Fish Ladder is Open in BF

From the Nature Museum in Grafton ....
The Fish Ladder is operating - usually only for a few weeks!

Atlantic salmon were sighted at the Vernon Dam, so the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service alerted TransCanada, the corporation that owns and operates the fish ladder at the Watershed Visitor Center on the Connecticut River in Bellows Falls, to start releasing water. With water flowing down the fish ladder, salmon should be able to swim through each ramped concrete compartment to wend their way around and over the 52’ dam in order to get upstream to spawn and lay eggs.

The fish ladder flows only when salmon are running, so the season is usually only a few weeks long because the hydroelectric facility doesn’t want to waste water and lose energy if there is no reason to divert water from the turbines. This summer the water was flowing and visible to the public starting the weekend of June 11.

There are a number of different changing exhibits (such as birds, mammals, insects, and hydrology) created by The Nature Museum at Grafton and displayed at the Visitor Center, and there are always periodically changing activities for children to do; but the facility is most exciting when the fish ladder is flowing and one can look through the large windows in the lower level and see creatures swimming by at eye level. So, hurry to the Watershed Visitor Center next to the Post Office on Bridge Street in downtown Bellows Falls on Saturdays 10-4 or Sundays 12-4 to see the fish ladder while it’s operating.

To learn more about the facility and exhibits there, check the Museum’s website www.nature-museum.org under Other Projects or call the Museum at 802-843-2111.

2011 WQMP is a GO ... and another volunteer opportunity

Hello All,

We want to give a great big thank you to all of the great folks who keep their commitment to our rivers and to our great organization! The WQMP for 2011 is a go and we are very excited to have Laurie Callahan continue as the WQMP Coordinator for this year. I will post a bit more about details very soon, but for now, please read below to find about another great volunteer opportunity at the Dummerston Bridge .... from Laurie Callahan ....

Here is a volunteer opportunity to lend a hand & help the rain garden grow. The rain garden at the Dummerston covered bridge plays a significant role in protecting the West River water quality at the bridge and downstream. Stewardship of the garden will allow the garden to flourish and to continue in that role of water quality protection.
There will be a work party at the Rte 30 rain garden by the Dummerston covered bridge on Thursday, June 16 from 4-6 PM. Hollis Melton, master gardener from Dummerston, has let me know about this and has mentioned that they can use some additional folks to help-out to get the spring weeding and clean-up accomplished. There will be additional work sessions later in the year. See the recent email exchange between Hollis and I below.
Along with a variety of other native plants, poison ivy also grows in the garden. So, if you participate in the weeding/clean-up , please keep that in mind.
If you are interested in being part of the work party, please send me a short note and I will let Hollis know an approx. number of folks that plan to show-up. If you know Hollis please contact her directly. I hope to see several of you there on June 16th!
Laurie Callahan, SeVWA/WRWA WQMP Coordinator (802-258-1877)

2011 WQ Program in Danger ... Again!

Dear Citizens of Southeastern Vermont!

It is time ... it is well past time ... for us to be making this call out to you once again to help us support this very important program! The WQMP has been active for EIGHT whole summers since 2002. We are one of the largest and longest running monitoring programs in the state. Our work is so very important for the following reasons:

* Monitoring is one of the most vital ways to help people connect with their steams and rivers - when we go out to wade in the river and collect our fragile samples, we are not only immersing our bodies in the running water, but we are giving our whole SELVES a chance to rest, to breathe, and give back just a little bit to this very dear resource that gives us so very much!

* The DATA is essential for Federal, State, and Local governments to make decisions about the future land use in the Southeastern Vermont. If and when the data shows a river or stream is healthy, it is very difficult to allow for new development that could change this .. but if we never know that its' clean ... or we don't keep showing them, then some day, somebody could make a case for new development that COULD impact the river in a negative way.

* WE, the local people who are so lucky to live here, raise our children and enjoy this beautiful country, need this DATA. Do you swim all summer hoping that the water is clean? OR do you just never go because you are afraid you could get sick ... well, if you become a member and you get INFORMED, you won't have to be afraid. You can make confident decisions based on knowledge and let your kids enjoy the beautiful waters of Southeastern Vermont and go to the pool when the waters aren't safe.

Here is our note from our long time Board Member, Jeremy Schrauf, with more about our current financial situation:

Last year we received just enough in member donations, Town funds and grants to do our sampling program. This year all of the grants we received in the past have ended and only five of the Towns are able to support us this year. The program for 2011 is in jeopardy.

We are now $3,500 short of what we need to conduct any sampling this summer. We have a generous member donation of $1,000 toward that goal if we can raise the remaining $2,500 in the next few weeks.

I’m hoping you would be as generous as you can in this membership renewal drive so that we can meet the goal before sampling is scheduled to begin Wednesday, June 8th ...

I can mail or email you a membership form if that would be helpful. If not necessary, please mail your donation to SeVWA at PO Box 402, Brattleboro, VT 05302