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It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went. — Henry David Thoreau

Posted on May 15, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes

Lindsay Martin, Web Editor
River Quotes: Your Daily Escape

“It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went.” — Henry David Thoreau

* When Henry David Thoreau visited Maine’s Allagash Wilderness Waterway a century and a half ago, he was inspired by the beauty of the this 92-mile ribbon of rivers, lakes and streams. Now the Allagash is threatened by attempts to weaken protections that safeguard the area’s recreational, economic and ecological values. But you can help protect the Allagash. More

River Quotes are posted weekday mornings. Want to see your favorite river quote here? Email it to lmartin@AmericanRivers.org.

Ramble around on the Potomac: June 19-22

Posted on May 14, 2008 | Filed Under Blue Trails, Events, Mid-Atlantic, River Heritage

Jamie Mierau, Director
Blue Trails, River Heritage

The Potomac River Rambles are a series of weekend canoeing and kayaking expeditions that feature educational programming, riverside camping, restoration projects, festive meals, meeting with elected officials, and much more. Novice and experienced paddlers alike enjoy a unique on-the-water experience. The Rambles aim to elevate awareness of the Potomac River’s importance to the region and to encourage local residents to play an active role in its restoration. Find out more information and register with the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin.

Rivers are the primal highways of life… –Tom Robbins

Posted on May 14, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes

Lindsay Martin, Web Editor
River Quotes: Your Daily Escape

“Rivers are the primal highways of life. From the crack of time, they had borne men’s dreams, and in their lovely rush to elsewhere fed our wanderlust, mimicked our arteries, and charmed our imaginations in a way the static pond or vast and savage ocean never could.” — Tom Robbins

* The Eightmile River in Connecticut was recently designated as a federal Wild and Scenic River. More

River Quotes are posted weekday mornings. Want to see your favorite river quote here? Email it to lmartin@AmericanRivers.org.

Skinny dippers say “remove Condit Dam!”

Posted on May 13, 2008 | Filed Under Dam Removal, Endangered Rivers, Hydropower, Northwest, River Renewal

Amy Kober
Northwest Outreach & Communications Director

Some of you may have seen the ads already — New Belgium beer has ads running in a number of magazines this month featuring the effort to remove the White Salmon River’s Condit Dam. It’s really great that New Belgium is committed to this important river restoration cause.

Let’s just say the photo shoot (back in October) was very COLD. But fun. I guess it’s a good story to tell the the grand kids some day…

Watch the video about the river and the photo shoot (under “playlist” click White Salmon River)

And enjoy Skinny Dip beer this summer!

The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty… — Ross Perot

Posted on May 13, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes

Lindsay Martin, Web Editor
River Quotes: Your Daily Escape

“The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.” — Ross Perot

* A new program in Illinois allows “River Stewards” to adopt a section of the state’s water trails, helping to monitor and maintain them. More

River Quotes are posted weekday mornings. Want to see your favorite river quote here? Email it to lmartin@AmericanRivers.org.

Shell Shocked

Posted on May 12, 2008 | Filed Under Dam Removal, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Northwest, Outreach, River Renewal, Stories

Serena McClain, Associate Director of River Renewal
River Renewal, Restoring Rivers

Alison, our ever faithful Herring Warden continues battling the elements, and it turns out also reptilian life, as we find out in her latest report from the field…

Hello from the Herring Warden! If there is any confusion as to what that entails, click here to read more about it. Basically, I make sure the fishways are in good shape and I count a lot of herring. At Plymouth’s Town Brook, we are now at a minimum count of 45,000 fish! I feel very lucky since other runs aren’t doing nearly so well. We are getting a lot of data at Town Brook so that in a few years, after two more dams are removed, we can see the impact of the dam removals on the herring run.

The most dramatic event of my job as a herring warden came only yesterday. I was checking the second fish ladder at Newfield Street, which is quite often blocked by logs, sticks, and other debris. When I looked down into the ladder I saw not a log, but I giant 35 pound snapping turtle. I immediately assumed he was dead because he was being pushed against the grate by the water flow and I wasn’t sure how long he had been there. When I tried to move him I found out that he was not dead. I went to my car, got my waders, and climbed into the fish ladder. By this time I had an audience. I can’t deny that I was scared. The turtle’s head was bigger than my hand. One snap could have cost me a few fingers. In order to avoid losing any limbs, and for good grip since the turtle’s shell was slippery, I got behind the turtle and covered him with my jacket. Somehow I managed to lift the massive reptile against the water flow . One of the on-lookers helped me carry him out of the fish ladder and down to the pond. He was moving around a little but I’m not sure if he’ll recover.

