http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100725/LOCAL/307259918#

Journal Gazette – (front page of the Metro Section) Fort Wayne, IN

July 25, 2010

by Caitlin Johnston

Volunteers spent hours cleaning the Maumee River, replanting the banks along the way.

Photos by Cathie Rowand | The Journal Gazette

Abigail Frost King, left, and her son Canaan Eubank, 14, collect trash along the Maumee River on Saturday. Upper Maumee Watershed Partnership sponsored the Bi-State River Cleanup.

Tires. A Little Tikes sport coupe. DVD cases. A car door.

Sounds like trash in a junkyard or a city dump. But it’s litter found in the Maumee River.

The Upper Maumee River Watershed Partnership and local volunteers spent several hours Saturday canoeing down a two-mile stretch of the Maumee gathering trash as part of the Bi-State River Cleanup.

This is the first event the partnership has organized, but treasurer Abby Frost has led several outings on other parts of the river with the Save Maumee Grassroots Organization.

Volunteers used canoes and boats to scour the river and collect as much trash as possible.

But with limited time and minimal manpower, they had to leave a lot behind.

“There’s a lot of stuff we had to leave out there, which I wasn’t expecting to do,” said Chelsie Werling, 21.

“It reminds you that you need to take care of the river and why you want to protect it.”

A mayonnaise container, Axe body spray bottle and a small abandoned boat about the size of a canoe were all stranded in the river.

And then there were the ducks. About 2,000 plastic ducks were reported missing after the 22nd annual Duck Race fundraising event for Stop Child Abuse & Neglect.

Each canoe brought back dozens of the miniature ducks they found floating along the Maumee.

Despite cleanings done by local groups, trash continues to accumulate, said Greg Lake, Allen County Soil and Water Conservation District director. Lake also is the steering committee chair for the partnership.

“The sad part is, a lot of people who use the rivers the most trash it up,” Lake said. “It’s frustrating.”

Upper Maumee is the third active watershed project in Allen County, Lake said.

The group is looking to apply for funding from various state and federal sources to engage in conservation efforts, but first it must develop and submit a watershed management plan. The goal is to do so within the next year, Lake said.

The amount of trash in the river is just one indication of the effect humans have.

“People don’t understand the consequences of the things they do,” Lake said, citing examples of gutter drains and agricultural runoff.

Volunteer and activist groups allow people to get to participate and try to preserve local resources.

“This is kind of a hands-on approach that you can actually get people involved with instead of just sitting at meetings,” Frost said. “People want to feel empowered and like they can make a difference.”

cjohnston@jg.net

Celebrate River Lovers!  LOOK what you have done for our 5^th Annual Earth Day 2010 on the Maumee River!

The benthos community thanks you!

 

TOTAL TRASH REMOVED FROM OUR WATERWAYS TO DATE: 8.5 TONS!!!!

 

TRULY, THANK YOU!  This work could not be accomplished without YOU!

 Sunday April 18^th,  2010 we had 267 official count of volunteers that worked so hard!  EVERYONE who works for Save Maumee Grassroots Organization and your rivers, do not receive any compensation of any kind.  100% of donations go to the expensive restoration technique materials.

 

YOU planted 3 acres worth of native riparian DNR approved seed underneath 1,000 sq ft. of erosion control mats and other barren areas to reduce erosion/sedimentation.

 

 

TREE PLANTING RECORD THIS YEAR!  – 60 River Birch, 40 Burr Oak, 50 Red Oak, 20 Pin Oak, 20 Swamp Oak and over 1,000 Weeping Willow Poles and Corkscrew Willow Poles!  Total tree count for this one day: 1,090 TREES

This Earth Day brings the total to just fewer than 2,000 trees planted on your waterways!

 

YOU planted over 300 native plant plugs (previously started seedlings)! These retain deep tap roots that hold them in place when the area floods. (after 5 years of growth)  ALL these hearty plants are able to live through drought or flood due to their deep tap roots and are ideal for our riverbanks…it is even improving the areas plant diversity! 

 

Our luxury item was planting 60 Raspberry Bushes & 8 Blackberry bushes

 

Fruit and berries on our rivers are disappearing for 3 reasons;
#1 They are understory trees/bushes and need wet/shady conditions to thrive.  (Raspberries like sun so they were placed appropriately)
#2 Most of the forested corridors along the riverbanks in Allen County have been removed, which would provide the canopy for these trees to grow.
#3. Rip Rap (large stones placed on both sides of the river and all foliage removed) to help with flooding issues downtown, but this causes the river water to run very fast downstream, pulling out all foliage on the stream banks because of the flashiness (water rising and receding very quickly.)  It makes it difficult for diversity to thrive.

 

Another Fun Fact: According to Forest Policy Research Org., 2008 – Trees can intercept and hold around 2 – 2.5 millimeters of rainwater- even a modest size rain event in which 10mm of rain might fall, that is still one-quarter of the rain.  Water that reached the soil below the tree is returned to the atmosphere over a period of several days. And thus has a significantly different impact on the timeline of future rain events.  So studies have shown that land-atmosphere interactions play a significant role in future climate projections; in addition to helping to prevent erosion that leads to suspended sediment that chokes flora and fauna in your waterways. Keep the trees and dirt in their place.

