.comm-pass.com (click on “Search for Solicitations” and then type “Forest Viability” into the “keyword” box). The application deadline is May 1st, 2006 . Contact Joseph Smith [(978) 630-9360, jsmith@mwcc.mass.edu], Bill Toomey [(413) 354-7780, btoomey@tnc.org] or visit http://www.mwcc.mass.edu/programs/FWP/ForViab.html for more information. The Anna B. Stearns Charitable Foundation (http://www.grantsmanagement.com/absguide.html) makes grants of up to $30,000 to environmental organizations in geographic areas supported by the Foundation’s benefactor and for projects that also include other priorities of the Foundation, such as education or community service opportunities for low-income urban youth. The annual application deadlines are May 1st and November 1 st. Potential applicants are encouraged to contact administrator Amy Shorey at Grants Management Associates [ashorey@grantsmanagement.com or (617) 426-7080] for more information. [See also http://www.grantsmanagement.com/websterguide.html.] The Conservation Fund, Eastman Kodak Company and the National Geographic Society are accepting applications for the 2006 Kodak American Greenways Awards program. The awards provide important seed money to stimulate greenway, “blueway” and trail planning and design. Winners will receive grants of $500 - $2500 to support their pioneering work in linking the nation's natural areas, historic sites, parks and open space. Local, regional, and statewide nonprofits, as well as community-based and municipal government organizations are encouraged to apply. Last year, Kodak, The Conservation Fund, and the National Geographic Society awarded 47 community grants. An online application, grant guidelines and additional program information are available on The Conservation Fund's website www.conservationfund.org under "Award Programs". The application deadline is June 1st, 2006 . Each year, the Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation provides grants of up to $10,580 (a symbolic amount representing the cost of the “Spirit of St. Louis”) to men and women whose individual initiative and work in a wide spectrum of disciplines furthers the Lindberghs’ vision of a balance between the advance of technology and the preservation of the natural/human environment. Lindbergh Grants are made in the following categories: agriculture; aviation/aerospace; conservation of natural resources - including animals, plants, water, and general conservation (land, air, energy, etc.); education - including humanities/education, the arts, and intercultural communication; exploration; health - including biomedical research, health and population sciences, and adaptive technology; and waste minimization and management. The deadline for 2006 applications is Thursday, June 8th – go to http://www.lindberghfoundation.org/grants/index.html for more info. The CHT Foundation (http://www.hembar.com/selectsrv/cht/index.html, (617) 619-8244)was established in 2005 by the family of William O. Taylor of Boston , former publisher of The Boston Globe, and his wife, Sally P. Coxe, a native of Philadelphia . The Foundation has three main areas of interest (education, the environment, and historic preservation) and grants are confined to Massachusetts projects and organizations . CHT Foundation grants will range from $3,000 - $25,000. While there are no restrictions on grants for capital purposes or general operations, the Foundation prefers to fund project-specific requests. Multiple-year requests will be considered up to a maximum of three years. Grant applications must be received by end of business on Monday, July 3rd, 2006 . The Toledo, OH-based Needmor Fund (http://www.needmorfund.org/guidelines.htm) has identified community organizing as the most effective process through which historically disenfranchised people can build power, can address the systemic barriers to the practice of democracy, can hold public and corporate officials accountable for their actions, and can begin to participate in shaping public policy. The Fund looks for multi-issue, membership-based, low-to-moderate-income community organizations which show promise of creating significant social change by impacting the public or private institutions which influence their communities most profoundly. Applications for funding may be submitted anytime from May 1, 2006 through the June 30, 2006 deadline date; call (419) 255-5560 for more info. Several search engine portal websites now offer to direct a portion of their advertiser-generated revenue to designated non-profit charities. For example: the South Dartmouth, MA-based Katharine Nordell Lloyd Center for Environmental Studies has an arrangement with the Yahoo-powered website Goodsearch.com, where anyone surfing the Internet through Goodsearch who designates the Lloyd Center in the “I’m Supporting” box enables the Center to receive a portion of the advertising proceeds attributable to that person’s searches. Charities wishing to be eligible for Goodsearch donations need only submit their name and the additional requested info on the “Add a Charity” form at http://www.goodsearch.com/AddCharity.aspx (check there first though to make sure a secret admirer of yours has not already accomplished that task) and GoodSearch will verify your status as a charitable organization and add your cause to its list of organizations ASAP. Then you can get the word out to your members to surf the ‘Net via Goodsearch. An even larger number of websites have been established to enable secure, on-line donations to charitable organizations. This service is particularly useful for smaller and/or newer grassroots organizations that do not have the capacity to handle secure on-line credit card or other transactions through their web pages. Idealware, a website that provides candid, “Consumer