Click on "Calendar" to see what restoration projects we're working on now and what opportunities are planned for this Spring and Summer. Get involved!
Contact our office to inquire about or offer your time for any of these opportunites - What will YOU do to help South River?
Riverwatchers:
Become a member of the South Riverwatchers team to report pollution, pollution sources and generally keep an eye out for anything unusual in the waterways. We are looking for people that will report muddy water coming into our creeks or going down storm drains so we can identify the sources and put a stop to it. We would like to have 2 to 3 observers on each of our South River creeks as well as others who can monitor construction sites and other sources of pollution. With each rain sediment and runoff from construction and other sites is choking our creeks and polluting them with nutrients. Help us identify the problems so we can take action!
Office Help:
If you have couple of hours a day, week or month and want to spend it at the beautiful CBF Philip Merrill Envirnmental Center, have we got some work for you! You can enjoy anything from writing letters, stuffing emvelopes, posting data to helping with special projects. Contact us and let us know what your forte is! We also need help with Grant and Foundation research for funding sources.
Website:
Do you have experience with Macromedia or other website programs? You can help update our website with current data and information. Feeling creative? We welcome your ideas about how to rework some of the pages. This is the perfect opportunity for a student taking Webmaster or Web Design classes to get some practical, hands-on learning.
Contact Lee Ann
GIS Expertise:
We are setting up a geographic information system map of the watershed to make effective use of data available to plot hisstorical and new information as we collect it. We've procured the equipment and software and are in the process of setting the system up. If you know GIS and want to help with data, please contact our office at 443-482-2155 or email us. We are using a laptop, so much of the data entry can be shared by volunteers from their homes.
Photographers:
We are usually too busy during our restoration events to remember to take out the camera. We would love to have photographers do this for us at restoration as well as other events. You can email the pics to us or we'll pick up a disc. This helps us be able to post pictures on the website. After all, a picture is worth...oh you know the old saying. We always appreciate pictures about anything to do with the River, whether it be breathtaking nature scenes or examples of runoff/construction problems.
Event Planners:
Each year, we hold a Annual Fish Fry (September 7, 2008) and our auction fundraiser "South River on the Halfshell" (Winter 2009, date to be announced). If you have event planning skills, we could certainly use your help. These events are fun and satisfying ways to help South River. Contact us to be involved as little or as much as you like!
Writers:
Website, newsletter, brochures, press releases, South River Reflections (stories about what it used to be like on and around South Rivver). Take your pick, pick up a pen, and write!
Land Use and Environmental law Expertise:
We need to represent the River effectively when new land use regulations are proposed or in commenting on development projects that may neagatively impact the River. We also want to be able to bring effective legal action when no other avenue is available to protect the River. To do the best job, we need access to land use expertise and knowledge as well as environmental law expertise.
Grow Oysters Alongside your Dock:
(or a friend's dock, a neighbor's dock, a community pier, marina,
etc.) to help restore native oyster populations.
Oysters are the Chesapeake Bay’s best natural filters, and
provide essential habitat to scores of species of fish and other
Bay creatures. Sadly, today’s oyster population is
estimated at only a fraction of its historic level. The Chesapeake
Bay Foundation and the South River Federation have teamed up to
bring you the Oyster Gardening program so you can help by growing
oysters alongside your dock!
Many volunteers on the South River are already growing oysters,
and you can join the fun! You’ll grow your oysters for about
a year, then return them at designated events. SRF will pick up
your oysters and plant them onto sanctuary reefs right here in
the South River! Oyster gardens are fun for anyone, and make great
projects for science fairs, school projects, scout groups, church
groups, etc.
For more information on how you can get involved in oyster gardening,
please see the workshop schedule at http://www.cbf.org/oysters.
Install Rain Barrels:
Rain Barrels are an excellent way to capture water from your downspouts and store it for future use. You can water your lawn and garden during dry spells with this free water! more info
Build Rain Gardens:
Rain Gardens are made of bowl-like depressions in the landscape that hold water in place and let your plants soak up the water slowly, so you don't need to water. more info
HOW YOUR COMMUNITY CAN GET INVOLVED:
REUSE DREDGE MATERIAL FOR SHORELINE STABILIZATION
Dredged material from local waterways can be reused for shoreline erosion control to create "living shorelines" that support wetland plantings. This material is usually hauled to upland sites for disposal, a costly and inefficient process. When placed behind approved containment structures along eroding shorelines, this dredge material can be used instead of costly sand which must be trucked in or barged in for placement. Using this material can substantially reduce the cost of such projects. If you or your community are planning a shoreline restoration, contact Mr. Robert Cuthbertson at the Maryland Department of the Environment 1-800-633-6101 X8045 to see if there is dredged material available for beneficial reuse in your area. You could help your budget and the River and the same time.
ATTENTION: WATERFRONT COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS - SRF SEEKING SITES FOR LIVING SHORELINE PROJECTS
Is your community's waterfront eroding or currently bulkheaded? The South River Federation would like to partner with member communities to improve our waterway with "Living Shorelines," which stem erosion, improve water quality and provide critical habitat for many Bay species including Diamondback Terrapins. These projects can often be completed with the assistance of grant agencies and volunteers. "Living Shorelines" are fun to install, and provides a hands on educational tool to help us better understand the plants and animals in our Bay ecosystem, while securing our shores from erosion. If your community is interested in hosting such a project, please contact our office.
NEED A SPEAKER FOR YOUR NEXT MEETING OR EVENT?
Do you belong to a business, community, or civic group? If so, SRF can provide a guest speaker for your next meeting. We can talk on a variety of environmental issues and can tailor to your needs and interests.
LOOKING FOR ARTICLES FOR YOUR ASSOCIATIONS'S NEWSLETTER?
Give us a call and we will gladly write something for you. We have many topics of interest to suggest, or will write about a topic you are intersted in for your community.
