In the News:
- Romney Backs Away from his Sewage Plan to Avoid Lawsuit
- DCR Annual Report; Forest Cutting & Parks Mgt Plan
- Comments Sought on DFG Forest Management Plans
- Chapter 61 Reform Passes, Awaits Romney Signature
- Ian Bowles new Secretary of Energy and Environment
- Source Water Collaborative launches Web Site
- EPA finalizes 2006 Effluent Guidelines Plan
- MassRecycle seeks Paper Recovery Campaign Coordinator
- Switzer Environmental Fellowship Program
- ELM’s 2008 Green Budget coming soon
- Mass. Teaming With Wildlife has a New Website
- Help Start the Rushing Rivers Institute
- List of Environmental Job Openings
Romney Backs Away from his Sewage Plan to Avoid LawsuitWorst Features Removed But Significant Sludge Left for Incoming GovernorBoston — Under threat of a lawsuit by environmentalists, the outgoing administration of Governor Mitt Romney has dropped its last minute proposal to eliminate most oversight of toxic chemicals that industries are discharging every day into the state’s sewer systems. Some toxics can “pass through” sewage treatment plants undetected and seriously pollute surface waters.For nearly a decade the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has allowed industries to discharge 1.4 million gallons of wastewater per day into municipal sewage plants without monitoring or permitting, in clear violation of the Clean Water Act Regulations. After PEER obtained copies of hundreds of letters from DEP telling companies that they need not apply for sewer permits, the Romney administration abruptly proposed regulatory changes to formally exempt 90% of industrial sewer dischargers without even determining the amount of toxic chemicals in their wastewater.
A coalition of 17 environmental and watershed organizations, spearheaded by the Neponset River Watershed Association (NepRWA) and PEER, objected, arguing the plan would be a giant step backward by making it more difficult to determine which chemicals are entering state waters, passing the buck to ill-equipped local agencies and crippling anti-pollution enforcement. They threatened to seek a court injunction to prevent the new rules from taking effect.
In response, the Romney administration agreed to a number of changes proposed by NepRWA Advocacy Director Steve Pearlman, a former DEP employee. Most importantly the final rules will require dozens of industries that are most likely to have toxics in their wastewater (such as manufacturers, carpet cleaners, garages and laboratories) to report these toxics to DEP and the sewage treatment plants. However, it left it to the incoming Patrick Administration to establish within the next two years the precise rules for industrial toxics reporting. A number of other key problems, such as allowing large new subdivisions to hook up to failing sewer systems, will also be left to Governor-elect Patrick to sort out.
“Governor Romney has been missing in action during virtually his entire term on addressing critical water pollution vulnerabilities,” stated New England PEER Director Kyla Bennett, a former lawyer and biologist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, noting that only 5% of Massachusetts waters meet minimal standards for fishing and swimming. “These last minute revisions, while welcome, are a transparent attempt to prevent his record from being besmirched in his upcoming presidential campaign.”
See the latest proposed revisions (pdf)for industrial wastewater discharge
Read about the breakdown in Massachusetts’ industrial wastewater system
DCR Annual Report; Forest Cutting & Parks Management PlanThe Dept. of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) has released its Fiscal Year
2006 Annual Report, “Toward World Class Parks and Conservation:
Strengthening Connections between People and the Environment.” The report
may be downloaded from the home page (bottom left) of DCR’s website.The draft Public Outreach and Consultation for Forest Cutting Plans and Historic Parkways policies are available for review and public comment.Comments for the Historic Parkways Policy are due Friday, January 12.
