Archive for December, 2011

2011 Tribute to our local Rivers

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

We wanted to commemorate our achievements for Save Maumee’s “Organization of the Year 2011” presented to us at Butler University by Hoosier Environmental Council.

So, if you would like to see why we were chosen for the award, check out our video with local musicians Elephants in Mud.

ALL pictures in the video were taken in 2011 ~ Click on the picture!

Save Maumee Work 2011

“FortWayne.com” coverage of Save Maumee’s Award

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

 

The Lowdown: Save Maumee grassroots group named environmental “Organization of the Year” in Indiana

Fort Wayne is known for its three rivers — the St. Joesph River, St. Marys River and the Maumee River — but who is protecting them?

The answer is Save Maumee.

Save Maumee was honored in early December by the Hoosier Environmental Council as the “Organization of Year” for empowering the people of Fort Wayne to protect the extensive waterways by doing projects, events and legislation.

Click here to see a photo gallery of Save Maumee initiatives.

Founder of Save Maumee, Abigail King, started the grassroots organization in 2005 to raise awareness of the conditions of the three rivers and develop restoration projects to make sure the rivers are healthy.

“I just started paying attention and reading about the rivers after we moved into a house near the river. The things I dug up in the river horrified me, and many people I talked to didn’t know what was wrong with the waterways. Many times with the government, it seems like one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing. I wanted to find out what was wrong with the rivers, and by 2005, I knew I couldn’t just sit here and complain; someone need to do something,” King said.

As of December 2011, Save Maumee has cleaned up 11 tons of trash, planted more than 1,500 trees, spread 800 pounds of seed and fixed 16,000 pounds of erosion. Each item planted and cleaned is done entirely by volunteers.

“We are all volunteer based. So we try to do what we can,” King said. “I hate to always feel like I’m preaching to the choir, because those [volunteers] are already the people that are [cleaning the rivers]. Now we want to reach those people who aren’t aware.”

Kim Ferraro, director of agriculture and water policy for the Hoosier Environmental Council, said Save Maumee was awarded “Organization of the Year” because of the support the group is able to garner from the community.

“It’s all volunteer, and that in itself is amazing. They’ve done river cleanup projects and other physical work, and we were real impressed that an all-volunteer group could have such a great impact,” Ferraro said.

The council selects the winner based on a list they compile of outstanding environmental organizations from around the state. Then, by internal vote, they choose the winner.

“Their efforts demonstrated there is growing awareness throughout our state about the significant issues that we face. You wouldn’t think of Indiana as being a progressive pro-environmental protection state, but Save Maumee is an example that our state does care.”

The group is best known for hosting one of the city’s most popular annual Earth Day events: Save Maumee Earth Day.

Click here to watch a video of last year’s Save Maumee Earth Day celebration.

But no one ever said it was an easy job keeping an eye on three major rivers in a city with a population of 325,000-plus people, and Save Maumee is not done.

In fact, it has a lot in store for next year.

In 2012, Save Maumee is taking its group to the United States capital to solicit legislative action.

With hopes of educating public officials about the importance of the Great Lakes, Save Maumee is going to Washington, D.C., in late February to represent Northeast Indiana for Clean Water Week during Great Lakes Days.

Here are a few other initiatives Save Maumee hopes to bring to light in 2012:

  • Enforce current laws.
  • Support legislation that protects natural areas.
  • Review permits for corporations and stronger oversight and enforcement of permits. If fines are levied when a company discharges beyond allowed permit effluent, the monies can be utilized to improve water quality for human health.
  • Establish Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL’s) for the Maumee in Indiana, and complete the Upper Maumee Watershed Management Plan so the community knows the priorities of the waterways.
  • Develop rules to regulate livestock waste as a fertilizer material but do not take into account the pathogens in manure. It is important in disclosing information on when, where and how much manure is land-applied to Indiana fields, and note it will have allowances to spread manure on frozen fields. All this will allow more runoff into the waterways.

For more information on Save Maumee visit their website or Facebook page.

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Save Maumee Grassroots Org. wins “Organization of the Year Award”

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

Awards Ceremony at The 4th Annual Greening the Statehouse Policy Forum will be held on Saturday, December 10th at Butler University’s Reilly Room at Atherton Union in downtown Indy from 8:30am-3pm.  So join us for education from Indianapolis policy experts and environmental groups. For reservations call Jesse Karbanda at 317.685.8800 ext. 103

The Hoosier Environmental Council, Indiana’s largest environmental policy organization, has claimed “Save Maumee won Organization of the Year!”  Abigail King, Ryan Bailey and Jain Young will be accepting the award for the group. Supporters of the day include Sierra Club, Blue Green Alliance, Carmel Green Initiative, Indiana Green Business Network, Indiana Recycling Coalition, Indiana Wildlife Federation, Save the Dunes, City of Indianapolis-Office of Sustainability.

Save Maumee has been chosen as a result of the positive impact on the community, the group’s great volunteer spirit, passion for the health of the rivers in the Great Lakes region, and ability to organize a number of very successful volunteer driven river clean-up and restoration events.

Northeast Indiana Rivers Represented in Washington D.C.

Save Maumee has been chosen by Healing Our Waters to represent Northeast Indiana for Clean Water Week during Great Lakes Days in Washington, D.C. The event will be held Feb. 28-29.

Every year, more than 125 citizens from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin travel to our nation’s capital to educate public officials about the importance of the Great Lakes to the region’s economy and quality of life.

Needed Action for Congressmen discussion;

* Enforce current laws

* Support legislation that protects natural areas.

* Proper review of permits for corporations and stronger oversight and enforcement of permits. If fines are levied when a company discharges beyond allowed permit effluent, the monies can be utilized to truly improve water quality for human health.

*  Indiana HB 1112 was passed and July 1st 2012 manufacturing waste (considered hazardous and illegal to discharge into the air or water), will now be added to soil and consider the soil to be “amended,” a.k.a. better than it was before.

 *  Tiles, straight pipes and National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) outlets should be properly counted and available to the public on Indiana & Allen County GIS maps.

* Establish Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL’s) for the Maumee in Indiana, and complete the Upper Maumee Watershed Management Plan so the community knows the priorities of our waterways.

* Rules being developed by the Indiana State Chemist will regulate livestock waste as a fertilizer material, but do not take into account the pathogens in manure. It is important in disclosing information on when, where, and how much manure is land applied to Indiana fields, and note it will have allowances to spread manure on frozen fields.  All this will allow more runoff into our waterways.

Save Maumee wants to see ALL people come together to improve the quality of Fort Wayne’s Three Rivers and thirty-four million that depend on the Maumee River, downstream. All these issues have workable solutions.

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Save Maumee Grassroots Organization is dedicated to raising awareness about the conditions of the 3 Rivers in Fort Wayne, Indiana, while facilitating ecosystem restoration projects to improve water quality. Revitalizing the St. Joe/Maumee Watershed will protect and restore the environment, while improving the economic, aesthetic and recreational value. Research into historical importance of our navigable waterways and current pollution conditions began in 2001 and Save Maumee began bank-stabilization projects in 2005. To date Save Maumee has planted over 1,500 trees, 800lbs of native riparian seed and removed 22,000 lbs of trash on volunteer hours and in-kind donations alone.