Learn more about the St. Mary’s River:
St. Mary’s River Online Discussion Group
** This is a two-step process. The first is to sign into the Network - then upon approval (what's this about?? terrorist check?), you can join the St. Mary's River Group and set up your personal settings. You can hide your email address, if this is your preference. And you can set up how you would like to get access to postings: go to My Page and Edit Profile; select Edit Subscription Settings (over on the right under My Groups); for each group you join you can select to 1) "get individual emails", or 2) "get as digest" - this is a daily summary of all activity, or 3) "no emails: read on web only." You can hide your email, remove yourself from specific groups, add more groups, or unsubscribe from the Network. You are in control of how you access (or receive) the discussion entries. You can also set up your own group and blog.
Why? - Read on . . .
We all know that our landscape will change over time—and we know that we do have some voice in what that future change may be. Some people will leave this “dirty work” to someone else (and they won’t hesitate to complain when it doesn’t go their way). But that’s not you! So come on, let me tell you how we can plan the future together!
For several decades now, watershed planning has been recognized as the premier method for land use planning and building healthy communities. Most everything that is change has an impact on at least one of our two most precious resources—land and water. So it makes perfect sense that we develop a plan for a geographic area of land in which all the water drains to one point. That geographic area is called a watershed or a drainage basin for a river. Of course the river in question here is the St. Mary’s River.
As our loyal readers know, we are in the process of developing a comprehensive watershed plan for the St. Mary’s River. Currently, we are gathering information about this wonderful place that so many of us call home. This past summer, a great deal of scientific data was collected and is currently being organized and evaluated. Next we need to bring together the rest of the story of this watershed?and this is where you come in!
What’s in your backyard? Do you live near a flowing stream? Are there any fish in it or animals around it? Suds bouncing over it? Good smells? Bad?
Is there a story about the past that goes with your little piece of land and water? What is the nature of your backyard? What is it worth to you? Is it a meeting place for family and friends? Is it farmland? What has it produced? Was there a dump near by? Is trash still visable?
These are the type of questions that you can help us with. Within a year or two, we will begin the process of restoring portions of the river system—some of that restoration will happen in the water, some will happen on the land. Deciding which project should come first will be a major task. You can help.
Certainly if the river by your house smells bad, we need to know so that we can assess the impact, identify the source, and plan for recovery. If the land has an important story (or history), then we need to know so that we can assess its value for preservation, reconstruction, recognition and remembrance, etc..
We will make this as easy as possible for you. You can attend one of the many public meetings that we will be holding over the next year and a half. Or you can join our St. Mary’s River discussion group. This new forum has options for you to op-out of receiving emails, if that is your wish. Or you can op for a summary of discussions on a daily basis. We won’t force anything on you. Unsubscribe whenever you choose.
We think you will be interested in this resource and we hope you will join with us in networking and learning about our St. Mary’s River Watershed!
Join the Chesapeake Forum today and have access to the St. Mary’s River Discussion Group as well as more than thirty other regional discussion groups. Remember, you can control what you see and what you want to receive in your email inbox.
Visit http://www.chesapeakenetwork.org and join today. Tomorrow you will have access the latest information available on the St. Mary’s River Watershed!
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PHOTO CREDITS—Clockwise from top left: St. Mary's College students survey and record data for 165 miles of non-tidal streams during the summer of 2008; Johnson's Pond in the northern headwaters of the main stem St. Mary's River-photo by Bob Lewis; Some folks love wildlife so much that they get intimate with the critters--John Spinnachia blows a kiss to a terrapin-photo by Chris Tanner; and Sunset on the tidal St. Mary's River taken at Cardinal Pines-photo by Richard Holden.