Please submit comments c/o Victoria Bonarrigo via email at DCR.Policies@State.MA.US If submitting comment via email, please write the title of the policy in the subject bar. Or via mail at:
Victoria Bonarrigo
Department of Conservation & Recreation
251 Causeway Street, Suite 600
Boston, MA 02114
Comments for the Public Outreach and Consultation for Forest Cutting Plans
Policy are due Friday, March 16. Please submit comments c/o Marcelle Valentin via email at DCR.Policies@State.MA.US If submitting comment via email, please write the title of the policy in the subject bar. Or via mail at:
Marcelle Valentin
Department of Conservation and Recreation
251 Causeway Street, Suite 600
Boston, MA 02114
The DCR Stewardship Council has drafted its annual oversight strategy of
park management plans, capital planning and policy development. This
document was posted on DCR’s website on December 1 and is available for
public comment until December 30, 2006. After this date, comments will be
reviewed by the Council and the final approved version submitted to the
Secretary of Environmental Affairs shortly thereafter. The draft oversight
strategy may be found at http://www.mass.gov/dcr/stewardship_council.htm
Comments Sought on DFG Forest Management PlansThe Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife (MassWildlife) is seeking
public comment on forest management plans for the Taconic Mountains and
Marble Valley Forest Management Zone (FMZ) and the Berkshire Highlands
Forest Management Zone. Both management plans integrate principles of
MassWildlife¹s Biodiversity Initiative and addresses Forest Stewardship
Certification (FSC) ³Green Certification² requirements for habitat
management planning on state forest and wildlife lands. The plans are
posted on the MassWildlife website. Interested citizens,
conservationists and natural resource professionals are encouraged to submit
written comments postmarked by February 16, 2007 to: John Scanlon,
MassWildlife Forest Project Leader, MassWildlife Field HQ, Westborough, MA
01581.The draft Taconic Mountains & Marble Valley FMZ plan provides a summary and
assessment of forest resources on over 6,600 acres of MassWildlife lands in
western Berkshire County, and describes long term forest monitoring and
management goals for those lands over the next two decades. Forest
management activities include active management activities such as timber
sales to create or enhance young forest habitat and passive management such
as forest reserves identification to establish biologically mature forest
habitat. A revised draft plan for Berkshire Highlands FMZ covers 34,000
acres of DFG lands in central and eastern Berkshire County. An initial draft
of this plan was posted for public review in August 2005, and comments were
received until December 2, 2005. Many of the public comments received are
reflected in the revised draft.MassWildlife’s Forest Management Program is an integral part of
MassWildife’s Biodiversity Initiative, a habitat based approach to address
the needs of wildlife in greatest need of conservation. MassWildlife Forest
Management Program activities include mapping of forest and non-forest cover
types, inventory of timber and other wood product volume, biological
monitoring of plant and animal populations, timber harvesting to provide
young forest habitat, and establishment of forest reserves to secure mature
forest habitat. Ruffed grouse, chestnut-sided warbler and New England
cottontail are examples of wildlife benefiting from MassWildife’s forest
management activities.
Chapter 61 Reform Passes, Awaits Romney SignatureIn a major legislative victory after 12 years, “An Act Relative to Taxation
of Forest, Farm and Recreation Land (S.2683)”, otherwise know as The Chapter
61 Reforms, is finally on its way to the Governor’s desk for signature. It
was passed during an informal Senate session in late July and then made it
through the House Committees on Ways & Means, Steering & Policy, and Bills
in 3rd Reading. And on December 8th, in an unusual Friday informal session,
the House passed the bill to be engrossed. This legislation establishes
more uniform interpretation and efficient administration of the property
taxation statutes, Chapters 61, 61A, and 61B. These reforms will enhance
opportunities for municipalities to protect working forests, farms, and
recreation lands.***************************************House Gives Final Approval To Bill Giving Towns More Time To Buy Open Space
– by Priscilla Yeon, State House News Service –
December 14, 2006
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON – A proposal designed to give cities and towns more time
to purchase open space at risk of being developed is nearing Gov. Mitt
Romney’s desk after spending eight years in the Legislature. The bill
represents a “huge compromise” between environmental groups, landowners and
municipalities after many years of negotiations, authors of the bill said.
The House today gave final approval to a bill relative to the taxation of
forest, farm and recreation land. “My staff have spent a lot of time
bringing in a lot of stakeholders and this bill is a result of that effort,” said Sen. Pamela Resor (D-Acton), the original sponsor of the bill. Her
measure tries to accomplish several things, she said, noting one of the most
significant changes is the extension of time towns would have to secure
their open land purchase once a farm, recreation or forest land goes on
sale.
According to Nathan L’Etoile, spokesman for the Massachusetts Farm Bureau, a
town has three months to hold its right of first refusal, which allows
communities to purchase open space land before the offer is made available
to a developer. Under the proposed bill that “privilege” would be extended
to 15 months. The Farm Bureau was one of the participating agents in
negotiating the terms of the legislation.
Deciding the amount of time communities could hold their right of first
refusal was one of the main points of contention in the negotiations in the
past eight years, said Resor. “All these stakeholders had to give out a
little bit of everything,” said Resor, who said she would have liked to have
given towns even more time to secure properties. Resor said although
landowners do not want to wait for a long time to get their purchase and
sale agreement, they also do not want to see their once open land developed
into houses.
