Save The River was recently awarded a grant from the St. Lawrence River Research and Education Fund. The Fund was created as part of the relicensing of the New York Power Authority’s St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project (or the Moses-Saunders power dam) on the River and provides support for environmental research and education projects relating to the ecology of the St. Lawrence River and its surroundings.

Save The River will use the grant to support the Riverkeeper Monitoring Program, established in 2008, which collects data on the general health of the St. Lawrence River. Volunteers gather information about the health of the River and submit it to Save The River.  We then share the information with appropriate agencies charged with remediating any potential pollution or wildlife issues on the River. The funds will allow for additional training sessions to be available for trainees, growing a network of volunteers all over the River to report on pollution and wildlife issues.

Jennifer J. Caddick, Executive Director of Save The River, said: “We are thrilled to receive this grant to expand our Riverkeeper Monitoring Program. By training additional volunteers to monitor River health, we will be able to quickly identify and respond to potential pollution problems.”

To learn more about the Riverkeeper Monitoring Program and opportunities to get involved visit our Riverkeeper Monitoring page.

Save The River worked with D. H Leonard Consulting to develop the grant application. To read about other programs funded check out the latest press release from the New York Power Authority.

This morning, North Country Public Radio’s David Sommerstein covered Save The River’s Common Tern Monitoring Program spring project on Tidd Island. The project is a collaborative effort between Save The River and the Thousand Islands Land Trust that reclaims important nesting habitat for the New York State threatened Common Tern. Staff from both organization were joined by volunteers to install a gull exclusion grid on Tidd Island in an effort to reclaim this historic nesting habitat for terns.

Check out the story to hear the report, view a slide show of project photos, and listen to a story from 2002 on the tern program.

Special thanks to all the volunteers who helped to make this project happen as well as to those businesses who donated in-kind goods for the project!!!

Greene Structures

White’s Lumber

1000 Islands Ready Mix

Reinman’s Department Store