Spring 2018 Forty Years As The Voice for “The River” This year Save The River celebrates our 40th anniversary. The Upper St. Lawrence River is a unique waterway; a River shared between two nations, First Nations, and tribes, connecting the world’s largest surface freshwater system to the ocean, and bearing the burden of legacy pollution, invasive species, construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, commercial shipping, microbeads, fish advisories, combined sewer outfall discharges, and habitat damage from a decades-old water management plan that did not account for the environment - to name some of the issues facing it. As we look back on four decades since our founding in 1978, it seems appropriate to look at some of the milestones and issues we have tackled together with our members. •1958 - construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway leads to the inundation of nine Canadian villages and portions of Morrisburg and Iroquois, forcing the relocation of 6,500 people •1959 - the Seaway opens the River and Great Lakes to international shipping •1976 - the tug barge NEPCO 140 spills 300,000 gallons of oil into the St. Lawrence River, awakening the River valley to the dangers of commercial shipping •1978 - in August 500+ people, led by Barry Freed (later revealed to be Abbie Hoffman) and Johanna Lawrenson, attend a public meeting held by the Army Corps of Engineers to protest the idea of extending the commercial shipping season into the winter; Save The River is born out of this meeting, incorporating as a membership-based, not-for-profit corporation on October 31 •1979 - Save The River members testify against winter navigation before Congress •1981 - Save The River hosts the first annual River Volunteers in Alexandria Bay work to clean up the Jamboree with a concert featuring Pete Seeger 1976 oil spill •1983 - organized by Barry Freed, members protest the shipment of spent nuclear fuel across the Thousand Islands Bridge •1984 - following presentation of environmental, economic, and engineering evidence by Save The River, Congress formally ends consideration of winter navigation •1985 - Save The River hosts a Greenpeace ship in Clayton - River Currents becomes River Watch Each summer volunteers mark •1986 - The Slick of ‘76: A Musical Catastrophe, a musical farce that tells the story of the 1976 hazardous shoals with shoalmarkers oil spill is first performed on June 23, 1986 - ten years to the day of the 1976NEPCO 140 spill; the musical was developed as a tribute to the River and a gentle way to keep the memory of the 1976 spill alive •1987 - 56 shoal markers are purchased from the Thousand Islands Association to initiate the shoal marking program on the U.S. side of the River (continued on page 3) Protecting the St. Lawrence River through advocacy, education and research. RIVER WATCH Board of Directors Save The River’s Mission • Vision • Values President Jeff Garnsey Mission Vice-President Lauran Throop Save The River is a nonprofit, environmental organization whose Secretary mission is to restore, preserve and protect the ecological integrity Jack Butts of the Upper St. Lawrence River now and for generations to Treasurer John Peach come. Past President Vision Bill Grater Save The River envisions a healthy Upper St. Lawrence River Member At Large Rick Gregware that provides safe drinking water, is home to a thriving range of Board Members indigenous species and supports sustainable economic activity. Karen Douglass Cooper Jessica Jock Values Cecily Johnston The River is a commons to be nurtured and passed on Diane H. Leonard undiminished for future generations to share. Directors Emerti Photo by Andrew Textor Bud Ames William Danforth Save The River / Upper St. Lawrence Riverkeeper is proud Ken Deedy to be a member of the international Waterkeeper Alliance, Teddy McNally the largest & fastest growing nonprofit solely focused on J. Richard Munro clean water. Waterkeeper preserves & protects water by Tricia Tague connecting local organizations worldwide. Our goal is swimmable, drinkable & fishable water Ann Ward everywhere. Today, Waterkeeper Alliance is made up of over 300 Waterkeeper Organizations & Affiliates protecting rivers, lakes & coastal waterways on six continents. Upper St. Lawrence Riverkeeper & Special thanks to our long time Beach Watch Program volunteers who were honored as our Executive Director 2017 Volunteers of the Year: Lee Willbanks •Jean and Ron Daly, monitoring Lake of the Isles since 2008 409 Riverside Drive •Ben Giardina, monitoring Lake of the Isles since 2015 Clayton, New York 13624 •Mary Mitchell, monitoring Scenic View Park since 2013 (315) 686-2010 •Maria Purcell, monitoring Potter’s Beach since 2008 [email protected] •Bill Taddeo, monitoring Wilsons Bay since 2014 savetheriver.org •Dick Withington, monitoring Round Island since 2007 Salute to A Young Philanthropic Entrepreneur “Dear Save The River, My name is Theo Hughes