Poll Shows Concern For Water Quality In a recent Gallup poll, when Americans are asked to rate their level of worry about each of 12 environmental concerns, their biggest concerns related to water quality. The top five concerns were:

Pollution of drinking water (53%) Contamination of soil and water by toxic waste (50%) Pollution of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs (50%) Maintenance of the nation's supply of fresh water for household needs (48%) Loss of natural habitat for wildlife (44%) The percentages represent the present of respondants that rated each concern as something that they personally worry about "a great deal." Global warming was ninth on the list with 37%.

News Clips:

National River Cleanup Kicks Off This Month
American Rivers invites you to help protect your community's river by participating in National River Cleanup™. The National River Cleanup™ is now a year-round event that kicks off May 31 - June 8.
Last year, nearly 600 river cleanup organizers and more than 95,000 volunteers participated in National River Cleanup™ and helped to:  Fill more than 100,000 bags of trash  Remove more than 600 tons of trash  Clean up more than 7,000 river miles

Historic Water Bodies Celebrate Quadricennial

Next year, 2009, marks the 400th anniversary of the voyages of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain along the water bodies that bear their names. New York has also included recognition of Robert Fulton's steamboat journey up the Hudson (1807) as part of the official commemoration. The Quadricennial Legacy Program will be rolled out over several years is intended to focus on conservation of the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. NYSDEC will develop plans to provide more waterway access, protect open spaces, improve water quality and restore signature species and habitats of these waterways. Action plans for the river and the lake will guide these efforts. Keep an eye on the Quadricennial website over the next year to keep track of the program. Among the goals is to provide a "State of the Lake" report for Lake Champlain and a "State of the River" report for the Hudson. DEC will prepare a report on the river using high-tech maps and digitized comparisons and provide Web resources and curriculum materials. http://www.exploreny400.com/ 

The first observation of Mother's Day in the U.S was in 1870 when Julia Ward Howe, early feminist and peace activist best known for writing the words to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," proposed such a day, dedicated to peace in honor of mothers. It took more than another four decades for Mother's Day to become a national holiday, and the original intent the peace proclamation is no longer commonly known.

In her 1870 Mother's Day Proclamation, Julia Ward Howe urged women to join together on Mother's Day to promote peace, saying,  "In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask  That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,  May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient  And the earliest period consistent with its objects,  To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,  The amicable settlement of international questions,  The great and general interests of peace... Photo: Harvard Square Library- Poets of Cambridge

New Tools and Publications:

Wetland Buffer Planning Guidebook Released

The Planner's Guide to Wetland Buffers for Local Governments, from the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), identifies both the state-of-the-art and the range of current practice in protection of wetland buffers by local governments. The guide book presents ELI's detailed examination of more than 50 enacted wetland buffer ordinances around the nation and nine model ordinances, as well as several hundred scientific studies and analyses of buffer performance. The Guide provides to local governments considering enacting or amending a wetland buffer ordinance what they need to know to manage land use and development in these important areas. http://www.elistore.org/reports_detail.asp?ID=11272 

New EPA Watershed Handbook Online 

EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds released an online document to help readers develop and implement watershed plans to meet water quality standards and protect water resources. The "Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters" is designed to help anyone undertaking a watershed planning effort, but should be particularly useful to persons working with impaired or threatened waters. It contains in-depth guidance on quantifying existing pollutant loads, developing estimates of the load reductions required to meet water quality standards, developing effective management measures, and tracking progress once the plan is implemented. New materials were added to the handbook including ways to protect important elements of the landscape and aquatic habitats within a watershed. http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/watershed_handbook/ 

Study Examines Wetlands Programs in Each of the 50 States

The Environmental Law Institute (ELI) announces the publication of State Wetland Protection: Status, Trends and Model Approaches. This report examines state-level efforts to protect wetland resources. Research for the report is based on a 50-state study conducted by the Environmental Law Institute with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The report examines seven core elements of all 50 states’ wetland programs (regulatory programs, water quality standards, monitoring and assessment, restoration, public-private partnerships, coordination, and education and outreach) and outlines model approaches. http://www.elistore.org/reports_detail.asp?ID=11279