News from Groundwork Hudson Valley

Groundwork USA Assembly, New Orleans

On Friday, November 13th, 17 Groundwork Trusts from around the country met in New Orleans for the annual Youth Summit and to participate in the EPA Brownfields Conference. After getting a view of Louisiana's incredible natural habitat on a canoe ride through the Cane Bayou out to Lake Pontchartrain, students and Groundwork Staff got an introduction to its dynamic urban habitat with a tour of the remaining destruction from Hurricane Katrina as well as the inspiring restoration sites such as the Make It Right Homes in the 9th Ward and the Holly Grove Market & Farm. After being exposed to these contemporary issues, the group got acquainted the rich history of the city on a walking tour through the Historic French Quarter.

Before leaving, the youth summit helped with a restoration project at Andrew Wilson Elementary School, organized by the Broadmoor Improvement Association, Students helped landscape the exterior of the school by planting trees, laying sod, and grating the soil to better accommodate flooding and heavy rains. At the restoration project, the group met with EPA representatives, the architect who designed the new school, and members of the National Parks Service.

After the youth left, Groundwork USA had a highly successful three days participating in the EPA Brownfield Conference. Read more...

Science Barge Had An Awesome Season
A note from Bob Walters, Science Barge Director
Captain Bob Walters

The Science Barge seems quiet and cold (brrr) after the hustle and bustle of our first year on the Yonkers waterfront. The Barge was a huge success and had visitors from all over the world including media from Japan, Canada, Antigua, Germany and the Netherlands. It was a great day when Dan Rather, formerly of 60 minutes, showed up with his news crew to do a show on sustainable agriculture. Read more...

Saw Mill River Daylighting Update: American Eel

American Eel --
A tricky critter to accommodate in Yonkers Daylighting!
From Ann-Marie Mitroff, Director of River Programs

Who'd have thought that the American eel could reach 7 ½ miles up the Saw Mill River ABOVE the Woodlands Lake dam with everything it has to go through now-entering the river underneath the train station, swimming under Larkin Plaza for 1 mile in the dark, then up over a flow station, through concrete channels, and up a 20-foot dam! Studies completed by Robert Schmidt of Hudsonia for the Saw Mill River Coalition in the spring of 2008 found the American eel ABOVE THE DAM! These creatures slithered up vegetation to make it beyond the dam. The tricky part now for the eel with the Yonkers' daylighting project, is to be sure that when engineers bring two new sections of river back to the daylight, their design will allow species of fish to make it upstream, and down again. Read more...

Now Hiring New High School Interns for Science Harvesting lettuce

Barge Under American Honda Foundation Grant

The Science Barge will be hiring five new "Honda Interns" to work on the Barge twice a week, learning about the Science Barge systems in depth, and being trained to give Barge tours on the weekends. If you are an interested student who attends school in Yonkers and are above the age of 16, contact Devon Spencer at devon@groundworkhv.org or 914-375-2151 to schedule an interview. For more information about the program click here.

Saw Mill River Fish Study Completed! Fish Study Crew

Saunders High School students who have been working with the Saw Mill River Coalition on a comprehensive study of fish species in the Saw Mill conducted their last survey in September, as part of the Saw Mill River BioBlitz. This proved a satisfying end to a successful year-long study which involved over 30 Saunders High School students and monitored eight different species at six sites in the river. The study concludes with a Protocol for Future Fish Studies, drafted this month, that can be used to guide future efforts. Read More and view the final report and Protocol for Future Fish Studies.

Groundwork at Riverside High School
Riverside Class

Groundwork begins a new year of its Educational Outreach program at Riverside High School. Thanks to a grant through the Westchester County Youth Bureau, Groundwork is able to partner with a high school teacher to enrich one of his lab periods with real-world examples of environmental work in their neighborhood. Read More...

High School River Watch Fish Study

In January, The Saw Mill River Coalition will launch its new pollution prevention program, called High School River Watch. High school students within the Saw Mill River watershed will be invited to form River Watch Stewardship Groups in which they will work consistently on the portion of the river nearest to their school. Activities will include storm drain marking, trash pick-ups, surveys of the trash in the river, invasive vine-cuttings, and participation in The Great River Clean-Up, an event currently scheduled for late May of 2010. With stewardship groups all throughout the watershed taking action in their communities, we can create great improvements in the health and beauty of our river! Please contact Emily Eder at (914) 375-2151 or emily@groundworkhv.org if you are interested in getting involved.

Perfect Tree-hugger & River-hugger Gifts!
...for the Tree-hugger-invasive vine cutting equipment!
Here's what we use:

Loppers (try NOT to get the ones that you have to open wide in order to clip a branch-your arms will get tired opening them up so wide all the time. Simple action ones are great like Vigoro bypass or Corona bypass.)
Garden clippers-bypass ones (curved blade).
Curve handle saw (to cut the larger vines that loppers can't handle). This is a half moon handle with a saw between the two ends.
Leather gloves (To protect from thorny multi-flora rose!)
Hard hat-if you are working large trees with large vines-this is important. Many vines come down on heads!

...for the River-hugger-to reduce trash in our streams!

Umbrellas for Sale!

Here comes the rain and the snow! Protect yourself from nasty weather while supporting healthy rivers and streams. Umbrellas with pollution prevention messages on them are being distributed to high schools and middle schools throughout the watershed. They are $8 each and all of the profits from the sales will go towards the school. Contact us to find out about participating schools, or if you are a teacher or student interested in getting involved. You can also buy them through our office, or order them online, and we will distribute the proceeds to one of the local schools.

Trash Picker-Uppers- These are great for using along the river!

Our Office Is Moving!
6 Wells

Groundwork Hudson Valley is moving! In January, Groundwork will be moving its office from 6 Wells Avenue to a larger office just a couple blocks away. The new office will be located at 22 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Yonkers, NY 10701. We are very excited about this new location, as added space means room for growth (and more space)! Stay tuned for possible volunteer activities before, during, and after the move!