Reports-style” reviews and information about software products aimed at the nonprofit market, recently produced a very informative report entitled Donate Now: Selecting an Online Donation Tool, which reviewed twenty-seven lower-priced on-line software tools that accept donations from an existing website. The report offers recommendations of top tools, detailed reviews, and guidelines on how to choose a product for accepting on-line donations. Tools reviewed include Auctionpay, CharityWeb, Click and Pledge, Contribute, Democracy in Action, Entango, eTapestry, GiftTool, Groundspring, PayPal, Sporg, and more. The Lexington, MA-based Firstgiving (http://www.firstgiving.com), a private company founded to connect supporters with causes, provides on-line tools to help individuals raise more money for the causes they are passionate about, and can be used to fundraise for any nonprofit organization, using any event or personal occasion as a reason. Firstgiving provides on-line fundraising pages that fundraisers can personalize and email to their friends, family and coworkers to ask for secure on-line donations to support their cause. On-line personal fundraising is simple and eliminates the hassle and cost of traditional letter-writing and telephone fundraising campaigns. Firstgiving also makes the donation process simple for the donor and the benefiting nonprofit organization, sending out thank you e-mails to donors on behalf of the fundraiser and the organization, as well as donation acknowledgment e-mails to donors for their records. Donations are automatically transferred to the designated non-profit organization. Network for Good (http://www.networkforgood.org) provides a comprehensive website that can be used by individuals for giving and volunteering, and by nonprofits for fundraising and volunteer recruitment. The website engages citizens to participate in social causes by making it easier, more convenient, and more compelling to donate money and volunteer time. Donors can visit the site to research charities and causes using the GuideStar database and then make safe and private donations directly from their Web browser. The site also includes information on how to donate wisely and how to give non-cash items. For those looking to give their time, the site taps http: VolunteerMatch's database of more than 100,000 volunteer opportunities. Nonprofits can also benefit from visiting the Network for Good site. Through its Nonprofit Resources section, the site helps nonprofits employ on-line philanthropy by allowing them to receive donations through Network for Good or their own Web site. Organizations can also use the site to post volunteer opportunities and recruit volunteers. Other resources for nonprofits provide information on technology planning and training, buying discounted software and hardware, securing funding for technology initiatives, creating an affordable Web site, and starting on on-line newsletter. Call (800) 886-8544 for more info. Despite the recent softening of the housing market, real estate values have appreciated to such an extent that sellers, and/or the real estate brokers representing them, may find that they have the ability (and the inclination) to have a favorite charity benefit from the purchase and/or sale of their property. HomeGift Realty Inc. (http://www.homegift.com) allows home buyers as well as sellers to receive a rebate on real estate commissions when they choose a real estate agent through the HomeGift website, and then enables the buyer/seller to use some of that rebate to share with his/her favorite charity. The amount of the rebate kept or donated is up to the buyer/seller. Non-profit organizations wishing to be eligible for HomeGift Realty Rewards donations (WGBH is already receiving cash gifts via HomeGift) should go on-line to https://www.homegift.com/Npos.aspx or contact HomeGift CEO Mark Sennott at (800) 966-0612. The Guide to Rural Fundraising (http://www.casanet.org/program-management/resource-dev/rural-fundraising.htm) describes successful and easy-to-imitate fundraising strategies. An introductory essay by Kim Klein titled “Raising Money in Rural Communities” describes basic principles of rural fundraising. The second part of the manual contains 15 examples of successful strategies, from direct mail to events to earned income. Each example is described in some detail, and most are accompanied by sample materials. Two final miscellaneous items: You can read advice on how to host a pollution-freecar-washing fundraiser event at http://www.stormwatercenter.net/Pollution_Prevention_Factsheets/CarWashing.htm. Last but not least, you might want to look at an article by Matthew Scelza posted on the Charity Channel website entitled “The Top 10 Online Resources for Grantwriters” at http://www.charitychannel.com/publish/templates/?a=7825&z=16 The Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA)’s Office of Technical Assistance (OTA), Metropolitan Area Planning Council, and the I-495 Metrowest Corridor Partnership are proud to announce their first Water Resource Management Conference on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough. Additional sponsors are the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Environmental Business Council of New England, the Mass. Municipal Association, and the Mass. Water Works Association. The purpose of the conference is to meet the challenge presented by increasing water scarcity in the Commonwealth by sharing strategies and techniques that help ensure sufficient water supply is available to meet the current and future needs of residents and businesses as well as enable the retention of sufficient water in the natural environment to meet the needs of aquatic organisms and ecosystems. Visit the Conference website at http://www.mass.gov/envir/ota/events/wrm.htm