L’Etoile said the Farm Bureau supports the compromise “very strongly.” The
bill also streamlines three chapters of state law that deal with farm,
recreation and forest lands separately so they would “closely resemble each
other,” said L’Etoile. It is much more consistent in the way it treats the
participants,” said Resor.
The bill also enables landowners to change their open land status more
easily, she said. For example, if property owners would like to change their
parcel status from farm land to forest land, the new bill would streamline
the process.
“The EOEA is supportive of the bill’s intent, which is to increase open
space protection,” said Vanessa Gulati, spokeswoman of the Executive Office
of Environmental Affairs, another active participant during the
negotiations. “We’re pleased with the changes from the original bill. We
like the redraft.”
Linda Orel, government relations director of the Massachusetts Chapter of
the Nature Conservancy, an organization that protects biodiversity, said the
bill holds promise from an environmental point of view. The Conservancy was
also one of the stakeholders in the negotiations. “The bill will help keep
private working farms and forests actively protected and will encourage the
productive use of ecologically valuable land,” said Orel. “It is one
important tool in the toolbox that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts needs
in order to protect natural areas that are being rapidly developed.”
Ian Bowles new Secretary of Energy and EnvironmentState House News ———————————PATRICK TAPS BOWLES AS ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CHIEF, O’CONNELL FOR HOUSING AND BIZ GROWTH: Gov.-elect Deval Patrick has chosen MassINC President Ian Bowles as his secretary for energy and environment, and real estate developer and former Massport official Dan O’Connell as his housing and economic development chief. While consolidating the business and housing secretariats, Patrick is also creating a Cabinet-level spot for energy. In a press statement, Patrick said, “Energy independence is going to be a top focus in the coming years, and we need coordination to achieve smarter energy outcomes and protect our environment. Similarly, we need close coordination between housing and economic policy because so many workers are unable to afford to live in Massachusetts.” Bowles comes from the non-partisan think tank, and has worked as a White House adviser on environmental policy during the Clinton years. O’Connell, also an attorney, is an executive vice president at the Meredith and Grew real estate firm, before which he worked at Spaulding & Slye Colliers. He’s handled projects such as Boston’s Fan Pier and North Point, and the Puerto Rican Convention Center District Authority. A former chief of staff to US Rep. Ed Markey, he’s been executive director of the predecessor of MassDevelopment, an director of planning and development for Massport.Background Info:
Ian Bowles is President & CEO of MassINC and Publisher of CommonWealth magazine. Appointed by the MassINC Board of Directors in June 2003, Mr. Bowles came to the leadership of MassINC experience in public policy, government service, philanthropy and non-profit management.
Before coming to MassINC, Mr. Bowles was a senior research fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and served as senior advisor for strategy development at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a multibillion dollar foundation created by the co-founder of the Intel Corporation. Prior to that, he served in the Clinton Administration as Senior Director for Global Environmental Affairs at the National Security Council and as Associate Director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. In those positions, he coordinated U.S. policy on international environmental affairs from climate change to biotechnology. President Clinton also appointed him to serve on the Enterprise for the Americas Board.
Mr. Bowles also spent eight years in key leadership positions at Conservation International, a U.S.-based international environmental organization, where he directed policy and economic research, oversaw government relations, and negotiated several multimillion dollar land protection deals in Latin America, Africa and Asia. He began his career as a Legislative Assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mr. Bowles holds an A.B. in economics from Harvard College and a Masters degree from Oxford University, where he retains an adjunct teaching appointment. He is co-author of Footprints in the Jungle, a book on natural resource industries and environmental practices and has published more than three dozen articles on public policy issues. He has served on several non-profit and private sector boards. A native of Falmouth, Massachusetts, he lives with his wife, Hannah, in Charlestown.
