Save The River has received the test results from Week 9 (August 30) for the Beach Watch Monitoring program. One sample site, Wilson Beach in Cape Vincent, “failed” this week. All other beaches sampled “passed.”

Week 9 Results (8-30-10)

Wilson Beach: FAILED

Potter’s Beach: PASS

Frink Dock: PASS

Round Island: PASS

Lake of the Isles: PASS

Scenic View Park: PASS

Why Did Wilson Beach “Fail” This Week?

Save The River believes Wilson Beach is experiencing a scenario where unsafe bacteria levels are linked to the presence of thick mats of Cladophora, a native type of green algae that harbors harmful bacteria. This algae is often found washed onto the shore of this site. To read more about this issue and how other Lakes within the Great Lakes are affected by this visit our blog.

About Beach Watch

The program provides a snapshot of water quality at popular swimming areas which are not monitored by other groups during peak recreational swimming season. Our goal is to ascertain whether there is a health risk to swimmers from Enterococci in the water. Enterococci is a bacteria found in warm-blooded animals, including humans, which is closely linked to human health concerns.

There are many potential sources for Enterococci bacteria in swimming areas, including: improper sewage disposal, agricultural run-off, animal waste and various other environmental factors.

Although the results cannot be used to conclusively say that a location is safe for swimming, Save The River advises beach goers to practice safe swimming habits to reduce the likelihood of acquiring a bacteria related illness, such as rashes or gastrointestinal illness. A few simple steps should be followed: choose swimming sites with good water circulation, never swallow swimming water and wash hands after swimming and before eating. If you are very young, very old or have a compromised immune system you are more susceptible to acquiring bacteria related illnesses.

Questions?

If you have any questions, concerns or would like more information on our Beach Watch program, please stop by the office or call, 315-686-2010.

Save The River has received the test results from Week 8 (August 23) for the Beach Watch Monitoring program. One sample site, Wilson Beach in Cape Vincent, “failed” this week. All other beaches sampled “passed.”

Week 8 Results (8-23-10)

Wilson Beach: FAIL

Potter’s Beach: PASS

Frink Dock: PASS

Round Island: PASS

Lake of the Isles: PASS

Scenic View Park: PASS

About Beach Watch

The program provides a snapshot of water quality at popular swimming areas which are not monitored by other groups during peak recreational swimming season. Our goal is to ascertain whether there is a health risk to swimmers from Enterococci in the water. Enterococci is a bacteria found in warm-blooded animals, including humans, which is closely linked to human health concerns.

There are many potential sources for Enterococci bacteria in swimming areas, including: improper sewage disposal, agricultural run-off, animal waste and various other environmental factors.

Although the results cannot be used to conclusively say that a location is safe for swimming, Save The River advises beach goers to practice safe swimming habits to reduce the likelihood of acquiring a bacteria related illness, such as rashes or gastrointestinal illness. A few simple steps should be followed: choose swimming sites with good water circulation, never swallow swimming water and wash hands after swimming and before eating. If you are very young, very old or have a compromised immune system you are more susceptible to acquiring bacteria related illnesses.

Questions?

If you have any questions, concerns or would like more information on our Beach Watch program, please stop by the office or call, 315-686-2010.

This week Save The River volunteers assisted in a cattail removal project in Chippewa Bay. The project was led by SUNY ESF’s Thousand Islands Biological Station. 

The project is an effort to reclaim important wetland habitat for fish spawning, particularly northern pike, by removing a large cattail mat that is blocking fish movement into the marsh lands. To remove the cattails volunteers manually cut the plants and then brought them to shore where they were piled to dry and decompose. The hand removal of this cattail stand was the first step in opening a path for fish movement into the marsh.

In addition to volunteers hand cutting efforts, there was also an aquatic excavator that will be working through the next week to cut channels through the wetlands to allow fish access and movement to spawning grounds.

To learn more about this project check out the Watertown Daily Times recent article and the Channel 7 News coverage of this project.

Special thanks to the many volunteers that came out and assisted in this great restoration project!

Wellesley Island, NY (August 12, 2010) – Save The River today will honor two volunteers with the Volunteer of the Year Award at the organization’s annual volunteer picnic. The award is given to volunteers who have consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty in their volunteer efforts and whose volunteer assistance has moved Save The River’s efforts to protect the St. Lawrence River forward in a significant way. The picnic and award presentation will be held from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority’s ‘Rift Camp’ on Wellesley Island.