 

UPDATE to plantings: The trees, “poles” and plant plugs were under water for 1 week that began 4/27/10 …still waiting to see the water recede from the rain-storms on 5/21/10 and today is 5/30/10!

A Girl Scout Troop from Fort Wayne planted 15 flats of plants and about 20 trees Saturday May 29^th on the St. Mary’s River by the Old Fort where some erosion is occurring.  These pre-grown plants are from OUR greenhouse that weren’t big enough to plant for Earth Day – Thank you to Julie BurkholderTutwiler!

 

 

 

Special THANK YOU from Save Maumee to the following people who helped bring all of us together this year! Our events are FREE but ALL donations go to projects like this one! Give till it hurts – OUCH!  The list is getting pretty long but unity and gratitude are so important to share!

*Forester Tom Crow & Allen County Soil & Water Conservation District
*Soaring Hawk Raptor Rehab – Great Owl, Horned Owl, Short-Eared Owl, Red-Tailed Hawk demo.
*Home Depot
*Top Notch Tree Service
*Heartland Restoration /Earth Source, Huntertown
*Lyle McDermont – rain barrel demo
*Partnership for Water Quality
*Local ACE’s Hardware
*City of Fort Wayne
*Fox Island
*New Haven and Fort Wayne Parks Department
*Old Crown Coffee on N. Anthony
*Health Food Shoppe on N. Anthony
*Camp Potowatamie
*Citizens Action Coalition
*Save Maumee Grassroots Org
*Bike Depot, ACRES Land Trust, USA Air Force – REUSABLE water bottles
*Hall’s Triangle Park
*American Rivers

*Sports & Spirits
*City Utilities Solid Waste Dept-
*Allen County Public Library Downtown
*The Brass Rail

*The Grateful Groove
*Andy’s Horse Tours and Rentals
*Grateful Productions
*The Wilderness
*Anthony Garr
*I CAN

*Our Healing Waters

*Wild Birds Unlimited

*  www.indianacomputerservice.com

*Red Lobster

*Wild Birds Unlimited
*Davis King, Jain Young, David Green, Indiana Computer Service
*Lydia Savitz – Port-A-Jon donation – NICE
*Grace Strahm, Ryan Bailey, Melanie McKinnley, Canaan Eubank, Ellen Lay, Peggy Rader, Jen Hancock, Dave Eberhardt, Greg Konger, Beverly Hume, Craig Thorn, Michelle Ferguson, Jennifer Fletcher, Mary Brady & Derek Dailey
*Heartland Communities Inc. 501 ©(3) – Gracious Fiscal Sponsorship for tax deductible contributions
…AND ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO HELP EVERYDAY AS VOLUNTEERS – THANKS and if we forgot to include you DOUBLE THANK YOU! The heart of grassroots belongs to people who donate time or supplies or BOTH!

 

 

 

Interesting things we PULLED OUT or WORKER: Award Winners 

 

Largest Trash– REMOVED FULL SIZED of the following…water heater, old steel manual plow, a car seat, 2 refrigerators, a furnace, a stove, 12 tires, 85 oz can of oil, 25ft. of a gas pipe, 15 ft. of unknown pipe, rugs and a car trailerhitch.

It took Senatorial Candidate (15^th District) Jack Morris, Bryce Gustafson, Brian Foster, Wade, Marissa Jones, Greg Morricle, Sandman, Josh Jackson, Rickey Fuller, Harold Wallen, Peter Kauffman, Evan Hill and the guy in the blue shirt! The guys took the scrap in for recycling the next day!  SWEAT EQUITY!

 

Coolest Find – Morrell Mushrooms were found – ssshhhh it’s a secret where they grow!

 

Most Contaminated Trash– An 85 oz full can of oil found by local artist Rickey Fuller…along with all the kitchen appliances!

 

Largest Unified Group – Phi Theta Kappa – Honors Society from Purdue University

 

Funniest Trash – A red high healed pair of shoes found by Brenden Sears (8) Kerian Ward (11) and Elyssa Fuller (11)

 

Most potential to contain West Nile – 12 tires

 

Most berry bushes planted Winner: Bruce Allen planted all the raspberry bushes and also represented the Maumee River (and northeast Indiana) in Washington D.C. this year thanks to Healing-Our-Waters!

 

Got the most children involved: Gary & Nicole Jeffery

 

Most Fauna Love – Preston Arbuckle hung a Wrens’ Nest on the Maumee Riverbanks – from Wild Birds Unlimited

 

Most Interesting – Ashley’s family – brought us some old railroad lights (covers?) pulled out of the Maumee and they were given to Ellen Lay for art creation!

 

Celia Garza got the names for the thank you for all of our hard workers (FOR HOURS and HOURS) down on the erosion control project and I never got them!!! BOO! THANK YOU HARD WORKERS!

 

Total Miles of northern AND southern streambank cleansed – 1.5 miles – including “The Ravine” self-dug bike trail which is considered one of the top 10 self-dug bike trails in the USA.

 

Most FUN: Andy’s Horse Tours and Rentals – had 6 horses and a miniature pony to take you for rides on the greenway! – NICE! Their volunteers also painted faces!

