First Herring Brook Watershed Intiative NEW WEB SITE

[kmjackson]

Visit the First Herring Brook Watershed Intiative new web site:
http://stagenet.quinlanco.net/fhbwi_org/index.cfm
These people deserve your attention and support.

The First Herring Brook Watershed Intiative is a nonprofit Scituate, Mass. based watershed association and an affiliate of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association. The group's meetings are hosted by the Technology Planning and Management Corporation (TPMC).

Director: Lance Van Lenten

Steering Committee (as of 7/20/01) Susan Leigh Anthony, Andy Walsh, Garry VanWart, Bill Stanton, Shan Morrissey, Kristine Van Lenten, Wally Arcand, Jeff Rosen, Peter Detwiler-Kelly, John Podgurski, Elise Kline, Chris Harris, and Sandra Kelly

Mission Statement:

Learn about the First Herring Brook watershed, its ecosystem, and its relationship to our drinking water supply. Seek programs, research, and grant opportunities that will benefit and protect the watershed. Explore ways to create recreational and educational activities within the watershed for all residents. Encourage a community commitment to the preservation of the quality and quantity of our water resources within the watershed.

Current and Future Activities include:

Providing stream data for project funded by the Department of Environmental Protection Drinking Water Program. The products of this effort will be (1) detailed power point presentations and reports with maps of the First Herring Brook Watershed; and a Surface Water Supply Protection Plan.
A Stream Team survey using the Riverways Program (part of the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife);
Riparian Buffer Survey Form with Macro Invertebrate Assessment is being planned for September, 2001.
Curriculum based units and activities are being designed for area Science classes.
Guided nature walks and environmental programs will continue to be scheduled.
Advocacy efforts for open space acquisition, non-point source pollution remediation, and public outreach will be ongoing.
Three vernal pools and a rare species form for an amphipod named Crangonyx Aberrans were submitted to the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.

Contents © 2001 FHBWI. All rights reserved.

[fishbuster1]

Sounds like another group that may have good intentions, but at the core of most of these groups, they disdain fishermen and hunters. Most of these groups are nothing but a bunch of left wing environmental nuts who care nothing about the rights of businesses, property owners and the hunters and fishermen who utilize these areas.

[kmjackson]

What is a guy like you doing reading the conservation forum? Of course these groups are for conservation. They happen to work to keep the water clean in our Massachusetts estuaries. That clean water is the key to the survival of food chain that attracts the fish and game that we target. I have also seen these guys out fishing in fact they put on casting classes and demos once or twice a year. They encourage people to get out on the rivers. In fact I belong and I fish. Do you think the people who belong to these groups are left wing, unemployed squatters? They are hard working volunteers of all political persuasions that are concerned enough to be doing something about what others ignore.

[fishbuster1]

Hey they sound like a great bunch of fellas. I would just advise that you check out their core values and decide for yourself weather they are concistant with your own. It has been my experience with these groups that they on the surface sound great but at their core they are not working with our best intrests as sportsmen, property owners, and business owners at heart. Several groups that come to mind right away are the American Litoral Society and Clean Ocean Action and the Nature Concervancy. Recently other groups like the Audubon Society have actually filed lawsuits to block fishing seasons.
As to what someone "like me" is doing on the conservation page. Your statement goes to the heart of the problem with "Environmentalists", they demogogue any issue in such a manner that if you oppose them on any grounds you are for dirty water and air. This tactic is causing a gradual erosion of our rights in this country. I can assure you that I do not want to see the air and water poluted. I also think that the rights of sportsmen, property owners and businesses should be upheld in the same manner as the founders of our country intended (This is where I depart most strongly with the environmentalists).

[kmjackson]

I appreciate your concerns. I don't know anything about the groups you mention, the American Litoral Society and Clean Ocean Action and the Nature Concervancy. But if they are eroding fishing rights they are worth watching and opposing. The First Herring Brook Watershed Initative and The North and South Watershed Associations are concerned with water quality and protecting the rivers, the life it supports and the immediate surrounding areas.

You sound much more environmentally concerned than the impression I got from your first post. Sorry about the "What are you doing on this forum." The more of us that keep an eye on every group and bring it to light on this forum, the better for all.

[fishbuster1]

When you say that their mission is to "protect" the river system, by what means does this group want to do so. If it is by means of initiating clean ups and other such community projects I would wholeheartedly support them. If, on the other hand, they choose hiring layers to litigate against property owners and block legitimate development in the area I would wholeheartedly not support them. There are many in the Environmentalist movement who simply want to block development but never spend a day doing something practical to improve their nearby environment. If you really want to do something practical to help the environment try this, make it a habit that each time you are walking back to your vehicle after a days fishing you pick up some litter along the way. It is amazing the amount of crap that people leave behind after a day at the lake or beach.

[kmjackson]

They go much farther than picking up rubbish and litter. They test the water for bacteria -- sewage. When they find high levels they look for broken or hidden discharge pipes or outlets. The perpetrators are notified they have a problem and given a time period to correct it before legal action is initiated. Fertilizer runoff is another big problem in this state's waterways from home owners and businesses (golf courses especially.) Those runoffs can literally kill a stream or river and they all lead to the ocean.