Last year, Save The River’s nearly 300 volunteers provided more than 3,200 hours of service – the equivalent of nearly 400 eight-hour days – in support of Save The River’s advocacy, education and research programs. Volunteers assist with a variety of projects, from monitoring River health to stuffing envelopes and providing expertise on River policy issues.

“The time and expertise, often combined with hands-on labor, that volunteers provide is critical to the strength of Save The River’s efforts to protect the St. Lawrence River. Volunteers magnify the capacity of our small staff and our River protection programs,” stated Save The River’s Executive Director Jennifer Caddick. “We are thrilled to recognize this year’s recipients of the Volunteer of the Year Awards for their dedication and commitment to Save The River. We are a stronger organization thanks to their efforts.”

Jim McGarry, Oak Point and Ithaca, NY – Although a relatively new volunteer, Jim jumped in with both feet two years ago and has become a leader in the Common Tern restoration program. The program is a partnership working to restore the population and habitat of Common Terns, a threatened bird species once abundant on the River. After reading everything the Cornell Ornithology lab had on Common Terns, Jim got to work developing innovative methods to reduce predation while increasing the amount of suitable habitat for the birds. In addition to braving fierce adult Common Terns while monitoring nests and counting eggs and chicks on a weekly basis, Jim has also been key in efforts to band additional birds and develop better reporting methods for volunteer monitors. Jim’s efforts have directly led to an increase in breeding success at two historic nesting sites, providing a significant boost to the Common Tern population on the River.

Jay Nash, Clayton and Ludlow, VT – Seven years ago, long-time supporter Jay Nash approached Save The River with an idea – bring the best independent singer-songwriters to Clayton for a night of music to benefit Save The River. Today, the event, Rock for the River, has grown into Save The River’s largest annual fundraiser. Over the past seven years, the event has raised more than $40,000 for Save The River’s programs. Additionally, much of Jay’s music has been influenced by the River and it seems that he’s always sporting a Save The River tee at shows around the U.S. and Europe, which has been so important in spreading the word throughout the U.S. and Europe about the importance of protecting the St. Lawrence River.

For more information on Save The River’s volunteer programs, visit www.savetheriver.org and click on ‘Get Involved’.

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For more information, contact:

Jennifer Caddick, Save The River Executive Director

E-mail: jennifer@savetheriver.org / Phone: (315) 686-2010 / Cell: (315) 767-2802

Save The River’s annual membership meeting will be held Saturday, August 14 at 9 a.m. at the Save The River office in Clayton.

Current members of Save The River will have the opportunity to vote for the Directors of Save The River, receive a report on the organization’s finances, and consider any additional matter that may come before the meeting. Seven Directors have been nominated to serve another three-year term. All are current Directors of Save The River. They are:

Dan Churchill Dan has been a summer resident of Grindstone Island since the age of 2 and has been a Board Member for 6 years. He is part-owner of a printing company and has worked for several telecommunication companies. Dan was an Administrative Assistant and Press Secretary to Mayor Neil Goldschmidt of Portland, Oregon for a number of years and was on the staff of Allard Lowenstein’s campaigns for U.S. Congress on Long Island and Brooklyn, NY.

John Farrell John has been a long-time Save The River Board Member. He is a graduate professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse and Director of the Thousand Islands Biological Station on Governor’s Island. John has devoted his professional career to studying St. Lawrence River aquatic ecology.

Bill Grater Bill, a long-time Save The River board member, has family ties to the Morristown and Chippewa Bay areas of the St. Lawrence River that date to the early to mid-nineteenth century. In 1992 Bill and his wife, Diana, moved their young family and architecture business from Washington, DC to Clayton. For the past eighteen years, Bill has been occupied with the design of houses and other structures on the River focusing his efforts on careful planning and site design so as to preserve natural attributes and protect water resources.

Rick Gregware Rick has been involved with Save The River since it’s infancy becoming a board member in 1981. He began a career in marine repair in 1969 working at H. Chalk & Sons where he was involved in keeping oil spill equipment running during the 1976 oil spill. He currently owns and runs Northern Marine and is a summer resident of Grindstone Island with his wife Janet and three children.

Teddy McNally Teddy is a long-time Board member and River resident on Wellesley Island. Teddy was previously Secretary of the Board of Directors and Vice President of Corporate Relations for Rand McNally. He is currently active in many local organizations including The Antique Boat Museum and Thousand Islands Safe Boating Association.

Tricia Tague Tricia served on the Board for many years, stepped off for several years and returned as an active Board member three years ago. She is very active in many community organizations and recently served as interim director of the Samaritan Foundation and is currently the President of the Alexandria Bay Historical Society. She lives on Wellesley Island with her husband, Rick, and two children.