Source Water Collaborative launches Web SiteFifteen leading organizations that have joined forces under a newly formed Source Water Collaborative have launched a new joint web site. The web site will network source water advocates across the country and serve as a national portal to source water information.The Source Water Collaborative, created in February 2006, meets quarterly to share information, develop recommendations, and promote the protection of the lakes, streams, rivers and aquifers America taps for drinking water. Members include the American Planning Association, American Water Works Association, American Metropolitan Water Association, Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, Association of State & Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators, Clean Water Fund, Ground Water Protection Council, The Groundwater Foundation, Environmental Finance Center Network, National Association of Counties, National Rural Water Association, River Network, Trust for Public Lands, U.S. Geological Survey, and EPA.In their vision statement, Collaborative members agreed that source water protection should be integrated into land-use planning and stewardship; road, sewer and water projects; farming, industry and development practices; waste disposal methods; watershed planning; and the routine decisions Americans make every day. This approach recognizes that the country cannot rely on treatment alone to protect drinking water and that the quality, quantity, and cost of drinking water also depend on land stewardship and planning decisions. The Collaborative’s new web site offers a portal to source water guides and materials for policymakers, developers, farmers and others. Learn more at the new website.
EPA finalizes 2006 Effluent Guidelines Plan
From Waterheadlines is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water
After reviewing additional data and considering public comments on the preliminary effluent guideline plan published in August 2005, EPA has decided to conduct more focused detailed reviews in the 2007 and 2008 annual reviews for a select number of industrial sectors as part of the 2008 Plan: Steam Electric Power Generating, Coal Mining, Coalbed Methane Extraction, and Health Services including emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals.
EPA’s effluent guidelines plan includes a comprehensive review of technology-based controls and a strategic roadmap for responding to data needs and emerging contaminants,? said Benjamin H. Grumbles, Assistant Administrator for Water.
Effluent guidelines are industry specific national regulations that control the discharge of pollutants to surface waters and to publicly owned treatment works. EPA has issued effluent guidelines for 56 industries that prevent the discharge of more than 1.2 billion pounds of toxic pollutants each year.
To read the pre-publication federal notice visit: http://www.epa.gov/guide/plan.html
MassRecycle seeks Statewide Paper Recovery Campaign Coordinator 12/19The Massachusetts Recycling Coalition, Inc. (MassRecycle), a not-for-profit membership organization, seeks a coordinator for a 1 year contract position. This is a 16 hour per week position that allows a flexible schedule based in the Contractor’s home office. The goal of the project is to recover at least half of the 1.5 – 2 million tons of recyclable paper that is currently being disposed each year in Massachusetts by the commercial, institutional and residential sectors.The position requires recruitment and coordination of sponsors, grant providers, service providers, municipal and regional recycling coordinators, the press and others in a multifaceted outreach project. The Contractor will report to the MassRecycle President and the Campaign Steering Committee.The successful candidate must have:
- At least 3 years of demonstrated project management, sales, and/or fundraising experience
- Excellent organizational, verbal and written communication skills
- Understanding of and active interest in waste reduction and recycling issues
- Proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite. Webmaster experience a plus.
- A home office with phone, fax, email, computer and photocopying availability.
- The ability to work effectively with a minimum of supervision.
- Bachelor’s or higher degree preferred.
- Occasional travel within the State may be required.
The contract rate is $32/hour, for an average of 16 hours/week through November 30, 2007. Travel expenses to be compensated at state mileage rate.
Responsibilities:
* Solicit funding and in kind donations from potential sponsors. A
letter and list will be provided, but will need to be further
developed by contractor.
* Follow up on funding pledges
* Work with Executive Director to track contributions.
* Gather information to assist steering Committee in selecting a
public relations firm, graphics designer and possibly an
advertising firm
* Conduct RFQ for banners and print materials that municipalities
may use. (this may also be an in-kind contribution from a sponsor)
* Work with selected PR firm, graphics designer and other service
providers as needed on spokesperson training workshop, publicity,
materials and events.
* Coordinate with municipal, regional and state recycling
coordinators and volunteers to get local messages out concurrently
with statewide message, and to distribute materials
* Distribute graphic materials to private sponsors that agree to use
it on their equipment
* Work with Steering Committee and PR firm to recruit high level
government and celebrity spokespeople
* Provide sponsor contribution information, service and contact
information to WasteCap of Mass. for Recycling Services
Directory. Solicit or provide technical help to WasteCap to
assist in restructuring the RSD to reflect level of sponsorship.
* Report weekly to MR President on activity.
* Attend steering committee meetings, and MR BOD meetings when
requested.
Applications should be emailed to ssrcclaire@comcast.net on or before January 10, 2007 and must include a cover letter, resume, and contact information (email addresses and phone numbers) for three recent employer references and one personal reference. No phone calls, please.