or contact Vandana Rao, EOEA Assistant Director for Water Policy, at (617) 626-1248 or Vandana.Rao@state.ma.us for more info. [See the U.S.EPA’s Sustainable Water Infrastructure for the 21st Century web page for related info.] The U.S. EPA’s Offices of Water and Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response are co-hosting a conference entitled Collaborative Cleanups II: Protecting and Revitalizing America’s Watersheds , held in coordination with River Rally (see below).The conference will take place on May 4th-5th (Thurs-Fri.) in Bretton Woods, NH . The conference will focus on collaborative processes and successful public/private partnerships to promote wa tershed/ ecosystem management and protection, cleanup and reuse of contaminated land, sediment, and groundwater, and protection of drinking water sources. Go to http://www.collaborativecleanups.org to register or more info. Coincidentally, just a few miles away, at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Highland Center in Crawford Notch, the Hydropower Reform Coalition (HRC) will be sponsoring a conference on May 4th-5th on implementing FERC hydropower licenses, with a focus on how to construct settlements or other license conditions that are tight, enforceable, and lasting. The conference will explore links between hydro licensing and river restoration so that river advocates can be sure that the gains made during a licensing are implemented and contribute to larger river restoration efforts over the 30-50 year term of a new license. Space is limited, so please sign up soon! Call or e-mail John Seebach of the HRC ASAP to reserve your spot at (202) 243-7055 or coordinator@hydroreform.org. The cost is $200, which includes food and lodging at the Highland Center. A number of scholarships (for conference fees AND travel expenses) are available; if interested, please let John know when you call or e-mail to sign up for the conference. The biggest annual nationwide gathering of river conservationists, River Network’s National River Rally 2006, is taking place from May 5th-9th (Fri.-Tues.) at The Mount Washington Resort near Bretton Woods, NH. Rally 2006 will bring together hundreds of friends of rivers, water keepers, monitors, watchdogs, stewards, guardians and others involved in river and watershed protection, restoration and stewardship and will help grassroots groups harness the power of citizen involvement to protect rivers and build healthier communities and watersheds. Go to http://www.rivernetwork.org/rally to register or for more info. Among the workshop sessions offered is a series (see http://www.rivernetwork.org/rally/rallysessions06.cfm#6) taught by staff of the Center For Watershed Protection. The potential benefits of green roofs are significant, especially in urban areas. These include: much longer roof life; energy savings; reduction of the urban “heat island” effect; and stormwater retention of the first flush that does so much damage to waterways. The Fourth Annual International Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities, Conference, Awards & Trade Show will be taking place at the Hynes Convention Center on May 11th-12th (Thurs-Fri). Co-hosted with the City of Boston, the Conference is organized by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC), a not-for-profit industry association working to promote the green roof industry in North America . The conference will consist of plenary and specialized sessions focused on three main topic areas: Policies and Programs to Support Green Roofs, Green Roof Design and Implementation, Research and Technical Papers on Green Roof Performance. You can see Boston City Hall’s own green roof by visiting the 8th and/or 9th floors. For more conference information, visit http://greenroofs.org/boston/index.php. For a recent news story and other info on the benefits of green roofs, see http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051126141309.htm Biodiversity Days 2006, a statewide celebration of the Commonwealth’s flora, fauna and all other life forms, will be taking place from Sat. June 3rd to Sun., June 11th. This annual event, now coordinated by the Mass. Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC), is a great opportunity to raise awareness amongst the local citizenry of the interesting aspects of the wide variety of other organisms co-existing around them. Visit the Biodiversity Days web page at http://www.maccweb.org/biodiversity_days.html or contact coordinator Cindy Cormier [(617) 489-3883, cindy.cormier@maccweb.org,] to obtain promotional flyers along with advice on how to lead or participate in a field trip, publicize and coordinate Biodiversity Days events, utilize MACC’s and MassGIS’ web resources, involve experts, students and citizen scientists, gather useful data, and above all have fun. [You may also want to enter the Biodiversity Days contest, open to all school groups, classrooms, and youth organizations; the deadline is Monday, May 1st.] The U.S. EPA’s 2006 Community Involvement Conference and Training will be held June 27–30, 2006 in Milwaukee , Wisconsin , along the shore of Lake Michigan . This dynamic conference brings together public participation and community involvement professionals from EPA and its federal, state, tribal, and local partners. The conference (see http://epa.gov/superfund/action/community/ciconference/2006/index.htm for more info) will offer participants original, engaging, and interactive presentations focusing on ways that government can interact with communities to achieve environmentally beneficial results through community involvement. [N.B.: Funding is available from the U.S. EPA to governmental entities, educational institutions and nonprofits to help underwrite the costs of a conference, workshop, symposium or similar gathering focusing on: (1) EPA mission related issues connected to protecting, human health and safeguarding the natural environment; (2) advancing the scientific and technical research that promotes environmental protection; (3) exploring current and emerging issues of importance to environmental protection; and/or (4) encouraging collaboration among the nation’s best scientists and engineers in academia, business and nonprofit research institutes. Go on-line to http://www.epa.gov/ord/grants_funding/pdfs/BAA_conferences_011706.pdf to find out more.] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released four new smart growth publications: Protecting Water Resources with Higher-Density Development; Using Smart Growth Techniques as Stormwater Best Management Practices; Growing Toward More Efficient Water Use: Linking Development, Infrastructure, and Drinking Water Policies; and Parking Spaces/Community Places: Finding the Balance through Smart Growth Solutions. All of these publications are accessible on-line at http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth. The EPA has released a new web-based tool, the Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System (CADDIS), which simplifies determining the cause of contamination in impaired rivers, streams and estuaries. An “impaired” body of water does not meet the state or federal water quality standards for one or more pollutants. For many of the thousand-plus water bodies in the U.S. identified as impaired, the cause is unknown. By helping to find the source of contamination, state and local organizations will be better able to implement the Clean Water Act. CADDIS, developed largely by EPA scientists, provides a standardized and easily accessible system to help scientists find, use and share information to determine the causes of aquatic impairment. Causal analyses look at stressor-response relationships, i.e., the effect of a specific substance or activity (stressor) on the environment. Typical water stressors include excess fine sediments, nutrients, bacteria or toxic substances. Go to http://www.epa.gov/caddis for more info. The Recreational Trails Program (RTP, http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/Environment/rectrails/index.htm) of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides technical and financial assistance to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both non-motorized and motorized recreational trail uses. The Recreational Trails Program Project Database lists most RTP projects funded from 1993 through 2005, compiled by the Coalition for Recreational Trails (CRT, http://www.funoutdoors.com). CRT presents awards to worthy RTP-funded projects ( http://www.americantrails.org/NewsAction/CRTawards.html has the details - nominations for 2006 awards are due on or before April 17th, 2006 ). The Publications section of the RTP website also provides access to free, on-line versions of several documents and links to others providing guidance on trail and bridge design and maintenance and resolving user conflicts on multi-use trails. The National Fish Habitat Initiative (NFHI, http://www.fishhabitat.org/about/default.htm) was born in 2001 when an ad hoc group supported by the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council explored the notion of developing a partnership effort for fish on the scale of what was done for waterfowl in the 1980s through the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The waterfowl plan has worked wonders during the past two decades to boost waterfowl populations by forming strong local and regional partnerships to protect key habitats. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is mounting a “More Fish” campaign to raise funds to support the effort. A draft National Fish Habitat Action Plan is being reviewed that calls for locally-based, cooperative efforts to protect and restore fisheries and habitat in key watersheds. A number of partnerships, including the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture, are emerging from NFHI. The strength of these partnerships – a unique blend of industry, government, tribal, academic, and conservation groups and individuals – are their diversity and their determination to focus national attention and resources on restoring fish habitats. Add to the power of this conservation partnership by joining now! The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) has put out a useful on-line publication (see http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/publications/river_herring_viewing_guide.pdf) entitled A Guide To Viewing River Herring in Coastal Massachusetts. The Guide describes the annual springtime spawning runs of the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and the blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) and provides a map and descriptions of nine locations on coastal rivers that offer great opportunities to view the annual herring migration, which typically commences (depending on location and water temperature) around the second week of April and finishes the third week of May. The Guide also offers advice on, and links to organizations concerned with, restoring, protecting and enhancing diadromous (i.e., regularly migrating between freshwater and seawater – a term that includes the catadromous American eels that migrate downstream to spawn, as well as river herring and other anadromous fish) fisheries migration and habitat. This issue has taken on increased importance as recent declines in herring populations in the Commonwealth prompted the DMF last fall to place a three-year moratorium on the harvest, possession, and sale of river herring. [For a more in-depth treatment of this subject, see http://www.cape.com/~harharb/herringregs.html as well as DMF’s