Clif Schneider Clif is a resident of Cape Vincent, NY, and has been on the Save The River Board for three years. He is retired from the NY Department of Environmental Conservation with 34 years of experience working on Great Lakes issues at the Cape Vincent Fisheries Station. After retiring, Clif remained active in local, county and Great Lakes projects working with groups such as the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Samaritan Medical Center, Points North Housing Coalition and Town of Cape Vincent.

The abundant natural resources and the beauty of the Thousand Islands are among the region’s greatest assets. They are the foundation for a vibrant ecology, clean drinking water, and an economy dependent on tourism and recreation. Save The River’s purpose is to protect the quality of the Upper St. Lawrence River through advocacy, education and research, so the waterway continues to sustain a healthy ecology for future generations. Given this purpose, Save The River is keenly aware of the need for effective solutions to climate change, and supports efforts to shift to renewable energy sources in general. However, we are also gravely concerned about the scale and potential impacts of commercial wind development along the St. Lawrence River.

The Upper St. Lawrence River valley has one of the most unique and substantial grassland habitats in eastern North America; a habitat that is home to specialized grassland bird populations, as well as a home and critical seasonal foraging habitat for a variety of winter raptors. The grassland habitat includes Amherst and Wolfe Islands in Canada, Stony and Galloo Islands in the U.S., as well as major portions of the US and Canadian mainland towns bordering the Upper St. Lawrence River. The importance of this habitat is accentuated by the scarcity of such grasslands in this geographical region. In addition, the northeastern portion of Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River is an important migratory flyway for a large number of waterfowl and songbird species that pass through our area en route to and from northern breeding grounds.

It also should not be overlooked that the federally listed endangered species, the Indiana Bat, has been identified as a resident of this same grassland community. This species must be protected from impacts associated with wind turbines.

Given the many issues listed above, it becomes extremely important for our communities to learn from the only operational wind farm currently in the flyway – Wolfe Island – before moving forward with wind farm development on the scale currently proposed. While the Wolfe Island wind farm has only 86 turbines, more than 400 turbines in as many as six different projects are currently proposed in every direction around Wolfe Island. Cumulatively, these projects could radically alter these habitats that our communities have long endeavored to protect.

Initial reports of bird and bat fatalities associated with the July – December 2009 operation of the Wolfe Island Wind Project have just recently been released, and several experts have voiced concerns that the bird mortality is on target to be among the highest in North America. During the same 6-month period, 1,270 bat mortalities were estimated from the wind farm operation. In light of these documented high fatality rates, a major concern is the apparent lack of coordination between the US and Canadian governments (Federal, Provincial, and State) in addressing the cumulative impacts on wildlife resources from the numerous industrial-scale wind projects proposed in the upper St. Lawrence valley.

The initial high avian and bat mortality documented at the Wolfe Island Wind Project along with the lack of any cumulative impact assessment for wind projects proposed within the St. Lawrence valley, demand a “wait and see” response from decision makers in the communities that are now involved with examining environmental impact studies from wind developers. With less than a year of avian fatality study completed at Wolfe Island, it will require several more years of data collection to better understand the extent of fatalities associated with the island’s wind turbine operation. Given the grassland habitat and coastal area similarities across the region, the next two years of post-operational studies at Wolfe Island will provide important data for assessing potential cumulative wind turbine impacts on wildlife resources in the upper St. Lawrence River valley.

To address these concerns, Save The River supports the following:

1. A three-year moratorium on wind project development in municipalities bordering the Upper St. Lawrence River, in the US and Canada.

2. A cumulative assessment of bird and bat mortality as well as other environmental impacts, for the upper St. Lawrence River valley, coordinated by agencies in the US and Canada, considering two regional scenarios, one for 500 wind turbines and the other for 1,000 wind turbines.

In summary, the special nature of the place that we inhabit, including the importance of the habitat and flyway, when taken with the scale of the wind energy projects proposed, the lack of a process to assess cumulative review, and the initial indications of substantial impacts to birds and bats, all lead us to conclude that wind projects proposed for our area should not proceed further until the Wolfe Island Wind post-construction wildlife impact study is completed and a cumulative wildlife impact assessment involving the US and Canadian governments has occurred.

(Download a PDF of this statement here.)

Clayton, NY (August 4, 2010) – Save The River is urging local municipalities bordering the Upper St. Lawrence River in the U.S. and Canada to implement a three year moratorium on wind project development. The move was taken after careful review of recent data showing potentially high avian and bat mortality from the first six months of operation of the Wolfe Island Wind project, the only operating wind project in the region.

