Friday, February 20, 2009
Ice out?
When do you think "ice-out" will be on the lower West River this year? That is, when will flow freely to the Connecticut River? I'm going to predict March 16. Or perhaps you'd like to wager when the last ice shanty will be removed from the Retreat Meadows. Share your predictions and let's have some fun with this perennial milestone!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
National River Rally
Rally in the Chesapeake! The River Network's annual "National River Rally" will be held in Baltimore May 29-June 1, 2009. Check out the website for more info if you're interested: www.rivernetwork.org/rally. Or call 503-542-8384. They're going to have a plethora of field trips, workshops, exhibits, trainings, and a whole lot more. The featured speaker, Peter Forbes, is from right here in Vermont!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Things Can Happen
It is wonderful to live here in Southeastern Vermont, especially if you love the outdoors. We seem to have miles of waterways and trails and wonderful back roads to use for fishing, hunting, skiing or snowmobiling, biking and hiking. In fact, that is both a good thing and a problem. When times are good, we forget how quickly things can change. Just look at the economy if you think I exaggerate.
I grew up in a very rural town in Northeastern Ohio. We fished, swam and generally spent our growing up years playing in the watershed of a small river that meandered along until it emptied into Lake Erie. By the time I was in high school, a frightening disease called polio was afflicting a significant number of young people. We learned that one major source of the disease was the water we were playing in.
This situation did not spur any major cleanup and sometime later you probably heard about the "river that caught on fire." Yes, it was the Cuyahoga River Watershed that we were playing in.
I personally saw how fast an environment that was clean and healthy could become a place of filth and disease. That happens when we don't take care of what we have. As my mother used to tell me, it is easier to keep your room clean than to let it go and then have to do a major job to get back to where you should be. She was right! And that is even more true of our wonderful environment than it is of a kid's bedroom. Get the message?
I grew up in a very rural town in Northeastern Ohio. We fished, swam and generally spent our growing up years playing in the watershed of a small river that meandered along until it emptied into Lake Erie. By the time I was in high school, a frightening disease called polio was afflicting a significant number of young people. We learned that one major source of the disease was the water we were playing in.
This situation did not spur any major cleanup and sometime later you probably heard about the "river that caught on fire." Yes, it was the Cuyahoga River Watershed that we were playing in.
I personally saw how fast an environment that was clean and healthy could become a place of filth and disease. That happens when we don't take care of what we have. As my mother used to tell me, it is easier to keep your room clean than to let it go and then have to do a major job to get back to where you should be. She was right! And that is even more true of our wonderful environment than it is of a kid's bedroom. Get the message?
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