The experience highlighed another bright side to dam removals: giant turtles will not get stuck in fish ladders and frightened young women (who are probably younger than said giant turtles) will not have to ruin perfectly good jackets to pick them up and carry them to safety.

Take care!
-Alison

Keep your eyes peeled here for more reports from Alison and her monitoring work.

All the water there will be, is. — Anonymous

Posted on May 12, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes

Lindsay Martin, Web Editor
River Quotes: Your Daily Escape

“All the water there will be, is.” — Anonymous

* The Catawba-Wateree River is #1 on this year’s America’s Most Endangered Rivers™ list. The river is being drained away by water mismanagement and explosive population growth, but you can help save the Catawba-Wateree. More

River Quotes are posted weekday mornings. Want to see your favorite river quote here? Email it to lmartin@AmericanRivers.org.

Green Roofs - My Ah-Ha Moment

Posted on May 9, 2008 | Filed Under Green Infrastructure, Healthy Waters, Mid-Atlantic, Sewage

Katherine Baer, Director
Healthy Waters Campaign

Standing with Barbara Deutsch on the green roof at Casey Trees here in Washington, DC, I had my ah-ha moment. Now, Gary has done a great job of explaining what a green roof is and how it works, but I needed to experience one for myself. So we went on a green roof mini-tour visiting Casey Trees as well as the green roof at the American Society for Landscape Architects (ASLA). At Casey Trees, the roof was green, or at least brown-green, covered with sedum plants that cool the building, extend the life of the roof and reduce polluted stormwater runoff.

“Just look at all these other roofs,” said Barbara pointing out toward the buildings surrounding McPherson Square. “All of that prime rooftop real estate is just wasted space.”

Wow. A whole new perspective, the bird’s-eye view of real estate. We’re wasting a whole dimension of our cities by leaving rooftops flat and devoid of life. If every building had a green roof, cities would be greener, more attractive, and cooler. In fact, Casey Trees and Limno Tech (pdf) found that if 80% of eligible rooftops in DC had green roofs combined sewer overflows to the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers would be reduced by 15% and air pollutants reduced by almost 17 tons.

So with all these benefits the real question is - why aren’t we doing this all the time to increase the effective green infrastructure of our communities? The usual barriers exist, like lack of familiarity, although that’s waning and there is now quite a green roof industry in the U.S.

But what are the best ways to institutionalize green roof techniques so they are the norm for all new construction and roof replacement. Ideas, anyone?

The river is the center of the land… — Tim Palmer

Posted on May 9, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes

Lindsay Martin, Web Editor
River Quotes: Your Daily Escape

“The river is the center of the land, the place where the waters, and much more, come together. Here is the home of wildlife, the route of explorers, and recreation paradise… Only fragments of our inheritance remain unexploited, but these streams are more valuable than ever.” — Tim Palmer

* The Pearl River, in Louisiana and Mississippi, is one of this year’s America’s Most Endangered Rivers™. The Pearl is threatened by a boondoggle that would cause irreparable harm to the river and the communities that depend on it. More

River Quotes are posted weekday mornings. Want to see your favorite river quote here? Email it to lmartin@AmericanRivers.org.

It’s easy to become hopeless… — Dr. Jane Goodall

Posted on May 8, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes

Lindsay Martin, Web Editor
River Quotes: Your Daily Escape

“It’s easy to become hopeless. So people must have hope — the human brain, the resilience of nature, the energy of young people and the sort of inspiration that you see from so many hundreds of people who tackle tasks that are impossible and never give up and succeed.”

* Our Serena McClain recently interviewed Alison Barrett about her job monitoring the return of historic fish runs. More

River Quotes are posted weekday mornings. Want to see your favorite river quote here? Email it to lmartin@AmericanRivers.org.

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