 

Most Educational

Soaring Hawk brought a Short Eared Owl & Red Tailed Hawk and spoke about their habitat on the riverbanks – What beautiful animals!

 

Most Home-Useful – Rain Barrel Demonstration by Lyle McDermott to show us how to capture water and release during drier periods…great idea for watering a raingarden, food garden, or your flowers!

 

Jain Young – Herb Specialist took volunteers on an “Edible Herb Walk” to show what you are missing on your plate at home – native home grown food grown right here!

 

Grace Strahm – demonstrated what a watershed IS and how YOU affect it with an enviroscape demonstration.

Of course we needed something to keep ya’ll lively….
* Health Food Shoppe Snacks
* Coffee from Old Crown Coffee Roasters
* REUSABLE water bottles from ACRES Land Trust & U.S. Air Force

Oh Yeah ~ Quit buying water bottles that you use only once and throw away ~ STOP IT ~ Plastic is made from petroleum based products and is a long story.  Please consider watching “TAPPED” or “FLOW” – documentaries on your water and the exploitation that is happening – We gave out 300 water bottles donated by the U.S. Air Force and ACRES Land Trust to volunteers!

 

 ~ Save Maumee always supporting Local & Live Entertainment at our events~

*The Wilderness – BACK for the threepete! 3X have we’ve enjoyed these guys!
*Anthony Garr
*Grateful Productions ran the PA

PBS, FRONTLINE “Poisoned Waters”– an extremely informative program to help you understand non-point source affects that face watersheds today in the USA.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/poisonedwaters/

  

 

 

Indiana needs an Upper-Maumee Watershed Management Plan for our State!  The Upper Maumee Watershed Partnership is working toward hiring a watershed coordinator and then the plan will begin to form.  A watershed management plan is simply a list of priorities and measurable steps that will be taken toward improvement.  The Maumee is considered a low priority stream because it crosses political boundaries; City of Ft. Wayne, Allen County and State of Indiana…downstream seems to be somebody else’s problem?  Historically it has been surrounded by industry, landfills, CSO’s, brownfields and a Super-Fund Site.  We are asking for people who have a skill that are interested in participating in a steering committee group to address 11 situations with proposed solutions. Biologist, teacher, lawyer, accountant, writers, scientists, surveyor, doctor, zoning experts or dedicated citizens NEED to apply!  We truly want to help improve our water and it will take us all. www.uppermaumeewatershed.com

 ==================================

Upcoming Event Calendar:  YOU are NOT Powerless! ~ Voice visions & values more often and more loudly – SHOW UP for a meeting or an event in 2010!
————————————————

THIS TUESDAY June 1^st  7:30AM – 8:30AM – YES IN THE MORNING  BP Protest at Fort Wayne BP Gas Station on Jefferson Blvd. & Fairfield
Want BP to clean up their mess NOW? It is effecting our food supply, they were outside of legal parameters for drilling, problems were present up to 6 weeks before the explosion….so show up and tell BP how you feel about the largest oil spill that affects us, our children, our oceans, our beaches, our fresh water & inlets, our land, our resources, our money, our animals, our air, and our plant life.

Watch this… BP DID know problems existed previous to the spill http://consequence09.org/2010/05/gripping-60-minutes-piece-on-gulf-oil-spill/

See yourself working at Save Maumee’s 5^th Annual  Earth Day 2010 on Fort Wayne Public Access:
COMCAST channel 55 OR 57     VERIZON channel 25 OR 27

June 3,  –  at 8PM
June 6,  –  at 8PM
June 10 – at NOON
June 15 – at 6PM
June 16 – at 10AM

Save Maumee’s Canoe Clean-Up, Can YOU Clean-Up – Saturday September 18^th 11AM – 4PM FORT WAYNE OUTFITTERS & BIKE DEPOT LOCATION  – Cass Street behind The Bean –  – Free canoe rental for participants for the day with a photo I.D.! It will be too late in the season for plantings…but never too late in the season for garbage removal and free paddling!  Free Canoes with I.D. from Earth Adventure on Main Street & Ft. Wayne Outfitters – first come, first serve (the website says Sept 4^th but needs an update!)

Save Maumee Seed Harvest at Fox Island: – Saturday October 2nd OR 24th 1 PM – 4PM at Fox Island (date may change due to harvesting availability and best pickin’ date)

 

June 5, 2010 –   Help Walk for the Wetlands : Saturday from 9:00am to 11:00am www.lrwp.org

 

June 10, 2010 see National Serv-All’s Conservation Efforts from 8:00am to 10:00am at Eagle Marsh

 

June 26, 2010 – Riverfest on the banks of the St. Joe at IPFW – check it out!  Fun includes a zip-line, hot air balloon ride, fireworks, live entertainment rivers, live local music. Come & Celebrate the positive things about our rivers!  –  Steele Dynamics Inc. is title sponsor for RiverFest, sitting at the table with Save Maumee shows their dedication to transparency and best management practice to improve the health and wealth of our rivers!  http://ipfwriverfest.org/

 

July 24th – Upper Maumee Large Scale Clean-Up from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Defiance, Ohio – be part of the canoe fun! Still in the works – mark your calendar! Different launching spots with exit areas downstream and a ride back to your car!  Currently we have secured places for launching in Fort Wayne &  Defiance, OH! More to come on this! Email for reservations: abby@savemaumee.org

 

 

September 4th – Maumee Bay Tour – take a bus to Toledo, Ohio’s Maumee Bay and find out about the sediment load being deposited and removed from your waterways – call Jason Roehrig for interest or reservations (419) 782-8751  

 

September 25th – Scenic River Canoe Tour and Water Monitoring in Antwerp, OH – Call Jason Roehrig for details or reservations (419) 782-8751

 

 

The river thanks you from its bottom!  Invest in Natural Capital!

