The River Current

|| THE RIVER CURRENT || ISSUE VIII || MARCH 23, 2004 ||
The mostly monthly e-newsletter of the Charles River Watershed Association
...bringing our backyard river to your door...

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In this issue:
1) EDUCATION: CRWA Offering Urban Environment Restoration Course for the Spring
2) SHOP THE DATE: Shop at Whole Foods Market on April 22, and 5% Goes to CRWA for the Earth Day Cleanup!
3) SAVE THE DATES: Upcoming CRWA Events
4) ACTION ALERT: Save the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program
5) ACTION ALERT: CRWA’s April Post Card Drive to Save the Clean Water Act

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Dear Friends of the Charles River,

April is nearly here!  Welcome to what ee cummings calls “just-spring,” when the world is “mud-luscious” and “puddle-wonderful,” and CRWA rolls out the green carpet with a full offering of activities to shake off winter.  We invite you to learn, paddle, clean up, shop, sign postcards, and most importantly, enjoy the Charles during April, *Charles River Month!*.

1) EDUCATION: CRWA Offering Urban Restoration Course for the Spring

Interested in learning more about your watershed address, how CRWA is restoring it and ways you can help out at home?  Join CRWA this spring for a six-week adult education course to explore the world we work, play and live in.  The course will begin on Thursday, April 15th and end on May 27th; all classes are held from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.  No class will be held on April 22^nd (school vacation week).  Register today for only $99.  The deadline to register is April 9.

To sign up or for more information, please visit: http://www.charlesriver.org/RestorUrbEnvir/restcrse.html
or call Anna Eleria at (781)788-0007 x225 or via email. Please join us!

2) SHOP THE DATE: Shop at Whole Foods Markets in the Charles River Watershed on April 22, and 5% of the profits goes to CRWA for the 4^th Annual Earth Day Cleanup!

Whole Foods Market has just announced that on Thursday, April 22, all nine Markets in the Charles River watershed will donate five percent of their daily sales to CRWA to support the Annual Earth Day Cleanup.  Simply by doing your grocery shopping on April 22, you can contribute to the important work CRWA does in our watershed and beyond.  Encourage your friends and neighbors to shop on April 22 as well, and thank Whole Foods Market for their support of CRWA!

For more info: http://www.charlesriver.org/events/fivepercentday04.html

3) April is *Charles River Month!* Please take part in any and all of our exciting events!

April 3: Second Annual Take Me To The River Kids’ Educational Fair
For more info: http://www.charlesriver.org/events/events.html

April 10: The Vernal Pool: Peeks and Peeps of Early Spring.  A wetland ramble, co-sponsored by Mass Audubon’s Broadmoor Sanctuary and CRWA.
For more info: http://www.charlesriver.org/events/events.html

April 22: CRWA 5% Day at Whole Foods Markets in the Charles River Watershed! 
For more info: http://www.charlesriver.org/events/fivepercentday04.html

April 24: Fifth Annual Earth Day Cleanup
For more info: http://www.charlesriver.org/events/events.html

April 25: Twenty-Second Annual Run of the Charles Canoe and Kayak Race
For more info: http://www.charlesriver.org/rotc/rotc.html

3) ACTION ALERT: Help restore funding for the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program

Help restore funding for the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.  For the past 25 years, the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program has operated under the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife gathering, distributing and managing information regarding the state’s biological diversity and rare plant and animal species and habitats.  Unfortunately, state budget cuts threaten to cripple and possibly extinguish the program, and with it, the conservation of our oldest and least replaceable heritage.  The final state budget for FY2004 repealed the Inland Fisheries and Game Fund and eliminated support from the General Fund – accounting for 22% and 42%, respectively, of operating funds. 

 HOW TO HELP:

-Contribute generously to the “Endangered Wildlife Conservation” check-off box on Line 32 of your state income tax return this spring. 

 -Contact your state legislators and encourage them to invest public tax dollars in the conservation of our natural resources and heritage.  Ask your legislators to provide $250,000 in FY2005 general appropriations to match voluntary contributions. Private donations should be aided by public tax dollars in the effort to preserve our heritage.  To find out who your state legislators are, visit the Massachusetts legislature’s website at www.state.ma.us/legis.

For more information on the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, visit http://www.state.ma.us/dfwele/dfw/nhesp.  For more about Mass Audubon’s efforts to protect the program, please visit www.massaudubon.org.

4) ACTION ALERT: CRWA’s April Postcard Drive to Save the Clean Water Act

Once again the Bush administration is pursuing policies that threaten the health and quality of our nation’s waters.  Given the financial constraints facing us today, all programs are being affected by budget cuts; environmental programs, however, are forced to endure disproportionate cuts.  In addition to reducing funding for environmental programs, Bush is continuing to push policies that undermine the Clean Water Act.  It has issued a policy directive allowing, in fact telling, federal agencies to stop protecting many types of waterways – wetlands, streams and other waters.  Under this new policy, the discharge of toxics, sewage, oil and other pollutants is allowed to go unchecked and unmonitored, working their way into our drinking water, recreational areas and wildlife habitats.  Along with this directive, Bush is also supporting policies such as sewage blending, mountaintop removal mining and the sanitary sewage overflow rule, all of which will prove harmful to the quality of our water.  The most notable reduction in Bush’s budget occurs in the Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund (CWASRF), which provides money for sewage treatment plants.  Along with water quality, land conservation and critical research and development, in energy efficiency and solar energy also face substantial cuts in the proposed budget. 

Join with CRWA, hundreds of other clean water and environmental groups, and 247 members of Congress, who have already spoken out against the policies pursued by the Bush administration.  CRWA will be teaming up with Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council to deliver thousands of signed postcards to the White House in an effort to demand that the Bush administration reverse its policies of destroying our nation’s water supply.  CRWA has set a goal of signing 2,500 postcards to show the administration how committed the Northeast is to keeping our water resources clean and our Clean Water Act safe.  Postcards will be available at all of our events in April, as well as at our office in Waltham.  Be on the lookout for our advocacy booth at all of the *Charles River Month!* events this spring.