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Admin
Forum Admin
USA
502 Posts |
 Posted - 11/20/2004 : 09:41:51 AM
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December 4, 2004 is a date to set aside. Why? Because you should be saving the day to attend the 7th annual fall conference of the Maine Rivers organization.
This is a good hard working group that deserves support – especially from people who fish and float on Maine’s rivers.
They will have sessions on things like:
How to start and run a river restoration project – Legislative training for working with lawmakers – forming watershed groups – volunteer river monitoring - non-point water pollution and a tour of the inner working of the Bates Mill Complex.
It’s a good thing – take advantage of the opportunity to support this group. If you follow the link below look to the right side of the home page scene and click on the link to the conference. Also take some time to check out the Alewife link just below the conference link. There is a lot of information on this site you may find you spend quite a bit of time looking around.
Check it all out at http://mainerivers.org/index.htm
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Mike Holt
Member
USA
2807 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2004 : 09:42:45 AM
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Tomorrow is the day. Just a reminder.
I just called this post back up to add that I called Bill Townsend and asked how things were coming together and he said they have 117 people confirmed and both hope for and expect additional people to show up during the day.
Here is a little incentive for you - Bill said they had received about $7,000.00 worth of donated items for their silent auction. With that many items and only 117 people you may want to go just so you can bid. You may find just what you've been looking for.
- Mike |
Edited by - Mike Holt on 12/03/2004 09:54:04 AM |
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gunner
Frequent Contributor
USA
906 Posts |
Posted - 12/05/2004 : 09:51:22 AM
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| Did you go? How was it? Would liked to have gone but all day was too much to commit with my list of honey do's. |
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Mike Holt
Member
USA
2807 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2004 : 08:06:22 AM
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Gunner,
Work day for us, so I was minding the store. I'm splitting and stacking wood today but tomorrow after the store opens I'll call Bill and get a report.
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Hunter
Frequent Contributor
726 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 4:31:20 PM
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Mike,
Did you get all that wood stacked yet? Just bumping this up. |
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tim_s
Frequent Contributor
545 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 5:24:04 PM
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don't remind me about the wood!
i have 2 cords split in the woods still (under a tarp) with another cord or so still to be cut & split (deeper in the woods)
guess what im doing this weekend! |
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Mike Holt
Member
USA
2807 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 5:36:48 PM
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Hunter,
I called and Bill wasn't in the office yesterday. I called again when I saw your post and they said he was only in for 2hrs. today - not feeling well.
I'll try again tomorrow.
As for the wood - 2 1/2 cord tree-length delivered Saturday. Started on it Sunday - finished Monday pm - cut, split and stacked in the woodshed. Then it was time for a beer....... |
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tim_s
Frequent Contributor
545 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2004 : 8:51:04 PM
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nicely done mike
ive muddled through about three cords worth that was in random piles (3-8ft) throughout the lot we cleared last year....got 2 to hUL OUT, MAYBE 1-1.5 more left to cut & split
i sort of like burning wood i cut.....but not enough to buy some next year! |
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Admin
Forum Admin
USA
502 Posts |
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Admin
Forum Admin
USA
502 Posts |
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Admin
Forum Admin
USA
502 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2004 : 12:43:37 PM
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Here's a copy of an e-mail I got today from Naomi:
Mike:
The seventh annual Maine Rivers conference took place on a dazzling, sunny day last weekend -- a welcome change from the icy, snowy day before whose nasty weather was an object lesson in what a risk it is to have a conference in December. Thankfully, the weather cleared up just in time for the conference, which was held in Lewiston at the Bates Mill. We held the conference there to focus on the fate of the Androscoggin River, the dirtiest large river in Maine, and to help point the way to solutions for its future. The restored Mill building, as Maine Rivers President Bill Townsend put it, "reflects the attitude that prevailed in America until well after the Second World War: that it was acceptable to turn our rivers into open sewers, that it was acceptable to destroy historic runs of anadromous fish by polluting rivers and building dams, and that mankind could do whatever it chose to the environment in the name of “progress” without consequence and without remorse....Yet while there have been many improvements to water quality in Maine’s rivers, the task of undoing the damage brought about by a century of abuse is far from finished. In many ways, the task is more difficult than it was thirty years ago, because the problems of today are not as obvious as the bad old days...There is unfinished business, and that is why we are assembled today in this building. "
And so, 150 people who care about Maine's rivers came to the Mill -- though I admit, the directions we provided were terrible, and many people got more of a tour of the Mill site than they bargained for -- to talk about ways to improve river health. We had how-to sessions on river restoration; several legislative sessions including a training for citizens who want to get more involved at the statehouse; tours of the waste disposal systems at the Mill -- yes, Virginia, they did indeed have trenches that just carried toxic pollutants straight into the river -- a spectacular silent auction that raised $3,500; a meeting for denizens of watershed groups to talk about what works and what doesn't for their organizations; a fine presentation by state archaeologist Art Spiess on "Ten Thousand Years of Maine Rivers" (I didn't realize this organization was that old!); wonderful sessions on how to teach children about watershed issues; and a fine presentation on a successful project to tackle nonpoint source remediation in Washington County.
But this year, we added something new to our conference: Childbirth. Well, not exactly, but close. We held a press conference, on a bridge over a channelized portion of the Androscoggin River, to announce the birth of a new advocacy group: The Androscoggin River Alliance. The citizen's group, representing a broad range of folks from Rumford down to Merrymeeting Bay, has formed to combat what proved to be successful legislative attempts last year to downgrade water quality in the river -- attempts made directly at the behest of the river's largest polluters, the paper industry. We had doctors, businessmen, clergy, canoeists, legislators and just plain old folks bear witness to their love for the river, and commit to working to improve its condition. Said ARA chairman Greg D'Augustine:
"It's clear to all of us that humans have a great power to destroy or degrade our natural environment. It's also clear that we do this at our peril....We remain dependent on the natural world. Sometimes we seem to forget this fact. It's part of our mission today to remind the citizens and the legislature of Maine that clean water is not simply a valuable commodity to be consumed and degraded by one or two industries. It is, instead, a source of life, enjoyment, peace and inspiration for all of us. I believe that most of us (not all certainly) feel that as good citizens and neighbors we can share our river with industry. It remains for industry to prove that it can return this respect to the rest of us."
Let's see, what else can I tell you about the conference? Most important to me, and unlike a few past conferences, we didn't run out of food! And besides all the formal sessions, the conference really provided a good place for river folks to just connect and talk -- this is what one attendee wrote in their evaluation of the conference: "Lovely conversations with new people and old friends. Time to connect on a common theme is very valuable."
--Naomi
(The photo below is of King Middle School students with teacher Hiram Sibley, who led a wonderful session on teaching students about watersheds).
Anyone who wants to get involved with the Androscoggin River work should give me a call; I'm staffing the group.
Naomi Schalit
Executive Director,Maine Rivers
3 Wade Street
Augusta, Maine 04330
207-622-3101, extension 219; fax 207-622-4343
nschalit@mainerivers.org; www.mainerivers.org
"Our mission is to protect, restore and enhance Maine's river systems"
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