 

 Map for areas of concern…you can see the google map here and would

love your feedback/comments or your pictures :http://tinyurl.com/c3fm9v 

 

 email: savemaumee@yahoo.com

http://www.myspace.com/savemaumee  – MySpace Save Maumee

Twitter user name: savemaumee www.myspace.com/savemaumee  

A Greener Indiana http://www.agreenerindiana.com/profile/AbigailFrost

Facebook: Abigail Frost Save Maumee

 

 

Please help us to speak for your rivers…for your rivers have no voice! You spoke loud and clear on Earth Day and we ALL thank you for that!

 

Sincerely,

 

A. Frost-King

Save Maumee Grassroots Organization Founder

Master Naturalist

Watershed Expert

 

http://www.savemaumee.org/  

 

100% donations from you go only to best management practices for naturalization of riparian areas – this is what grassroots organizing is all about! ALL VOLUNTEERS~ All money came from Grateful Groove Fundraiser, Alysen Wade Lexicon Event, The Wilderness Band Fundraiser, Earth Day 2009, Canoe Clean-Up 2009, Sports & Spirits Bar & Grill and raised a whopping $27 dollars at the FREE event!  Namnaste to many small monetary donors! Save Maumee did not raise as much money as last year but we are very proud to supply you with these effective erosion control techniques for OUR riverbanks!

 

Published: April 19, 2010 3:00 a.m.

Trash-busters scour up Maumee

 

Devon Haynie

The Journal Gazette

 

Photos by Samuel Hoffman”|”The Journal

Bruce Allen plants raspberry bushes for erosion control on Sunday as part of Save Maumee”s fifth annual Earth Day celebration to help clean up the river.

 

Brenden Sears, 8, left, and Keiran Ward, 11, collect trash in the Maumee River on Sunday.

It was a little bit like a scavenger hunt along the Maumee River on Sunday, although clues were often bad smells and nobody wanted to touch what they found.

Sunday marked Save Maumee’s fifth annual Earth Day celebration near North Anthony Boulevard and Niagara Drive. About 100 volunteers gathered this year to plant seeds and pull objects they could from the muddy river.

“This year I pulled out a gas tank,” Abigail Frost, the event organizer, said as she stood on the banks of the river near a pile of trash. “This here is a trailer hitch. And this (she pointed to two metal poles) … I have no idea what this is.”

Frost started Save Maumee five years ago to get the community involved in keeping the river clean. She said she didn’t think much about Fort Wayne’s rivers until 2000 when she moved near the Maumee.

She was about to let her kids swim in the river when friends warned against it. Curious about how polluted it was, Frost started doing research. What she learned appalled her – the water was tainted by sewage, manure and dangerous chemicals.

“By 2005, I couldn’t shut my mouth anymore,” she said. “I had to take action.”

When Frost first started her Earth Day activities, she used her own money to pay for seeds to plant along the shore. Today, she depends on proceeds from T-shirt sales and horse rides throughout the day. She also accepts seed donations from people and the Little River Wetlands.

In the past, Frost and her volunteers have found computers, cell phones and plastic pink flamingos in the river. This year, volunteers also spotted a refrigerator.

Elyssa Fuller, 11, said although she absolutely hated cleaning her room, she enjoyed picking up the river.

“When people litter, it’s ruining the environment,” she said. “That’s why you come out here and put your time into picking up the river. It helps make the world a better place.”

dhaynie@jg.net

 

April 3, 2010 at 2pm – COMCAST channel 55
VERIZON channel25

April 5, 2010 at 10:49pm – COMCAST channel 55
VERIZON channel 25

April 6, 2010 at 2:49pm –  COMCAST channel 55
VERIZON channel 25

April 10, 2010 at 7:49pm – COMCAST channel 57
VERIZON channel 27
OR
April 10, 2010 at 3:19pm – COMCAST channel 55
VERIZON channel 25

April 13, 2010 at 4pm – COMCAST channel 57
VERIZON channel 27

April 15, 2010 at 7am – COMCAST channel 57
VERIZON channel 27

April 17, 2010 at 5pm – COMCAST channel 57
VERIZON channel 27

April 19, 2010 at 4pm – COMCAST channel 57
VERIZON channel 27

~ Save Maumee ‘s 5th Annual Earth Day 2010 ~

~ SUNDAY April 18 ~

~ 11AM – 4PM ~

all ages ~ rain or shine ~  action & education ~ Free Fun 

HOW IT WORKS:
Please bring with you:
*  family and friends
(must have parent present if under 18)
* garbage bags / shovels
* muddin’ shoes
* gloves
* ponchos
* your able body if you don’t have anything on this list!
* Save Maumee will provide these things until supplies are gone!