series of four technical reports (TR-15 through 18 - see http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/publications/technical.htm#tr). Click here to hear a recent NPR news story about the effort to restore herring to the Bronx River in New York City.] The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) maintains an extensive on-line database at https://www2.massdhcd.com/e418portal/Plans.asp?c=A containing Housing Plans completed pursuant to Executive Order 418, along with Open Space and Recreation Plans, and other municipal planning documents, for all cities and towns in the Commonwealth that have completed such plans. Additional info about completing Open Space and Recreation Plans, and each community’s current status regarding those plans, can be found on the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs’ Division of Conservation Service’s Open Space and Recreation Plans web page at http://www.mass.gov/envir/dcs/openspace/default.htm. The Mass. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently announced the release of its Clean Water Toolkit, otherwise known as the Massachusetts Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Manual. A long-awaited electronic upgrade of the bulky, hardcopy “Megamanual”, the new interactive Manual is available in on-line (http://www.mass.gov/dep/water/resources/nonpoint.htm#megaman) or CD versions in .pdf format. The Manual provides detailed information describing various types of nonpoint source pollution problems and solutions, along with a selector tool for choosing appropriate best management practices (BMPs) by criteria, along with detailed instructions. [As might be expected with such an ambitious undertaking, the new electronic Manual may still contain a bug or two; please report any problems (as well as any favorable experiences) you have in using the product to Jane Peirce, §319 Program Coordinator, at (508) 767-2792 or jane.peirce@state.ma.us.] Mass. DEP has also just published a new document entitled Massachusetts Wildlife Habitat Protection Guidance for Inland Wetlands (available on-line at http://www.mass.gov/dep/water/laws/wldhab.pdf) that should significantly enhance the awareness of conservation commissions, landowners and developers of the functions and values of Riverfront Areas and other wetland resource areas for wildlife habitat, and should lead to a greater degree of protection for such habitat. The DEP will be hosting workshops explaining the new Guidance at the following times and locations: Tuesday, April 4th, - 1:00 PM, DEP Southeast Regional Office, Lakeville; Wed., April 5th, 11:00 AM, DEP Northeast Regional Office, Wilmington; Wed., April 5th, 6:00 PM, Holyoke Community College, 303 Homestead Ave, Holyoke; and Tuesday, April 11th, 1:00 PM, Worcester Public Library, 3 Salem Square, Worcester. Contact DEP’s Wetlands Circuit Rider Program http://www.mass.gov/dep/water/compliance/cridr.htm for more info. Non-government On-line Resources Appalachian Mountain Club Boston Chapter Paddlers’ Committee The “public” section of this webpage offers a wealth of resources for local paddlers, including a listing of AMC-sponsored flatwater and whitewater trips (open to everyone, not just AMC members), links to real-time river levels, weather conditions, and all other AMC chapter paddler web pages as well as other paddling clubs and organizations. [For those more competitively-inclined, see the New England Canoe and Kayak Racing Association (NECKRA).] Conservation and Recreation Campaign This newly-established website is intended to build public support for greater funding to maintain and enhance public park and other open space lands in Massachusetts . The Campaign is “dedicated to ensuring that our natural assets are adequately protected, maintained, and staffed, and that Massachusetts citizens realize the full benefits that the state's public lands offer to our health, our communities, and our economic well-being”. The website provides opportunities to “learn about the threat to our parks and conservation lands, and how you can help find solutions”. FreeConferenceCall™ FreeConferenceCall™ offers free, reservation-less conferencing for up to 96 callers for an unlimited number of up to 6-hour conference calls. The service only requires a name and an e-mail address to activate a 120-day, freely-renewable account. Once registered, you will be instantaneously provided with a dial-in number and access code for your immediate use. Your new conference line is available to you 24/7and there is no need to schedule or make reservations. Only normal long distance charges by each caller's carrier apply; FreeConferenceCall.com issues no additional bill or makes any charges for this service. Google Earth Those of you engaged in river and stream protection and restoration know how valuable aerial photos can be in understanding how rivers interact with the surrounding landscape. Google Earth offers (for PC or Mac computers with broadband or similar high-speed Internet connections) a user-friendly means for obtaining high-quality aerial photo images taken by satellites and aircraft sometime in the last three years, updated on a rolling basis. If you're looking for a specific address, type it into the “Fly To” box and click on “search”. You can also enter the intersection of two streets, a city/town, a state, a zip code, or just a country. Tilted (oblique) views are also available. Google Earth also allows you to print, save and e-mail images. [Microsoft offers a similar (but not quite as useful) product called Terraserver - see http://terraserver.microsoft.com. See also http://google.org and http://www.google.com/grants for more info on Google’s philanthropic work and free advertising access on Google’s web page for qualified charities.] Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance The Alliance , a collaboration of housing, community development, conservation, and planning groups, seeks to improve poorly conceived developments, preserve our built and natural heritage, fight for high-quality neighborhoods for residents of all incomes, expand choices in housing and transportation, and promote fairness for people of all backgrounds. Resources at the Alliance ’s web page include an on-line version of its recently-released report entitled Shared Destinies: A Smart Growth Agenda for Massachusetts. Contact the Alliance ’s Executive Director, Kristina Egan, at (617) 263-1257 or kristina@ma-smartgrowth.org for more information or a hard copy of the report. Northeast Greenway Solutions (NEGS) Recently established by Northampton, MA-based rail trails advocate Craig Della Penna, the non-profit NEGS partners with other non-profits, engineering companies, communities or grass-roots trails organizations, helping to bring fresh ideas to the difficult questions surrounding trail development. Some of the tasks that NEGS is equipped to perform include: Assessing former steam railroad or electric trolley right-of-way; Deed research; Rail-w-trail feasibility projects; Industrial archaeology and Brownfield potential along a corridor, and Neighborhood outreach and/or training of grass-roots groups. The NEGS website provides an opportunity to sign up for NEGS’s highly-informative monthly e-mail newsletter covering recent news stories, meetings and other information relating to the ongoing development of rail trails and other greenways in the New York and New England region. Last but not least, Craig recently started the Central Highlands Conservancy, an innovative land protection tool for former railroad corridors in Massachusetts that are in danger of being sold off or segmented. Contact Craig at Craig@GreenwaySolutions.org or (413) 585-8559 for more info. Restoring Rivers: Improving the Science of River Restoration This web page provides an on-line presence for the National River Restoration Science Synthesis Project (NRRSS), an effort to harness the collective knowledge of widely respected research scientists with intimate knowledge of river restoration practices and policies in their respective regions to, in cooperation with American Rivers’ grassroots partners, provide sound river restoration science to inform river conservation and restoration policy at local, regional, and national levels. NRRSS is particularly interested in post-project monitoring to see if river restoration projects actually achieve their desired outcome in terms of increased population and diversity of riverine organisms and other parameters. Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments Terrain.org “is a twice yearly on-line journal searching for that interface—the integration— among the built and natural environments, that might be called the soul of place. It is not definitely about urban form, nor solely about natural landscapes. It is not precisely about human culture, nor necessarily about ecology. It is, rather, a celebration of the symbiosis between the built and natural environments where it exists, and an examination and discourse where it does not. The literary, journalistic, and artistic works contained with Terrain.org are of the highest quality, submitted by a variety of contributors for a diverse audience” (see, for example, Randall Arendt’s Cultivating Natural and Cultural Landscapes through Conservation Subdivision Design: A Narrative Slideshow).Technical and journalistic works contained in the Articles, UnSprawl, Reviews, and Columns sections are aimed at professionals and other interested individuals and groups. These contributions can help communities develop and redevelop in a more sustainable manner. Think Blue Massachusetts Bay Sponsored by the Massachusetts Bays Estuary Association (MBEA) and modeled after similar successful campaigns for Puget Sound , Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere, “Think Again. Think Blue.” is a spirited and creative interactive outreach and education campaign to inspire individuals’ stewardship of Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays . The campaign uses “social marketing” techniques to seek to persuade residents of and visitors to coastal areas to refrain from engaging in behavior that pollutes or otherwise degrades coastal waterways. “Think Again. Think Blue.” utilizes media, point-of-purchase displays, sports franchise promotions, community events and other means to increase the public’s understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of coastal waterways and adjacent lands. Contact MBEA Executive Director, Paula Jewell, at director@massachusettsbays.org or (781) 378-1610 for more info. [See also Keys to Success: Creating a Legendary Media Advertising Campaign”, an editorial in the Mar./Apr. 2006 issue of Stormwater Magazine (http://www.stormh2o.com/sw.html), for more advice on this topic.] Publications, Reports, Software Manual 4: Urban Stream Repair Practices , the most recent addition to the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP)’s Urban Subwatershed Restoration Manual Series, concentrates on techniques for enhancing the appearance, stability, structure, or function of urban streams. The manual provides practical and comprehensive guidance on: three broad approaches to urban stream repair - stream cleanups, simple repairs, and more sophisticated comprehensive repair applications; powerful and relentless forces at work in urban streams, which must always be carefully evaluated in design; setting appropriate restoration goals for your stream, and how to choose the best combination of stream repair practices to meet them; methods to assess stream repair potential at the subwatershed level, including