and I am wondering how to donate to the Save The River organization. I’m 12 years old and a student in Potsdam, NY. I make custom St. Lawrence River bracelets. My company’s name is River Bro. Co. I spend almost my whole summer on the St. Lawrence River swimming, fishing, and participating in events that the Oak Point Community puts on...I sold my bracelets at the Potsdam Farmer’s Market and at other events this past fall. I said that for every bracelet that I sell, I would give a dollar to your organization. I have sold 36 bracelets and I would like to donate that but I don’t have a credit card so I was wondering if there is an address that I could mail it to...” We received this email in November and were able to connect with Theo to receive his generous donation generated from the sales of his custom homemade bracelets. We salute and thank Theo for his hardwork and spirit of giving! Save The River and the standing heron are registered trademarks of Save The River, Inc. • Riverkeeper is a registered trademark of the Waterkeeper® Alliance PAGE 2 © Copyright 2018 Save The River, Inc. All rights reserved SPRING 2018 (continued from front cover) - Save The River begins Muskellunge Catch & Release effort with partners SUNY-ESF, fishing guides, and River artist Michael Ringer who donates an original Muskie print to anglers who participate in the program •1988 - Zebra mussels colonize the Great Lakes system - the Kingfisher Water Quality Program, set up to determine if private septics are discharging raw sewage into the River, becomes one of Save The River’s most recognized programs - the first Winter Weekend Environmental Conference is held •1989 - “People first must truly believe they have the right and the power to contribute to decisions that will affect their lives.” Abbie Hoffman, 1936-1989 •1990 - Round Goby are found in the St. Lawrence River •1994 - after a year-long fundraising campaign, Save The River Participants in the Water Quality purchases its current location on Riverside Drive Program administered a dye test •1998 - the Beach Watch program, sampling water quality at area in their toilets to determine if their home septic system was discharging beaches, begins into the River •1999 - at the request of Congressman John McHugh Save The River is appointed to serve on the International Joint Commission Public Interest Advisory Group of the Lake Ontario St. Lawrence Study working toward a modern water levels plan for the River - Save The River launches the Common Tern Program, training volunteers to monitor and protect the Common Tern on the St. Lawrence River •2004 - Save The River becomes a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance and its Executive Common Tern chicks are banded by Director is designated the “Upper St. Lawrence Save The River staff and interns Riverkeeper” - Save The River adopts the Upper St. Lawrence River/Thousand Islands as part of Audubon New York’s Important Bird Areas (IBA) adoption program •2006 - The St. Lawrence Seaway, bowing to pressure from many groups including Save The River, begins requiring all “salties” to conduct saltwater flushes of their ballast tanks prior to entering the Seaway system in an effort to stop the introduction of new invasive species (on top of the almost 180+ already here) to the Great Lakes and River - The Slick of ‘76 is performed again to keep the memory of the NEPCO 140 spill alive Riverkeeper training with students in the Hammond Environmental Club •2007 - Save The River calls for a moratorium on industrial wind development and comprehensive environmental review for any proposed wind turbines in the Thousand Islands region •2008 - the first Riverkeeper Volunteer training is held •2009 - the In the Schools program is begun as an education curriculum development and sharing program to bring SAVE THE RIVER ANNIVERSARY knowledge of the River and a sense of stewardship to area school children T-SHIRTS ARE BACK! •2012 - after a multi-year capital campaign, Save The River moves into its renovated and expanded space On milestone •2013 - the Catch & Release program (for Muskellunge) is expanded to years, we include bass bring back the •2014 - publication of “Haas The Great Blue Heron: The Beginning of iconic original an Adventure” by Juliane B. Flora t-shirt design. •2016 - due to inaction on a new water levels plan, the St. Lawrence Stop into the River is named one of America’s most endangered rivers storefront this - after a decade-long campaign and following a final push with the summer to purchase your federal governments of the U.S. and Canada, Plan 2014, a new water anniversary levels management plan is adopted t-shirt! •2018 - Save The River celebrates 40 years as the voice for the St. Lawrence River Abbie Hoffman in The Village Voice, April 1981 PAGE 3 RIVER WATCH Remembering River Annie For this edition of River Watch we have two guest writers, founding members and past presidents of Save The River, T.