We are establishing projects to clean up the Maumee River . These self-supported community projects will raise awareness about the condition of our local 3 Rivers and begin the slow process of reversing years of pollution.

**Sign in and REGISTER FIRST and listen/read any information being presented about your rivers in Indiana – please sign the liability waiver, or you cannot participate.  (just keeping the lawyers happy :))

See where to find the fun here:
http://www.savemaumee.org/upcomingevents.htm

 

Among other highlights to Celebrate the Fifth year of cleansing of your riverbanks & reclamation practices…(maybe after church?)

 

 

Kickoff at 11 AM ~ Partnership for Water Quality, Matt Jones to educate us about our rivers!

• 1pm – Rain Barrel Demonstration by Lyle…

        ….DIRECTLY FOLLOWING RAINBARREL DEMO…

 

        *Enviroscape Demonstration on how OUR watershed works! – Grace Strahm

• 2:30ish – Save Maumee STOMP – as we push all the soil down with our feet from the plantings!

• 3pm – Soaring Hawk Bird Rescue Demonstration –

        ….DIRECTLY FOLLOWING Short Eared Owl / Red Tail Hawk demo…

 

        * Jain’s Edible Herb walk & identification – wanna know what that plant is?

 

 

 

 

Other things happening all day ~

 

Throughout the day your LOCAL &  LIVE entertainment:

*Dave P., – Playin’ Earth Day since 2005!

*The Wilderness – BACK for the threepete! 3X have we’ve enjoyed these guys!

*Sum MorMorz – Debut for Save Maumee !

 

*Gene Faron – Biologist will be showing you life from the water under a microscope

 

* Face Painting  – need volunteers here

 

*Andy’s Horse Tours & Rentals – Horse Rides & Buggy on the Greenway – proceeds go to Save Maumee for 2011 but fee is primarily for transportation & food costs for the horses. PRICE POSTED call for reservations: Andrea (260) 350-7613 or (260) 562-3432

 

*Sports & Spirits bringing Pizza  –  SURPRISE TIME???

 

* Snacks from the Health Food Shoppe

* Coffee from Old Crown

* REUSABLE water bottles from ACRES Land Trust

 

You will be planting:

TREES from Soil & Water Conservation District & Forestry Service: River Birch, Burr Oak, Pin Oak, Red Maple, Swamp Oak, Willow (different native kinds coming in now)

 

 Planting Seed: – Planting Midwestern Prairie Grass Erosion Control Mix and a Riparian Seed Mix suggested by Earth Source Inc/Heartland Restoration & Save Maumee / Fox Island Seed Gathering’s Seed

*A BLEND of : Big Blue Stern & Canada Wild Rye & Indian Grass & Switchgrass & Prairie Dropseed
*New York Iron Weed/Tall Iron Weed
*Bergamot/Monarda – plant plugs grown in Top Notch Tree Service Greenhouse
*Gray Headed Coneflower – plant plugs grown in Top Notch Tree Service Greenhouse
*Common Milkweed (for butterflies) – plant plugs grown in Top Notch Tree Service Greenhouse
*Common Evening Primrose – plant plugs grown in Top Notch Tree Service Greenhouse

*Yarrow –
*Mullein –

 

These retain deep tap roots that hold them in place when the area floods. (after 5 years of growth)  ALL these hearty plants are able to live through drought or flood due to their deep tap roots and are ideal for our riverbanks…it is even improving the areas plant species diversity!  Of course some need more sun than others…we will try to plant appropriately!

 

TRULY, THANK YOU!  This work could not be accomplished without YOU! We are all volunteers here!

 

 

Sidenote: We planted seed in 27 flats for Save Maumee on March 20th, 2010…if they are not ready we will NOT plant these flats on Save Maumee’s Earth Day. One section of the 85% salvage & recycled greenhouse roof blew off so we did not plant early enough in the growing season.  We’re concerned the plant plugs grown in Top Notch Tree Service/Save Maumee Greenhouse won’t be big enough.   We want them to have a better chance as larger plants to live and work on your riverbanks.  A Girl Scout Troop from New Haven/Hoagland stepped up to plant them about mid-May!

 

  Not planting blueberries – These delicious fruits come from the East Coast  – We only plant the ones that were growing here naturally before humans introduced them from distant places.  Instead Save Maumee donors have purchased blackberries & raspberries – good for jelly AND are native to this area!

 

 

TO DATE YOU & SAVE MAUMEE HAS: -REMOVED 7.5 tons of GARBAGE from the Rivers and Riverbanks of the Fort Wayne Area -PLANTED over 740 trees 700 lbs of DNR approved native riparian seed installed over 10,000 sq ft of erosion control mats planted 50 native fruit trees harvested 27 lbs worth of seed and raised awareness SUCCESSFULLY! All money came from Grateful Groove Fundraiser, Alysen Wade Lexicon Event, The Wilderness Band Fundraiser, Earth Day 2009, Canoe Clean-Up 2009, Sports & Spirits Bar & Grill, Craig Thorne and Greg Konger! Namnaste to many small monetary donors!