MassRecycle is a statewide coalition of individuals, governments, businesses, institutions and non-profit organizations dedicated to promoting and realizing the vital environmental, social and economic benefits created by reducing, reusing, and recycling waste materials, and by increasing the utilization of recycled products.
Switzer Environmental Fellowship Program Invites Applications from Graduate Students in New England and CaliforniaDeadline: January 11, 2007 (Nominations)The goal of the Switzer Environmental Fellowship Program is to support highly talented graduate students in New England and California whose studies are directed toward improving environmental quality and who demonstrate leadership in their field. Awards have been made to students pursuing environmental policy studies, economics, engineering, public health, and law as well as the more traditional sciences of biology, chemistry, and physics.The fellowship provides a one-year, $15,000 cash award for graduate study as well as networking and leadership support to awardees. Twenty Environmental Fellowships are awarded each year, ten in California and ten in New England. The foundation seeks to select students from different schools, programs, disciplines, and career tracks in each fellowship class.
The Switzer Fellowship is available only to U.S. citizens enrolled at accredited graduate institutions in California or the six New England states (CT, MA, RI, VT, NH, or ME). Master’s degree candidates must have completed at least one semester of course work to apply and be seeking the master’s as a terminal degree. Master’s degree students planning to pursue a Ph.D. are advised to wait until they are in their Ph.D. program to apply.
Individuals enrolled in one-year master’s degree programs may be nominated prior to enrollment, but must be accepted into their program to be eligible for an interview. Applicants at the Ph.D. level must have completed at least two years of doctoral work or passed their qualifying exams by the time of their fellowship interview.
All applicants for Switzer Fellowships must first be nominated in writing by a faculty member, advisor, or an environmental professional before application materials are made available to the applicant.
Complete program information and specific application procedures for the Switzer Fellowship can be found at the program’s Web site.
For additional RFPs in Environment, visit:
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/cat_environment.jhtml
ELM’s 2008 Green Budget The Environmental League of Massachusetts will release their Green Budget 2008 (pdf) with recommendations on how much money should be allocated to various environmental budget lines for the next fiscal year (2008). The Green Budget 2008 has been endorsed by 50 conservation and health organizations across the state, with recommendations for the Environmental Affairs budget and will be released within the next two weeks.In it are recommendations to provide $1 million for the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) within the Department of Fish and Game to help implement the Wildlife Action Plan.In the FY2004 budget the NHESP lost all of its operating funding from the state, which had amounted to around $800,000 a year. It now functions only on a combination of bond money, voluntary donations from Massachusetts residents in the form of a check-off box on the state income tax return, and federal funds.
NHESP is one of the programs within MassWildlife that implements the State Wildlife Action Plan. In order to continue to receive federal funding to implement our Action Plan, the state must match dollar for dollar what the federal government is willing to provide, which was around $900,000 in FY2007.
Much of the $1 million recommended in the Green Budget for NHESP would qualify for the agency’s federal match to implement the Wildlife Action Plan.
Contact your legislators and urge them to support this funding. Click on their name to email or give them a call.
Senator Benjamin Downing 413-822-0071
1st Berkshire District was Representative Daniel Bosley
2nd Berkshire District Representative Denis Guyer 413-684-0033
3rd Berkshire District Representative Christopher Speranzo 413-447-7225
4th Berkshire District Representative Smitty Pignatelli 413-243-5534
Ask them to support $1 million for the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, so they can receive matching Federal money to implement the State Wildlife Action Plan. You can also ask that they support all the recomendations in the Environmental League of Massachusetts’ Green Budget. Thank you!
See ELM’s explanation of the Massachusetts Budget Process or
Mass Audubon’s explanation of the Massachusetts Budget Process as a pdf or go to their Legislative Primer webpage and select Massachusetts Budget Process.
Massachusetts Teaming With Wildlife has a New Website! MassWildlife is the state agency that wrote and is implementing the Massachusetts’ Wildlife Action Plan. MassWildlife along with the Massachusetts Teaming With Wildlife (TWW) Coalition are spearheading the effort to protect wildlife in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts TWW Coalition is comprised of over 135 organizations and businesses. These include land trusts, watershed groups, outdoor organizations, environmental policy organizations, commercial whale watches, sportsmen and women groups, bed & breakfasts, and other businesses.Five years ago, in order to invest in all wildlife species and not just game species, the US Congress passed the Conservation and Reinvestment Act that created the State Wildlife Grants Program. State Wildlife Grants provide federal money to every state for conservation efforts to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered. When species become endangered, it is costly and time-consuming to save their populations. The State Wildlife Grants aim to maintain wildlife populations at healthy and sustainable levels. With strong bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, this program has become the nation’s core program for wildlife conservation.The more people, organizations, and businesses that join the TWW Coalition, the stronger our voice will be. Please, visit the website to join, if you haven’t already. It doesn’t cost anything but a little of your time.
