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Did you know that the Great Lakes are the biggest freshwater source in the world? Lake Erie is the most productive for fishing of all the Great Lakes. Your support helps make our streams clean, clear and healthy so they can support this complex ecosystem. By donating to PCS, you help us reach our goals of restoring rivers that lead to Lake Erie beaches that promote fishable and swimmable conditions for generations. |
As we enter a new year, we reflect on our accomplishments during 2017 and project what we want to achieve in 2018. We see many areas for growth in our programs and partnerships. We are proud of our educational outreach and hope to continue to bring awareness and change behaviors in our community. Specifically, we want to expand our Marine Debris Prevention outreach and add to our annual Water Quality Boat Cruise. The success of our programs depends on our ability to increase participation and attract volunteers. We hope to schedule many more CYS 365 cleanups this year and find sponsors for our Fishing Line Recycling Bins. This past year, we doubled our inventory of Fishing Line Recycling Bins and are hoping to find suitable locations to install them this year. As our name implies, we are Partners in the community for conservation and water quality. We are looking forward to growing our partnerships, especially with Wood County. We are also excited to again partner with Glass City Marathon to reduce waste and bring awareness to recycling efforts this Spring. As a local non-profit, we rely on grant funding and donations to support our programs. We will be seeking new grant opportunities this year and hope to increase monetary contributions from members and donors. Last, we will continue to facilitate the Maumee AOC Advisory Committee in 2018 and beyond. We are thankful for our volunteers, donors, and partners and hope to continue to grow and do more for our water resources this year.
Despite the frigid weather, we had many guests attend our Annual General Meeting this year at Metropark’s Fallen Timbers Visitor Center in Maumee. We would like to thank the Toledo Metroparks for allowing us to host our meeting at this facility. We had food catered by Pumpernickel’s Deli in Toledo, a silent auction, a presentation of our yearly programs, and an awards ceremony. All of the Challenge Awards winners from Clean Your Streams Day were invited to receive their certificate. Congratulations again to all of our winners this year!
We also recognized our Clean Stream Partner for 2017. Each year this award is given to honor exceptional individuals and/or organizations in our community that work to improve our rivers and streams. Dr. Patrick Lawrence, Department of Geography at the University of Toledo, was our recipient this year. Dr. Lawrence was one of the founding members of Partners for Clean Streams, as well as our past President. He worked to expand our Clean Your Streams Day program by serving on the Planning Committee, engaging his students to be volunteers, and presenting Site Captain training. He is truly a champion of the waterways and has done extensive research on the Maumee River watershed. He has published in multiple books and journals about his research on the Maumee Area of Concern. His involvement and dedication in the environmental field is apparent through his many projects. Notable projects include: habitat river restoration of the Ottawa River at UT, watershed management in the Maumee AOC, climate change education for high schools, and planning for Lake Erie coastal parks and protected areas. Thank you, Dr. Lawrence, for all you have done for us at PCS and all you continue to do for our watersheds!
Bob Neubert has been with the Office of the Lucas County Engineers since 1999 and works in the Drainage Department. His is a certified Floodplain Manager, Engineering Technician, and Surveying Technician. He graduated with an Associates Degree in Civil Engineering from Owens Community College. He lives with his wife and two children in South Toledo. He is very active with the Boy Scouts and has been a Volunteer Boy Scout Leader since 2003. His work with the Scouts has been closely tied to PCS through 8 years of Clean Your Streams Day and constructing 20 fishing line recycling bins this past summer. We look forward to his partnership with us as a Board Member.
Bill Hoefflin is the Senior Program Naturalist for Wood County Parks. He has been a Park Naturalist since 2004, having worked for Ohio State Parks, Toledo Metroparks, and currently Wood County Parks. He has an Associates of Applied Science from Hocking College in Wildlife Management. He lives in eastern Lucas County with his wife and three kids. He enjoys hunting, fishing, woodworking, camping, paddle sports, archery, and gardening. He is a certified instructor for canoeing, kayaking, stand up paddleboarding, archery, and fishing, as well as a Boy Scout Merit Badge Counselor. His expertise in all things outdoors will be an asset to our Board.
We would also like to thank Deanna Bobak and Colleen Dooley for their service. They have stepped down as active Board Members and we appreciate all they have done for Partners for Clean Streams.
If December’s weather is any indication of the winter we will have this year, it will be quite snowy and cold! To combat this climate, municipalities and homeowners often employ the use of salt to de-ice roads and sidewalks. While this certainly can make it safer for the public, it often creates a dangerous situation for our rivers, streams, lakes, and ground water. Once the snow has melted, the salt and other chemicals used to de-ice roadways leaches into the waterways, changing the pH balance and becoming a permanent pollutant. The Univesity of Wisconson-Madison recently featured an article detailing the effect road salt is having on our Great Lakes (click here to read). The only way to remove salt (chloride) is through reverse osmosis, a challenging and costly treatment process. Unfortunately, there are not environmentally safe, effective, and inexpensive alternatives to salt. This means, reducing salt in our waterways means reducing salt at the application source.
So, here are some tips to keep you and your waterways safe this year:
By following these salting tips, we can limit the amount of chloride pollution that enters our streams, rivers, and lakes during winter months. Smart application of salt can make it safer for you as snow and ice arrive and safer for your waterways this Spring. Make a vow to go low-sodium this year!
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Terry Shankland
President of the Board
Private Citizen
Andrew Curran
Vice President
Assistant Scout Executive,
Boy Scouts of America
Kyle Spicer
Secretary
Private Citizen
Denise Fonner
Board Member
Private Citizen
Jeff Gibbs
Board Member
Private Citizen
Joan King
Board Member
Private Citizen
Chris Smalley
Board Member
Park Services Supervisor
Metroparks of the Toledo Area
Bob Neubert
Board Member
Lucas Co. Engineers
Bill Hoefflin
Board Member
Wood Co. Parks
Partners for Clean Streams Inc. is striving for abundant open space and a high quality natural environment; adequate floodwater storage capacities and flourishing wildlife; stakeholders who take local ownership in their resources; and rivers, streams and lakes that are clean, clear and safe