 

100% donations from you go only to best management practices for naturalization of riparian areas – this is what grassroots organizing is all about!

 

How do planting grasses and seeds help?

• HOLDS DOWN SOIL: The No. 1  POLLUTANT is siltation / erosion / sedimentation is the #1 pollutant in our watershed. 
• Grasses help to settle out suspended sediment in the water to help hold down the soil that could be washed away because there is nothing to hold down the barren soil when the water comes rushing down during a rain event. 
• Grasses filtrate sediment by holding water for a longer period of time so the sediment settles to the bottom instead of traveling downstream. 
• Removal of nutrients from the water before it passes downstream. 
• Plants produce enzymes which will absorb and “eat” bacteria 
• Natural removal of chemical pollutants like fertilizers and waste materials removes nitrogen, phosphorous and toxins from surface water. 
• Creating more shade helps to create Dissolved Oxygen that is needed in the water for fish and other wildlife to “breathe.” 
• Floods problems can be alleviated – grassy knolls and trees can capture, store and slowly release water over a longer period of time 
• Protect shorelines through reduction of destructive energy from fast moving / rising water 
• Alleviate pools of standing, stagnant water so West Nile will not have the opportunity to be passed on in the mosquito or human population

  ======================================================

 

Upcoming Event Calendar: 

YOU are NOT Powerless! ~ Voice visions & values more often and more loudly – SHOW UP in 2010!

Saturday September 18^th  11AM – 4PM FORT WAYNE OUTFITTERS & BIKE DEPOT LOCATION  – Cass Street behind The Bean –

 – Free canoe rental for participants for the day with a photo I.D.! It will be too late in the season for plantings…but never too late in the season for garbage removal and free paddling!  Free Canoes with I.D. from Earth Adventure on Main Street & Ft. Wayne Outfitters

 

Save Maumee Seed Harvest at Fox Island : – Saturday October 2nd OR 24th 1 PM – 4PM at Fox Island (date may change due to harvesting availability and season changes for best pickin’)

 

April 15 – Indiana State Senatorial Candidate Jack Morris will have his campaign kick off at Pint & Slice and plans to listen to Save Maumee’s views on environmental issues.  Thank You for your positive environmental views Senatorial Candidate! He’s bringing his truck to Earth Day to get the big trash on Dwenger Ave. & Glasglo Ave. –  The end of East Wayne area on the banks of the Maumee !

 

April 17 through April 22 Eagle Marsh Earth Week – check out their website for details  

http://www.lrwp.org/

April 20 – Camp Scott Constructed Wetland Walk –  8pm-9:30pm on Oxford St .

April 22  – Fort Wayne ‘s Green Business Initiative at the Grand Wayne Center

http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=837348

 

April 23 – Green ABC’s Debut from Waynedale Green Alliance at Anthis Career Center NOON – 2PM

http://www.fortwaynegreen.com/

May 1^nd & 2^rd  Sol-Fest at Fox Island – Celebrating the outdoors with food, music & sun.
http://allencountyparks.org/parks/fox-island/sol-fest-2008/

 

June 26, 2010 – Riverfest on the banks of the St. Joe at IPFW – check it out!  Fun includes a zip-line, hot air balloon ride, fireworks, live entertainment rivers. Come & Celebrate the positve things about our rivers!  –  Steele Dynamics Inc. is title sponsor for RiverFest, sitting at the table with Save Maumee shows their dedication to transparency and best management practice to improve the health and wealth of our rivers!

http://fortwaynehomepage.net/fulltext/?nxd_id=23485

July 24th – Upper Maumee Large Scale Clean-Up from Fort Wayne , Indiana to Defiance , Ohio – be part of the canoe fun! Still in the works – mark your calendar! 3 different launching spots so far with exit areas downstream and a party where all participants come together afterwards.  Currently we have secured places for launching in Fort Wayne , Woodburn , IN or near Defiance , OH ! More to come on this!

 

September 4th – Maumee Bay Tour – take a bus to Toledo , Ohio ‘s Maumee Bay and find out about the sediment load being deposited and removed from your waterways – call Jason Roehrig for interest or reservations (419) 782-8751  

 

September 25th – Scenic River Canoe Tour and Water Monitoring in Antwerp, OH – Call Jason Roehrig for details or reservations (419) 782-8751

 

FRIENDS! 

Jerry Hay, Author – A partner in river information sharing was left off the website! SORRY JERRY! We will fix this very soon! Lots of river information & maps here  http://www.riverlorian.com/riverslist.htm

     &

Save Maumee Grassroots Org., Healing Our Waters, Save the Dunes & Indiana Wildlife Federation – Our coalition of groups from Indiana descended upon Capitol Hill to ask for support of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding to; aid in stopping invasive species (most notably Asian Carp), cleaning up toxic sediments, stopping polluted runoff, preventing beach contamination, restoring degraded wetlands and protecting fish and wildlife resources.  Congressional action is needed on several regional priorities. Too much time has been spent avoiding issues. We met these activists during February’s Clean Water Week in Washington D.C.   Bruce Allen & Abigail Frost represented your waterways in north-east Indiana while meeting personally with the offices of:

 

Senator Richard Lugar
Representative Mike Pence
Representative Brad Ellsworth
Representative Andre Carson
Representative Baron Hill
Representative Mark Souder

Information packets were received by:

Representative Peter Visclosky
Representative Joe Donnelly
Senator Evan Bayh

 

Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry was even there! Meeting with Mark Souder! 