Additionally, Save The River is calling for a cumulative assessment of bird and bat mortality and other environmental impacts for wind development in the Upper St. Lawrence River valley, coordinated by agencies in the US and Canada. The assessment should consider two regional scenarios, one for 500 wind turbines and the other for 1,000 wind turbines.

“The initial high avian and bat mortality documented at the Wolfe Island Wind Project along with the lack of any cumulative impact assessment for wind projects proposed within the St. Lawrence valley, demand a ‘wait and see’ response from decision makers in the communities that are now involved with examining environmental impact studies from wind developers,” stated Save The River in a position paper detailing the rationale for the moratorium and cumulative assessment.

Several factors influenced the call for a moratorium on wind energy development in the region including:

• The St. Lawrence River valley contains one of the most unique and substantial grassland habitats in eastern North America, which is home to specialized bird populations and provides critical foraging habitat for a variety of raptor species. This habitat is increasingly scarce due to development pressure and further threatened by wind energy development.

• The Indiana Bat, a federally listed endangered species, has been identified as a resident in several communities slated for wind energy projects. The scientific community has expressed growing concern regarding the potential for bat kills and population declines given the rapid proliferation of wind power facilities and the large-scale mortality that has occurred at some facilities.

• No agencies have begun to assess the cumulative impacts of the more than 6 projects proposed along the Upper St. Lawrence River and, as a result, little if anything is known about the cumulative impacts of these projects on the River ecosystem. Nor has any cross-border coordination with Canada occurred, resulting in a lack of information for agencies assessing project impacts.

“Without a full picture of the impacts of wind energy development along the Upper St. Lawrence River, it is irresponsible to move forward with the wind projects currently in development at this time,” stated Save The River Executive Director Jennifer Caddick. “Communities along the St. Lawrence River have worked hard to protect the River’s water quality and wildlife for many years. A precautionary approach is the only way to ensure that the St. Lawrence River ecosystem remains vibrant and healthy.”

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Read Save The River’s full position statement.

For more information, contact Stephanie Weiss, Save The River Assistant Director at (315) 686-2010 or stephanie@savetheriver.org

Want your community to learn how to save the river?

This summer Save The River will be offering free training sessions for groups with 10 or more attendees. Save The River will send someone to your location to train your group and outfit them with all they need to assess River health. Groups can include Island Associations, Rotary Clubs or Yacht Clubs.

By becoming a Riverkeeper Volunteer you and your community members will identify signs of River health. In addition you will also learn how to identify and report pollution issues. Your community will become stewards of the River, patrolling it and keeping it safe.

Joining the Network

Once you have completed the training, you and your group will be a member of our extensive network of volunteers stretching from Cape Vincent to Ogdensburg. Volunteers share reports with this network connecting volunteers up and down River, sharing successes and new issues throughout the summer. As a part of this network you will be kept abreast of the latest River issues.

How do I get my group signed up?

It’s easy! All you have to do is call Save The River, 315-686-2010. Let us know how may attendees you have and a possible date for training. We’ll take it from there and schedule your group training session.

Need to learn more?

Check out our Riverkeeper Monitoring page to learn more about this program.

We recently received many reports about gelatinous blobs on the River from many of our Riverkeeper Volunteers, which can be seen below.

From initial observations these blobs are known as Bryozoans, which are actually a glob of microorganisms that band together. They are a naturally occuring phenomenon that bloom occasionally on the River. Samples of the blobs have also been sent to SUNY ESF to confirm their identification.

To read more about Bryozoans check out this website.

Special thanks to Roger Peinkofer for sending this photo and the many Riverkeeper Volunteers who reported this issue.

Want to do more to save the River, but not sure what to do?

Become a Riverkeeper Monitoring Program volunteer. Volunteers will be trained to assess River health, learning the basics for identifying and reporting issues of concern.

How do I become a volunteer?

To become a volunteer all you have to do is attend one of our hour long training sessions. We’ll outfit you with everything you need to assess River health including a Riverkeeper Identification Guidebook and free volunteer t-shirt.

When are the training sessions?

This summer’s training sessions are free to attend and will be held:

• Wednesday, June 16th at 5 p.m. at the Antique Boat Museum’s Education room
• Saturday, July 10th at 10 a.m. Alexandria Bay Village Community Room next to the Village offices

How do I sign-up?

To reserve your space in a training session or to schedule a time for your group to be trained please call Save The River, 315-686-2010. RSVP’s are required as class sizes are limited.

To learn more about this program visit our Riverkeeper Monitoring page.