basic stream reach analysis, more detailed project investigations, and priority screenings; and designing, permitting, constructing and maintaining stream repair practices in a series of more than 30 profile sheets. Urban Stream Repair Practices may be purchased in hard copy and/or downloadable form from the CWP’s website at http://www.cwp.org/PublicationStore/USRM.htm#usrm4. Environmentally-Sensitive Streambank Stabilization (ESenSS, http://www.e-senss.com) is the title of the newest Manual on CD from the California-based Salix Applied Earthcare, the producers of Erosion Draw and Bio Draw. Originally funded by the National Cooperative Highways Research Program (NCHRP), the ESenSS tool was developed to aid highway engineers, restoration ecologists, watershed hydrologists, biologists, and soil conservationists in designing projects that restore stream and river systems, while protecting property and structures. The CD manual includes typical design drawings, construction and installation specifications for forty-four different channel and bank protection techniques, and an extensive photo gallery of project examples, all based on extensive research and experience. The ESenSS manual also includes “Greenbank”, an innovative software program for selecting and ranking appropriate stabilization and protection techniques based on a whole suite of site-specific conditions. Go to http://www.e-senss.com for a free test drive or call (800) 403-0474 for more info. Throughout history, rivers have been our foremost source of fresh water both for agriculture and for individual consumption, but now economists say that by 2025 water scarcity will cut global food production by more than the current U.S. grain harvest. In the new book When the Rivers Run Dry: Water--The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century (336pp., $26.95), recently published by the Boston-based Beacon Press (see http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?SKU=8572), veteran British science correspondent Fred Pearce focuses on the dire state of the world's rivers to provide our most complete portrait yet of the growing world water crisis and its ramifications for us all. Pearce traveled to more than thirty countries while researching When the Rivers Run Dry, examining the current state of crucial water sources like the Indus River in Pakistan , the Colorado River in the United States , and the Yellow and Yangzte rivers in China . You can read an edited excerpt of the book at http://www.guardian.co.uk/water/story/0,,1718640,00.html, read an interview with the author at http://calitreview.com/Interviews/pearce_8026.htm or listen to recent interviews with him on NPR’s “Fresh Air” or WBUR’s “On Point” call-in program. [See also related news stories on the sorry state of many of the world’s rivers at http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article350785.ece and http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article350786.ece, and related reports and worldwide river advocacy efforts at http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/news/index.shtml and http://www.irn.org/dayofaction/]. More than 62 percent of industrial and municipal facilities across the country discharged more pollution into U.S. waterways than their Clean Water Act permits allowed between July 2003 and December 2004, according to “Troubled Waters: An Analysis Of Clean Water Act Compliance”, a new report released today by U.S. Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG, http://uspirg.org/uspirg.asp?id2=23007). Using the Freedom of Information Act, U.S. PIRG obtained data on major facilities’ compliance with their National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits between July 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004 . U.S. PIRG researchers found that polluters repeatedly exceeded their permit limits, often by egregious amounts. Massachusetts is one of the ten U.S. states with the most exceedances of Clean Water Act permit limits during this time period. The report notes that its findings are likely conservative, since the data that U.S. PIRG analyzed includes only “major” facilities and does not include pollution discharged into waters by the hundreds of thousands of minor facilities across the country. Among the reports recommendations is a call for passage of the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act, which ensures all U.S. waters (including non-navigable, intrastate waterways are protected by the Clean Water Act, and urge that all members of Congress to support protecting America ’s waters by cosponsoring this important bill. The writer Michael Pollan once observed, “A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule.” In his new book, American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn, author Ted Steinberg unlocks the mystery of the all-American landscape and winds up mowing down the turf industry along the way. Steinberg clips away at the $40 billion lawn industry and reveals the far-reaching consequences that the turf fixation has had for the environment and the public's health. For example: ground maintenance has been singled out by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration as one of the nation's more dangerous trades, rivaling the health and death risks faced by those in steel, concrete and shipbuilding. About 75,000 Americans are injured each year using lawn mowers while tending some 58 million home lawns, 16,000 golf courses and 700,000 athletic fields in the United States. Collectively, American lawns equal a landmass the size of Florida . Using a power lawn mower for an hour spews as much polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into the air as driving a car 93 miles. Steinberg also notes that each year gasoline and oil spills from