Please Help Start the Rushing Rivers Institute!Rushing Rivers Institute –
Science for Sustainable Management of Running WatersThe rivers of the northeast are drying out!Drinking water is becoming a big issue would wide!
Landuse and climate change impact life in rivers and increase flood hazards!
Please help to protect our rivers and future water supply!
Support science for the sustainable management of running waters!
PLEASE HELP START THE RUSHING RIVERS INSTITUTE!
50 Two Ponds Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
The growing importance of water issues due to global climate change calls for sophisticated, science-based management and protection of
running waters. Hydropower re-licensing, permits for water withdrawals
for municipalities, agriculture and recreation, flood protection
measures, and dam removals are urgent and controversial issues. State
and local governments, industry and watershed management groups, are
frustrated with the inadequacy of available management tools with which
to address complex hydrological/ecological and societal issues. The lack
of applicable environmental management tools is not caused by
underdevelopment in science, but by limited access to integrative
applications of available state-of-the-art research. The key drawback in
the application of cutting-edge research in water management planning is”disconnect between needs of resource managers for simple and effective
solutions on the one hand, and cost-independent needs for innovation and
basic understanding of complex processes, that motivates scientist on
the other hand” (Acreman M. 2005 Linking science and decision-making:
features and experience from environmental river flow setting.
Environmental Modeling & Software 20, 99-109).
During the past seven years, first at the Instream Habitat Program at
Cornell University, and then the past two years at the Northeast
Instream Habitat Program www.neihp.org at the University of
Massachusetts and Mt Holyoke College, we conducted research that
considerably improved the tools and techniques for the management of
riverine resources available today Computer simulation models, supported
by cutting edge remote sensing technology, allow for the quantitative evaluation and validation of the ecological potential of river
management scenarios at the watershed scale, and build a foundation for
intelligent decision making.
With the goal of assuring the timely release of our developed
technology, geared towards the sustainable management of running waters,
the group of scientists from NEIHP want to establish an independent
sister organization as a clearing house for river science. Rushing
Rivers will conduct on-demand, applied research, to protect and restore
rivers, and offer professional training and project review services. It
will build upon the expertise of the Northeast Instream Habitat Program,
as well as the experience of scientists at the universities and research
institutes throughout the country and internationally. This will help to
secure future water resources for both human use and the environment.
The need for the services provided by Rushing Rivers Institute is
undeniable. It is reflected in our world today, in the poor condition of
our rivers and recurring water problems. As a private organization, the
institute will have a high level of flexibility and productivity. The
Institute is designed to generate its own funding through applied
research projects, software marketing, education and training. As a new
organization we need to establish a secure base of funds in order to
develop to our full potential. In the near future we will need to
acquire research equipment, such as a truck and boat, and office
equipment. Eventually we will need additional staff, including graduate
and postdoctoral researchers, administrative support and interns. Please
support the Rushing Rivers Institute initiative. Any form of support,
monetary or tangible, will further our efforts.
Although we currently focus on rivers in the northeast, our work is of
global importance, and the funds invested in Rushing Rivers Institute
are an investment in the future of our planet. Rushing River Institute
is still in the development stage, and to protect the integrity of our mission, we have registered as Rushing
Rivers Inc. for the purpose of this initial campaign. We are presently
applying for non-profit status for 2007. Donations will not be tax
deductible for 2006, but hopefully in 2007. We will notify you when our non-profit status is approved for further
consideration of your generosity. Donations maybe either be sent to the
Rushing Rivers address, or submitted online through the campaign’s
homepage, provided in the letterhead.
You are cordially invited to attend our information meeting on January
25th at 6pm in the Red Barn of Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. The
Hampshire College Red Barn is located at the Admissions Building
entrance off of Route 116 about 1000 feet before the main entrance to
Hampshire College. We kindly request an RSVP to miirawirth@rushingrivers.com or by phone at 413-825-1412.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Piotr Parasiewicz
Rushing Rivers Institute
50 Two Ponds Road