 

Monthly Meetings:

 

Upper Maumee Watershed Partnership – A monthly stakeholder group for the Maumee River that includes 4 counties between Ohio & Indiana

http://www.uppermaumeewatershed.com/

 

Friends of the Rivers – A monthly stakeholder group that wants to be your friend~river lovers! Ultimate goals include making our rivers swimable and cleaner than they are now! ~NICE~ Call Dan Wire (260) 580-7415 to get involved or http://ipfwriverfest.org/

 

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 Why Save Maumee chooses Earth Day?

          “So long as the human species inhabits the Earth, proper management of its resources will be the most fundamental issue we face. Our very survival will depend upon whether or not we are able to preserve, protect and defend our environment. We are not free to decide about whether or not our environment “matters.” It does matter, apart from any political exigencies. We disregard the needs of our ecosystem at our mortal peril.” ~

~~ U.S. Senator & Congressman Gaylord Nelson ~ Earth Day Founder [EPA JOURNAL, April 1980]

An article written by a local blogger, Robert Rouse. Thank You Robert!

Change starts at the ground roots level

 

Friday, February 12, 2010

By Robert Rouse

 

Abigail Frost

Abigail Frost took the mantle of a grassroots organizer to the nth degree after purchasing a home that overlooked the Maumee River in Fort Wayne, IN.  What she found in the river below her home compelled her to found and organize the Save Maumee Grassroots Organization.

The riverbank must have looked like a dump site to Frost.  Trash and debris littered the banks of the Maumee beneath her home.  Frost and her army of volunteers do their best to raise awareness about the problems with not just the Maumee River, but with the other two rivers (St. Jospeh and St. Mary’s) that converge with the Maumee near downtown Fort Wayne.

Each Earth Day, the group organizes a clean-up of the banks.  One year resulted in more that two tons of garbage extracted.

Here is a little more information about the Three Rivers – which, by the way, I live less than 100 yards from the confluence – provided by Save Maumee.

The 3 Rivers in Fort Wayne, Indiana appear brown and muddy, but the clay, silt bottom makes the color less than appealing to the average American.

Little do you know that the color is the very least of this watershed’s problems.

The St. Joe (starting at the bottom of this picture) is where over 200,000 people get their drinking water.

The St. Mary’s (on the far right) flows through several northeast IN counties and has high pollution and frequent flooding.

The Maumee River has high mercury, PCB and E. coli content, Fish Consumption advisories and is filling up with sediment and garbage. It also flows into the largest fresh water source in the world…The Great Lakes.

For even more information about this outstanding organization, please visit their website.

Ironically, the City of Fort Wayne appears to have developed a green policy, but it seems more directed at businesses than turning the city green.  According to the city’s web site:

 

Fort Wayne, IN

As of February 9, 2010, the Green City Business Program has trained 90 businesses and organizations. This growing program recognizes organizations that have completed all the necessary requirements to become certified as a Green City Business of the City of Fort Wayne.

The Green City Business Program is designed for businesses with existing facilities that work toward reducing waste and inefficiencies in four areas: Pollution Prevention, Solid Waste Reduction, Energy Conservation, and Water Conservation. The program is not geared for home office businesses.

As of February 1, 2010 there are 18 certified Green City Businesses in Fort Wayne.

I do have to give the city a little credit for their implementation of a Green City Newsletter that offers tips on saving the environment and better utilizing energy.

I asked former Allen County Democratic Chairman, Kevin Knuth what he thought could be done at the city or individual level to turn the environment around and he said, “I have to give that some thought. The first OBSTACLE I see is that basically, it often requires an up-front expenditure to save money in the long term. And the public doesn’t seem to ‘get it’.”   He added, “The city does offer re-cycling. I also remember when they used to take yard waste separately – but they had to stop because it cost too much. So now we put grass clippings in landfills.”

I want to thank Abigail Frost, Kevin Knuth, and City Council member, Karen Goldner for their assistance.  If you have any ideas or suggestions on grassroots efforts to save the planet one neighborhood at a time, leave me a comment.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 4:56 pm and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Local FOX News Story – Save Maumee Weighs In –  Watch here while it lasts….

http://fortwaynehomepage.net/fulltext/?nxd_id=21324

Reported by: Marchelle McConnell

Friday, February 19 2010

Monday Mayor Tom Henry spoke about his efforts to improve the rivers in his state of the city address.  The Mayors River efforts are connected to a federal mandate issues by the Environmental Protection Agency. The city is required to improve the rivers by 2025.  The city has been working toward this for years. A city official says the reason the mayor included the rivers in his speech this year was to show his commitment to the mandatory project.

Abigail Frost, a local clean river activist and founder of Save Maumee, wants to see the city take more action. Frost says “I see them bringing up the rivers as movement and progression, yes. I eagerly anticipate what the city has planned in addition to the mandatory EPA regulated long term controlled plan.”