filling and topping off mowers and other garden equipment are greater than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The quest for lawn perfection, and its negative impact on the environment and public health, Steinberg explains, was in no way inevitable. Instead, it was the product of a number of factors, not least being the actions of the lawn-care industry. Some of those companies are masters of marketing, convincing Americans that they need the perfect, manicured lawn, while simultaneously making it impossible to attain. “They sell consumers on the need to buy chemicals to kill what they call ‘weeds’, plants like clover that in reality help to keep the turf healthy and green,” writes Steinberg. “By buying into the corporate paradigm and making a fetish of green, weed-free, ultra-trim grass, Americans have alienated themselves from their very own yards…Sadly, the more people invest in the perfect-turf aesthetic, the less they seem to understand about the ecology of their lawns”. American Green (224pp., 24.95) is available from its publisher, W.W. Norton, at (http://www.wwnorton.com). [See also New Directions in Lawn and Landscape Water Conservation, a recent article by Amherst, MA-based water conservation and efficiency expert Amy Vickers, and, for a comestible alternative to lawns, see the Edible Estates web page at http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/edibleestates/main.html.] Massachusetts Conservation Restriction (CR) Stewardship Manual: A Handbook for Land Trusts and Conservation Commissions, recently published by the Mass. Audubon Society (MAS) and endorsed by the Mass. Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC), includes detailed “how to” information on developing a comprehensive CR stewardship program. The Manual addresses such topics such as preparing baseline documentation reports, conducting regular monitoring, researching land records and funding stewardship programs. A free electronic version of the Manual is accessible via both the MAS and MACC’s websites; a hard copy is available from MAS for $20. Contact MAS’s Kathy Sferra at (781) 259-2157 or ksferra@massaudubon.org for more info on CR stewardship. The Massachusetts/Rhode Island Council of Trout Unlimited (TU) has just released its new revised edition of Anglers Guide to Trout Fishing in Massachusetts, just in time for the spring fishing season. The $19.95 Guide, considered by most to be the bible of trout fishing in Massachusetts , has been off the market for five years, while revisions were in progress. The Guide covers rivers, streams and ponds across the state and includes maps with access points and recommends successful fish-catching techniques for fly fishermen as well as those using bait and other artificial lures. Most of the material has been contributed by local anglers who have experience on these local waters. The Guide also includes fly patterns, information on hatches at various times of the year, and tips specific to many of the individual pieces of water covered. Noted Massachusetts artist Alan James Robinson contributed the cover art for the Guide, which features the state’s native brook trout on the front, and a beautiful brown trout on the back. Funds raised through sales of this anglers guide will be used by the Council to fund its conservation projects throughout the two-state region (most of which directly benefit riverine organisms and habitats). For more info, contact John Salemi at (508) 481-3034 or go to the relevant section of the TU Greater Boston Chapter’s website at http://www.gbtu.org/events/bookreviews/bookreview_troutfishinginma.htm. Mycelium Rising: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World , the latest book by respected mushroom guru and cultivator Paul Stamets, explains how mushrooms and their mycelium’s prodigious appetite can be used to filter out microorganisms and pollutants from waterways (mycofiltration), restrain termites and ants, degrade or remove toxins from contaminated soils and elsewhere in the environment (mycoremediation), and repair and restore the weakened immune system of forests and other biotic communities. Stamets is an imaginative thinker and this book will show you non-toxic and harmless ways to solve serious health and environmental problems. Mycelium Running (352pp., $35) is available from its publisher, Ten Speed Press, at http://www.tenspeedpress.com/catalog/all/item.php3?id=1651. “Go wild” on your state tax return : Since 1983, Massachusetts tax filers have had the option of donating to MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Fund while filing their state income tax form (i.e., the “checkoff” on Line 32). When you contribute to the Fund, you help to protect and restore rare and endangered animals, plants, and their habitats. Species past donations have helped conserve and restore in the Commonwealth include the Bald Eagle, Hessel’s Hairstreak butterfly, the Redbelly Cooter, and the beautiful Eastern Silvery Aster. Donations to the Fund may also be made year-round by sending a check made out to the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Fund and sent to: MassWildlife Field HQ, NHESP, 1 Rabbit Hill Rd. Westborough , MA 01581 . Click on http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/nhmissn.htm to learn more about the work your donations support. Does your car have an environmental license plate? Visit the Riverways Staff page
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FYI: The Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET, | Riverways Program, Department of Fish & Game, 251 Causeway St., Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114 (617) 626-1540 (main line), (617) 626-1505 (fax) Visit the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Visit the Department of Fish & Game |