Frost says the city always has plans, but she wants to see more hands on projects.

Frank Suarez, with the City Utilities and Public Works, says “Right now we have the upper Healy interceptor which is a pipe that 52 inch wide. It’s going in on the North side of Fort Wayne near DuPont and Leo Road, and it’s going to relieve the amount of overflow from storm sewers.”

The city will start installing another sewer separation system in two weeks at the intersection of Woodrow and Vance.
Frost says the work the city is doing is progress, but to meet their goal by 2025 more needs to be done now.

Verbatim Excerpts: Fort Wayne State of the City address

Mayor Thomas C. Henry

…We are working hard to capture our fair share of stimulus funds because they bring jobs and new investment to our community. So far the City has secured more than $19 million in stimulus funds, not to mention the millions going to schools, non-profits and businesses. This year, $3 million of that money will pay for repaving key thoroughfares in our city – Jefferson and Washington boulevards, Wayne and Berry streets, Rudisill Boulevard and East State Boulevard.

This new money will also improve our sewers, trails and airports, plus social service and law enforcement programs and mostly importantly create and retain jobs.

I am also working hard to create the necessary infrastructure for business growth and success of Fort Wayne residents and families.

This spring, construction will start on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge on Clinton Street, creating a new gateway into downtown. With about 80% of the cost coming from state and federal funds, this bridge is designed for all users: vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists, and will remind people every day of the legacy of America’s best-known civil rights leader.

I cannot overlook my commitment to investing in trails, including $3 million of stimulus funds going into their expansion and improvements. With the completion of Phase 4 of the Towpath Trail this year, you will be able to walk or bike across Allen County from Aboite Township to New Haven on 49 contiguous miles of multiuse trails.

This is a landmark achievement for our community and has happened only because the City worked with the County, New Haven, Aboite New Trails, Northwest Allen Trails and the Greenway Consortium.

In 2010 our City Utilities division will concentrate on providing the high-quality service and system enhancements that improve our quality of life, strengthen neighborhoods and support job growth through the increased capacity of our water and sewer systems.

Our rivers are Fort Wayne’s signature natural feature. They define us and unify us.

I am working hard to transform them into a landmark asset we all can enjoy. City Utilities will continue to comply with the federally mandated yet unfunded Consent Decree.

This year investments of nearly $82 million will go to projects that reduce the raw sewage that goes into our rivers and provide clean drinking water to our residents. Currently we have about one billion gallons of combined sewer overflow going into our local waterways. When this project is done, we will have reduced the untreated overflow by 90%.

Under the leadership of Bob Kennedy, 2009 Public Works Leader of the Year, we are reducing the threat of flooding to Fort Wayne families. This year, with a $1.5 million FEMA and Indiana Department of Homeland Security grant, we will purchase about 52 homes through voluntary buyouts in the Junk Ditch area. We will buy the homes at market value, restore the land to greenspace and forever end the concern about high water for these families.

In 2009 we protected about 150 homes from flooding on the St. Marys River with the flood-control projects in the Woodhurst, Southwood Park and Park-Thompson neighborhoods. With these buyouts and projects on our three rivers, we are closer than ever to the day when residential flooding is a thing of the past in Fort Wayne.

When I ran for mayor, I called for renewed attention to Fort Wayne’s rivers.

I am pleased to see that from Invent Tomorrow’s community visits and surveys the Number 1 request from our citizens was to use our waterways. As a result, a group called “Friends of the Rivers” was formed.

Working in conjunction with IPFW, a new event is coming to Fort Wayne on June 26th: the IPFW RiverFest.

Its purpose is to raise awareness and appreciation of the rivers and to use them for entertainment and fun. I think this event is an important kick-off as we look for ways to create riverfront development.

Infrastructure improvements aren’t just new pavement and sewer replacements.

I am also working hard to invest in neighborhoods and commercial corridors.

Last year, I launched the “Commercial Façade Grant” program that transformed $400,000 of City funds for exterior improvements into more than $1 million of private investment in targeted areas. This year I am pledging $260,000 from the City, which once again could result in more than $1 million of private money going into 13 projects. Additionally, I am committed to improvements that make our commercial corridors friendly for visitors and businesses.

The momentum of downtown revitalization must continue especially following the opening of Parkview Field. Cindy and I are already looking forward to another season of baseball this year.

I am particularly proud of the two-way conversion of Calhoun Street. I know it was a challenging project for some, but I am confident we are going to see it pay off by providing infrastructure that encourages store-front development while retaining the key features people like to see such as wide sidewalks, significant trees and outside dining.

While we celebrate the progress we have made in revitalizing downtown, the City will remain a driving force in fostering private investment in the heart of our city. Working in partnership with the Downtown Improvement District and the Alliance, we’re poised to give our downtown plan an update. I will want to hear from you about how we can make our downtown thriving and interesting every day, year-round.

Because of these successes, I am working hard to engage you in important community decisions. I have seen time and again that Fort Wayne residents have great ideas and want to be heard.

For instance, your input has been critical in our bike and sidewalk plans. I have also enlisted help from key stakeholders for the Social Service Summits, Tree Commission and the Southtown Advisory Committee…